After a hugely successful talk at Largs Museum, Gordon Black is continuing with a series of on-site talks about Halie Neolithic Tomb! Three talks in March, starting at the entrance to Douglas Park, where Gordon will walk with visitors up to the Neolithic Tomb and tell the story of this fascinating part of North Ayrshire history. The talks are being …
Hugh Drennan – Interview
The following post was kindly submitted to us by Gordon McCreath, who is a keen Ayrshire junior football historian. Hugh Drennan signed for Meadow in season 1954-55. After breaking into the team he helped Meadow win the Western League Cup, the Irvine & District Cup and the Western League Championship, beating Auchinleck Talbot 1-0 after a 4-4 draw in the …
Frigate Goes for Conservation
The Heritage Centre Team said a fond but temporary goodbye to a really special object from our collection yesterday. This gorgeous model ship is sailing off to AOC Archaeology for some conservation work. The frigate, Caledonia, was made by a Mr William Dunlop, who was a member of the congregation of Ardrossan Parish Church in the building that now houses …
The Story of the Sinking of S.S. Blairgowrie is now in the Stories Section
We have added another bit of naval history to our ‘Stories’ section, this time the sad tale of the sinking of S.S. Blairgowrie, which was sunk by a violent hurricane in the North Atlantic on the 27th of February, 1935. Seven of the crew were from North Ayrshire. Four were from Ardrossan, one from Saltcoats, one from Largs and one …
Our Heritage Centre Is Now Open
We are delighted to confirm that our Heritage Centre re-opened on the 23rd of February! We are back to our usual opening times which are: Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday: 09:30am – 1pm & 2pm – 4:30pm. We are also open the last Saturday of every month (same opening times), with the 28th of February being the first of the year! …
The Tombsters and Haylie Neolithic Tomb
The Haylie Neolithic Chambered Cairn in Largs is looking great. When I first arrived in Largs some four years ago it was in a sad state: overgrown, fence down and no interpretation board (there had been one but it had rotted away). What I didn’t know was that local historical enthusiast Richard Topping was on the case. And through his …
1989-90 – Meadow are Best in the West
The following post was kindly submitted to us by Gordon McCreath, who is a keen Ayrshire junior football historian. When Irvine Meadow ran out at Newlandsfield Park in front of a crowd of 1,100 on a sunny Wednesday evening in 1990, they were looking to win the West of Scotland Cup for the seventh time. There had been a gap …
Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin Visits Ayrshire
On the 11th of February 1967, Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin visited the UK and his trip included a 14 hour visit to Scotland. In this trip he visited Glasgow, had a tour of Hunterston Power Plant in North Ayrshire, visited Troon to have lunch at the Marine Hotel and watched Kilmarnock v Rangers at Rugby Park. Prior to kick-off, Kosygin presented the captains of …
Davy McDougall
The following post was kindly submitted to us by Gordon McCreath, who is a keen Ayrshire junior football historian. Davy McDougall only played one season for Irvine Meadow XI before setting off on a remarkable footballing journey, which took him all round the United Kingdom. He signed up in 1898 and played at outside left when Meadow beat Newmilns 4-0 …
Haylie Neolithic Tomb Talk at Largs Museum
On the 24th of February at 2pm (it was previously scheduled for 7pm but has been changed) Gordon Black of the Haylie Neoltihic Tombsters is presenting a talk on the history of the tomb at Largs Museum. The talk will last around an hour and there will be time for questions to be asked also. Entry is by donation. This …