We have a new art exhibition within our Museum of the Cumbraes, which is located within the beautiful Garrison House in Millport. Called “Outwith” this exhibition features a showcase of work by talented Irvine-based artist Kevin O’Rourke’, who took his inspiration from the Scottish word meaning ‘outside or beyond.’ Talking about his inspiration, Kevins shares that “Covid completely changed my …
Back Doon the Watter Exhibition is Now On!
Our new exhibition, ‘Back Doon the Watter’ is now on at our Heritage Centre in Saltcoats! Featuring a photography exhibition by Mandy Edwards and a wide variety of objects and digital content, this exhibition is a must visit if you love the history of holidaying on the west coast! The exhibition runs from September until November at the Heritage Centre …
Genealogy is Moving
Some of you may have noticed an announcement on North Ayrshire Council’s page a couple of weeks ago about our genealogy and local history service, which is currently located in Irvine Townhouse….. We are really excited to share with you that we have closed the doors on the service in the Townhouse and are busy packing up all our treasures …
Our New Collections Section is Live!
Since the launch of our website at Christmas 2022, we have worked tirelessly on expanding the site: we have steadily added more stories which tell the history of North Ayrshire, we are delighted to say we have had more and more local historians contributing blog posts to the site and there has been so much more! However, one of our …
Return of the Bell
We have had a lot of conversation in the Heritage Centre over the last while as to the whereabouts of the bell that used to hang in the bell tower in Ardrossan Parish Church, which is now the Heritage Centre. Over a month ago our lovely volunteer and local history enthusiast, Frances Gilmour, brought a post by Three Towns Explored …
New Exhibition: ‘They Wore It So Well’
We have a brand-new exhibition at our Heritage Centre in Saltcoats and it’s all about fashion! We are going back to the 60’s and 70’s for ‘They Wore It So Well’, an exhibition which celebrates the fashions from those two decades. The exhibition features a lovely variety of dresses, shoes, handbags and coats and it’s all from the collection of …
Ardrossan War Memorial has Been Added to the ‘Stories’ Section
At the top of our ‘Stories’ section, is our list of notable ‘Buildings, Castles & Monuments’ throughout North Ayrshire. We are slowly, but surely, adding North Ayrshire’s war memorials to the list and we are pleased to announce the addition of Ardrossan war memorial! Unveiled in May, 1923, the memorial was designed by Dr Peter MacGregor Chalmers of Glasgow who …
North Ayrshire’s D-Day Roll of Honour
Have you seen the latest addition to our website? We have prepared something special to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings: North Ayrshire’s D-Day Roll of Honour. Our website now has a permanent page dedicated to those from North Ayrshire who fell during the invasion, whose names are on the British Normandy Memorial. The British …
The Largs War Memorial has Been Added to the Stories Section
Another new addition to our ‘Stories’ section is the Largs War Memorial. Dedicated on the 19th of September, 1921 the memorial features three soldiers carved from white freestone by sculptor William Kellock Brown. The statue bears the names of 85 men who were killed in the First World War and 67 who were killed in the Second World War. You …
PS Waverley has Been Added to the Stories Section
The legendary paddle steamer PS Waverley is now in the Stories section of our website! You can learn all about the history of the PS Waverley, from it’s launch on the 2nd of October, 1946 to it being withdrawn from service in 1973 and ultimately sold to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society for £1. The text, paintings, photos, programmes and …