We have now added Beith War Memorial in the stories section! The memorial was unveiled on the 6th of November, 1920 following a ceremony which featured Aylmer Hunter-Weston. The names of the First World War dead are carved on the eight sides of the pedestal, along with three sides of the top base. The pedestal also contains the inscription “Erected by …
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone from all of us here at the Heritage Centre! Keep an eye on our FaceBook page for a constant stream of content to keep you entertained throughout the festive period! We wish you all a lovely holiday period and a Happy New Year when it comes. Then we will do it all over again in 2024!
RAF Liberator (AM 261) Crash on the Isle of Arran has Been Added to the Stories Section
On the 10th of August 1941, RAF Liberator (AM 261) crashed into the ridge at Mullach Buidhe, just north of Goatfell on the Isle of Arran with the loss of 22 airmen. The flight crews on board were from the Royal Air Force Ferry Command, Air Transport Auxiliary and the British Overseas Airways Corporation. In addition to the normal flight …
Edward Harold George Dyer Update
On the 22nd of November, 1943, Sergeant Edward Harold George Dyer died while on a bombing raid on Berlin in World War II. The aircraft was likely shot down over the Netherland en-route to the target. You may remember the name of Edward Harold George Dyer from our story on the crash of a Whitley bomber over Saltcoats in 1943. …
‘New and Unusual’ Exhibition Preview Video
Have you seen our latest exhibition ‘New and Unusual: And a few of our favourite things’? We have just recently put out a preview video on our Facebook page to entice you! The exhibition features a wide variety of of objects from our collection, including artworks, archaeology, sporting memorabilia, vintage technology (including old radios, cameras and even a Gameboy Advance!) …
Andrew Aitken Has Been Added To The ‘Stories’ Section
Andrew Aitken has now been added to the ‘Stories’ section of our website! Andrew was born in Beith in 1780 and worked on a farm and had a passion for poetry. He didn’t attend school but was taught to read and write by his mother and began dabbling in writing essays and poetry, which were published in periodicals and newspapers. …
Law and Order: The Frew Collection
This blog post was kindly provided by Jeni Park from Kilwinning Heritage. Check out their website to plan your visit to the Heritage Centre at Kilwinning Abbey Tower. Or why not give them a follow on their Facebook page? I am the volunteer Project Manager for the Frew Collection. This is a large collection of archival documents donated to Kilwinning Heritage during the pandemic by …
Strange Happenings At The Heritage Centre
In the month of October we keep receiving reports from staff that there is an odd presence in our H̷e̴r̷i̵t̵a̸g̴e̵ ̵C̵e̸n̶t̶r̴e̷. They have claimed they have heard or seen things. To assuage these fears, we have filmed this short tour of our H̵̭̣̞͋̆͘ẽ̴͕̻͙̔ŗ̴̙͛ȋ̸̩̙t̴͔̤̓ā̸̡̩̹̈̎͂g̴̮̉̓͒̍e̷̺̺̣̓̊͌ ̶̫̟͊̏̈́C̷͎̓̎̚͝ḙ̶̐̽ṅ̵̯͕̒t̸̪͎̯̋́̕r̸̫̖͇͂̀͝e̸̗̤̝̮̓, to show you that everything is perfectly normal here in October. P̵̜̰̉̇̃̃̎̅͝e̵̩̻̬̩̳͙̎̀ȓ̶̡̝̼̳̻̙͈̏͋̿͌̐f̸̢̢̰͔̦̩̈́̑ȩ̴͕̞̲̻̔͐ͅͅc̴̯͓͐̃̃̉ţ̶̟̮̋ľ̶͉̼̼̟̭͖̝̍y̵̖͎͋ ̴̛̟̠͕̤͔̔̕n̴̗̗͗̍̇̚ô̶͖̘͉̖̟̘̭r̸̥̲̈́̈́m̶͉̟̬̀̓͆ạ̵̐̀̆̓̏̒l̵͖̙̃̒̔͋͂̂̇.̷͍̮͑
Kilwinning Across The Pond
Back in February 2021, during the dark days of lockdown, Heather Upfield, from Kilwinning, was looking for something to do, to while away the hours. She decided to search for any other Kilwinning sites outwith Scotland and was surprised to find four Kilwinning mentions in the Americas! Here’s Heather’s account of her discoveries. Provinces of Canada and States of United …
HMS Dasher Memorial Book
Another object featured in our New and Unusual exhibition comes in to the category of favourite objects. It’s a memorial book with all the names of the crew who perished when HMS Dasher sank in 1943. HMS Dasher was a British Royal Navy aircraft carrier of the Avenger Class. She served in World War II. She was built by the …