Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ailsa Craig
As you travel along the South Ayrshire coast, the giant mu
n-shaped island of
Ailsa
Craig
is an intriguing presence on the horizon, stranded as it is in the middle of the
Firth of Clyde. he island's name means “Fairy Rock” in Gaelic, though it was a less
than enchanting place for the persecuted Catholics who escaped here during the
Reformation. he island's granite has long been used for making what many
consider to be the finest curling stones - a company in nearby Mauchline still has
exclusive rights and sporadically collects a few boulders. In the late nineteenth
century, 29 people lived on the island, either working in the quarry or at the
Stevenson lighthouse.
With its volcanic, columnar cliffs and 1114ft summit, Ailsa Craig is now a
bird
sanctuary
that's home to some 40,000 gannets, plus thousands of other seabirds. Trips
to the island depart from
Girvan
, twenty-one miles south of Ayr. he best time to make
the trip is at the end of May and in June when the fledglings are trying to fly. It takes
about an hour to reach the island, after which you get enough time to walk up to the
summit of the rock and watch the birds, weather permitting.
TOURS
AILSA CRAIG
Boat tours
Several companies in Girvan offer cruises
round the island, but only Mark McCrindle is licensed to
land (
T
01465 713219,
W
ailsacraig.org.uk). The exact
timings and prices depend on the length of trip, tides and
weather, but generally speaking, these take place between
April and September with either one or two trips each day
(£20/3hr). Booking ahead is essential.
4
Irvine
IRVINE
, twelve miles north of Ayr, was once the principal port for trade between
Glasgow and Ireland, and later for coal from Kilmarnock. hose halcyon days are long
gone, and the town, sadly, has little now to commend it. hat said, it does possess one
of the region's finest museums, and for that reason alone, it is worth a visit.
Scottish Maritime Museum
6 Gottries Road • March-Dec daily 10am-5pm • £7 •
T
01294 278283,
W
scottishmaritimemuseum.org
Irvine's one major draw is the
Scottish Maritime Museum
, which is spread across
several locations down at the town's carefully restored old harbour. he main
exhibition is held inside the
Linthouse
Engine Shop
, a magnificent late nineteenth-
century hangar-like building held up with massive iron girders, moved here brick by
brick from Govan in 1990. As well as superbly documenting the many marvellous
feats of engineering, courtesy of engines and turbines galore, it's the superb array of
vessels that really catches the eye, such as the
SS Rifle
, the earliest surviving example of
a pre-fabricated screw steamer, and an ingeniously crafted paracuted airborne lifeboat,
designed to be dropped close to airmen forced to ditch at sea. Inevitably though, some
vessels recall tales of disaster, such as the
RNLI
TGB
, which capsized in 1969 whilst
attempting a rescue at Longhope in the Orkneys, leading to the loss of all eight crew
members. More mysterious is the story of Kenneth Kerr and his 13ft glass-fibre
dinghy,
Bass Conqueror
. In October 1980, while on his second attempt to row across
the Atlantic in the smallest ever boat, Kerr ran into di
culties somewhere off the Irish
coast and all radio contact was lost. he dinghy was found near Stavanger several
months later, but Kerr was never found.
hree times a day there are free guided tours of the nearby
Shipyard Worker's
Tenement Flat
, which has been restored to something like its appearance in 1910, when
a family of six to eight would have occupied its two rooms and scullery. Moored at the
pontoons
on Harbour Street is an assortment of craft, which you can board, including
a tug, a trawler, a “puffer” boat, a yacht driven by a wind turbine, and the
SY Carola
,
the oldest seagoing steam yacht in the country.
