Place of Bonhill

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 22 Oct 2012

The road was earlier called Turnbull's Loan (the written form that appears on early OS maps); the local pronunciation of the name is "Trummel's Loan", not, as it might seem, a corruption of the surname of John Turnbull (on whom, see below), but simply an indication of how that surname was pronounced. (Another Turnbull can be used to illustrate this: the first Dean of Guild of the Merchants House of Glasgow was a certain Matthew Turnbull, who was elected in 1605. His surname is usually spelled Turnbull, but it is sometimes given as Trumble; his signature also appears to read Trumble, most probably indicating how the name was pronounced.) John Turnbull, after whom Turnbull's Loan was named, was connected with the Millburn Pyroligneous Works, which were in the area across the main road where there is now a depot – Image See also Image (of the same family), who was also connected with local industry. Place of Bonhill was a large house located nearby, close to the present-day site of St Martin's Primary School. John Turnbull lived there after restoring the house from a ruined state. The name of the house has, for some reason, been transferred to the road. Author Tobias Smollett's grandfather James Smollett had lived in Place of Bonhill from 1684. Early in the twentieth century, it was the home of astronomer Duncan McEwan, who devised an "umbrella star map and revolving star dome", with an accompanying printed guide, to help acquaint readers with the constellations. Another resident was Harry Flowers, still remembered through the name "Flowers Stream", applied by anglers to a nearby part of the River Leven (that part is alternatively known as the "Academy Stream", after the Image). The bollards shown in this view are recent additions. Compare Image, which looks out onto the same road; one of the same bollards can be seen at the extreme right of that picture. Likewise, the road signs that can be seen on the right in the present picture can also be seen in that view.

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