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 …
The Stranding of the Mars
The paddle-steamer ‘Mars’ got into trouble off the Largs coast on the 10th of April, 1855 and washed ashore at the mouth of the Gogo burn! Sadly, it did not go well for the ship despite the best efforts of a passing carter who tried to help! Click below to watch the video and hear the full story. This tale …
Murder on the ‘Toward Castle’!
Our latest exhibition, ‘Song of the River Steamers’ is on display at our Heritage Centre and we have been having far too much fun reading through the extensive research folders of Charles Glen. Some of the stories are amusing, some are tragic and one even involves murder! Watch the video above for a short tale of murder on the paddle-steamer …
Duchess of Fife in War Livery
You might not know that, on the outbreak of World War II in 1939, most of the Clyde paddlers were called up for minesweeping – some of them for a second time, having played that role in World War I. Several were lost, and at the close of the hostilities only one replacement was built – The Waverley. Those that …
‘Health and Pleasure Cruise’
Our latest exhibition ‘Song of the River Steamers‘ is well underway and we are still finding gems in the collection of Charles Glen! While going through the wealth of resources and research of Charles Glen we’ve found this advertisement for a Health and Pleasure Cruise aboard the Duchess of Argyll in 1938. We do think it looks like great fun, …
‘Song of the River Steamers’ at the North Ayrshire Heritage Centre
All aboard for our new exhibition! ‘Song of the River Steamers‘ is now on display at our Heritage Centre in Saltcoats and features a wide variety of objects including models, paintings, brochures and more from the collection of Charles Glen. His collection was kindly donated to us in 2018 and was recently on display at Millport. The new exhibition is …
New ‘Cumbrae Queen’ Exhibition at the Museum of the Cumbraes
We have a new exhibition on display at Garrison House, Millport and it is all about a Cumbrae tradition that dates back to 1964: the Cumbrae Queen! For the last 60 years a different girl has been crowned Cumbrae Queen annually and the exhibition showcases the history of this tradition. Come along and enjoy video interviews with former queens and …
‘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!) …
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 …
A New and Unusual Exhibition
The following blog post was written by our Collections Officer, Louise. Our current exhibition is an eclectic mix of North Ayrshire’s history, with cases filled with objects from the North Ayrshire Collection. I got really excited when we had a break in our busy programme to show off our own collection, as I haven’t had the opportunity to do this …