Menstrie is a town in the county of Clackmannanshire in Scotland. It is about 5 miles (8 kilometres) east-north-east of Stirling and is among a string of towns that, because of their area at the base of the Ochil Hills, are jointly referred to as the Hillfoots Villages or just The Hillfoots. The owners of Menstrie once refined woollen from lamb farmed on the Ochils. In 1800, business owners from Tullibody established a carding and spinning mill on the east side of the Menstrie Burn to manipulate its soft water and also power, absent from their very own town. In the very early 19th century a straight road was built on the level ground of the carse or floodplain to by-pass the old Hillfoots Road and improve the transportation of items to and from the Hillfoots villages. Menstrie's Long Row and also Ochil Road push the old path along the foot of capitals. The new road, now the A91, came to be a focus for building and construction of churches, homes, mills and stores. By the mid-19th century, the Elmbank and Forthvale mills stayed in business on either side of the Menstrie Burn. In 1841, Menstrie's population was about 500 yet had actually increased to greater than 900 by 1881. In the 1860s a company, that included the owners of neighborhood mills as well as a distillery, financed a branch railway line via Menstrie to a terminus in Alva. This joined the old North British Railway (N.B.R.) line in between Alloa and Stirling at Cambus. Menstrie had its own guest station at the North end of Tullibody Road. Virtually nothing of the station stays and also the train branch line, which remained to lug freight after the Beeching Axe, fell into disuse throughout the mid-1980s in favour of road transport. The Glenochil Distillery had opened in the middle 18th century on the site of the Doll Farm to the east of the village, beside the Dams Burn. Manufacturing has actually advanced this site for more than 250 years though production of whisky quit about 1930. Yeast, originally a spin-off of whisky fermentation, had slowly end up being the primary item and also opted for manufacture of whisky and also bread. Soft water, in your area available, is still beneficial. A comprehensive bonded stockroom area stays for storage space of whisky as it grows in barrels before bottling, while bakers' yeast has given way to fermentation items originated from yeast. The whisky and yeast companies are currently run by different firms, namely Diageo, (successors to Distillers Company) and also Kerry Group. The latter conducts item development along with producing at the Menstrie site. Elmbank Mill, Menstrie in March 2010. The Forthvale Mill no longer stands however the Elmbank Mill, having actually been used for some years as workplaces by the Water Board, currently houses small companies. A furnishings manufacturing facility, The Charrier, stood near the Menstrie Burn yet was ruined by fire in regarding 1968. A road nearby now births its name. In the mid-20th Century, Menstrie (pop. 1200 - 1300) was home to families whose menfolk worked the Clackmannanshire Coalfield and also various other mines in Central Scotland. As the mining and also textile markets have declined, Menstrie has actually come to be a traveler dormitory, topping the surrounding farmland. At the Censuses in 1991, 2001 and also 2011, Menstrie's population was 2274, 2083 and also 2804 respectively. For 2016, the population was estimated as 2872.