Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Alexandria is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The town is on the River Leven, three miles (five kilometres) north of Dumbarton and 15 mi (24 km) north-west of Glasgow.

It is one of five towns in the Vale of Leven, the others being Balloch, Bonhill, Jamestown and Renton.

Economy The town's traditional industries, most importantly cotton manufacturing, bleaching and printing, have been phased out. In the 1970s Alexandria was redeveloped, with a new town centre layout and traffic system. Local landmarks include Christie Park and the Category B listed Smollett Fountain in the town centre. Lomond Galleries on North Main Street is a former car factory with an impressive dome and an even more impressive marble entrance hall and staircase. It was originally built in 1906 as the Argyll Motor Works, for Argyll Motors Ltd. A carving above the entrance shows one of the company's cars. After the car production ceased in 1914, it was used by the Admiralty for the manufacture of torpedoes, which were test-fired in Loch Long, and in the early 1970s was the scene of the Plessey sit-in. The building now hosts a shopping mall but has retained many of its striking architectural features.

Major employers in the area were Westclox and Polaroid, both based in the Leven Industrial Estate; Aggreko based a major purpose-built factory in the estate from 2000 to 2010. The Ballantine's whisky distillery continues to operate in the estate.

Transport Alexandria sits on the former A82 main road between Glasgow and Loch Lomond. There are regular bus services on the route, and the town has a railway station on the rail line between Balloch and Glasgow Queen Street.

Alexandria is reputed to be the only town in the UK with a railway station, carnival (periodically Codona’s travelling fair sets up in the car park) and a pub in the middle of a roundabout. A. J. Cronin's uncle owned a pub in Bridge Street. Alexandria Library is located on Gilmour Street.