carse in this area is of Carboniferous age. The main hill dominating the town is Tory, with Craigleith adjacent to the west. The town is situated on slightly higher ground than the surrounding carse, being on two overlapping alluvial fans, made up of material deposited by the Carnaughton Glen and Alva Glen burns. The spectacular Alva Glen cuts into the Ochils immediately north of the town. Alva Burn flows from the glen, through Alva, and into the River Devon. To the east of Alva Glen, and parallel to it, is the Silver Glen, where silver was mined at one time. A more recent attempt about 1 km to the south of Alva, the Glenochil Colliery, was not a success, and the site is now the site of HM Prison Glenochil. Facilities Alva has many shops, three Christian places of worship: a small but growing Baptist fellowship, a well established Church of Scotland and St. John Vianney's Roman Catholic Church ; a few pubs, a small library and a medical practice. There are two large parks - Johnstone Park and Cochrane Park, which contains the local hall (Cochrane Hall). Every second Saturday in July, Johnstone Park is host to the Alva Games, the last remaining Highland Games show in Clackmannanshire. The McArthur Braes, at the foot of Alva Glen, was once a formal park that has fallen into neglect; it is now being regenerated. The town has both a primary school and a secondary school. Alva Academy takes pupils from several primary schools in the Hillfoots area. The school was relocated on a new campus early in 2009. The new Alva Academy has been built at the end of Greenhead, a street on the south-east side of the town. Transport Alva is on the main A91 Stirling to St Andrews road. Bus services run to Stirling and to Alloa (via Tillicoultry), and (less frequently) to St Andrews. There was once a railway station that served the town from 1863 to 1954. Recreation In 1856, a gathering was organised in a park for gymnastics that evolved into an annual Alva Games. Between 1937 and 1954, Alva Glen was famed for its annual Illuminations, which drew visitors from across Scotland. In 2004 the Illuminations were revived. Economy and industry Harviestoun Brewery Harviestoun is a small Scottish brewery founded in 1983 by Ken Brooker in a 200-year-old stone barn on a farm on the