Skares

Read and share memories of Skares and Ayrshire inspired by Frith photos

Happy days

To me there is nowhere like Skares was, and anyone who came from there will say the same.  Everybody knew everybody else and they were always ready to help anyone that needed it.  You could go out and leave your door open without worrying about anything being pinched.  In the summer we used to all go on a picnic doon the blackwater when it was nice, and we'd go for walks roon the pluck. My mother sometimes took us up to the Covenanters monument up the Knockdunder hills. She used to take us picking rasberries to make jam in the summer, and when the brambles were ready she'd take us to pick them and scribes to make jelly.  It was guid. ...read more here
Contributed by Rita Mitchell

The long walk to hire a trike

Millport to me was, as I'm sure it was to most who have visited over the years a place where cars were few and pedal power ruled. All my memories of Millport as a child involved a long walk over the hill from the ferry, then to one of the bike hire shops to pick up my transportation for the day. Even though I was quite capable of riding a bicycle I often hired a trike as they were big and stable and a bit of a treat. Millport was the only place that had bikes of all shapes and sizes. Trikes were for kids who could not ride a bike but on Millport, mainland rules didn't apply. I have fond ...read more here
A memory of Millport contributed by Ronald Andrews

Crossing the moor

My secondary education was completed after spending 4 years at Irvine Royal Academy. The school was broken into two buildings known as the old school (pictured) and the new school in Kilwinning Road. Classes were conducted between both buildings and often meant crossing the moor to and from either building. This was fine and considered a great timewaster in good weather but was a pain in pouring rain and ice & snow etc.

The old school was a beautiful building which was loaded with character and that also included some of the teachers who could be characters in their own right, the older of whom wore the black robes and generally carried a belt for discipline, although I ...read more here
A memory of Irvine contributed by Margaret Hubble

Living at the Cloch

I was a lighthouse keeper at the Cloch lighthouse from 1967 until 1972. I lived there with my wife Edna and our two children Andrew and Karen who should have been born there but she was overdue and so had to be born at the Rankin hospital in Greenock and the Midwife was very dissapointed that she was not going to deliver a baby at the lighthouse which would have been a first for her. All in all it was a very nice experience.

...read more here