Ayrshire Coast: the best holiday I ever had
“I really do miss the sight of the Ayrshire coast, especially that part from Ayr all the way down to Ballantrae. It all stems from a school trek I took part in when I left school in the summer of 1946.
John Scarlett was born in 1932 in Kilmarnock, staying there until a transfer on the railway took him south to Kent in 1967. When he was seven, he had his first experience of riding on the footplate of a steam train. It was at Kilmarnock station, the week WWII broke out. One of the train drivers hoisted him onto the engine and let him ride up and down the platform (such an experience would not be permitted nowadays!) That started John’s love affair with trains, which continued throughout his life. He went on to work on the footplate for 47 years, in both Ayrshire and Kent.
Even when John left Scotland in 1967, he always remembered his Scottish roots and often fondly reminisced about his childhood in Ayrshire. Around the turn of the millennium, in his late 60s, he wrote the following account of a school trip he enjoyed, aged 14, in 1946.
“I really do miss the sight of the Ayrshire coast, especially that part from Ayr all the way down to Ballantrae. It all stems from a school trek I took part in when I left school in the summer of 1946.
“The weather was perfect. We assembled at Alloway School, where we had a medical before walking down to the beach at Doonfoot. Then, after a paddle in the sea, it was back to Alloway School, where we spent the night. The next morning, we set off by crossing over the Auld Brig O’Doon, made famous in Robert Burns’ greatest poem Tam O’Shanter. We walked over the Carrick Hills and down to the little village school at Fisherton. We finished the day with a walk down to the tiny harbour and village of Dunure, before walking back to Fisherton School. We then spent time working out the names of the various lighthouses we could see in the gathering dusk, across the firth of Clyde.
“The next morning, we were off via the Electric Brae (a world-famous optical illusion). Almost immediately we turned off down a side road to Croy Shore, passing the little goods station of Knoweside on the way, where I was to visit when I was in the Outdoor Machinery Section. Nowadays it is a caravan park. After the usual brief halt, it was along the beach and up a sort of secret staircase to Culzean Castle. We didn’t enter, but there was a large furniture van delivering stuff for the use of General Eisenhower. We were told the he had been awarded the top floor of the castle during his lifetime. We continued our walk through the long Culzean Woods and along the beach, to our third overnight stop at Maidens School. We spent the evening having a small stroll along the cliffs and out along the harbour type breakwater.
“Next day, we set off across the wartime runways that used up a couple of the old golf courses of the big Turnberry Railway Hotel, but not before we had a walk across one of the remaining courses to the Turnberry Point Lighthouse. There we had a conducted tour around the lighthouse before we were back on the road to Girvan. Once in Girvan we all had a trip to the shows, the beach and the harbour, before turning in for the night at one of the local schools again.
“Next day, we were off again along the coast road, passing Kennedy’s Pass on the way. It seemed such a big rock when I passed it in 1946, but when I last saw it a couple or so years ago it seemed to have shrunk to the size of a garden ornament. After arrival at our second last stop at Lendalfoot, we set about exploring the area. I can’t say I remember much except that there was a drought at the time and we had to do our washing in the quiet stream across the road from the little single classroom school. In the morning we were off on the last stage of our trek to Ballantrae. There we caught sight of Britain’s last battleship, HMS Vanguard, doing some kind of trials off the Mull of Kintyre. We spent the evening by having a walk to a standing stone in a field across the River Stinchar. Next day it was off by bus, back to Ayr, at the end of the best holiday I’ve ever had (before or since).”
John Scarlett (1932-2017)
Thanks to John’s daughter Helen Gabell, for sharing these precious memories from her dad with us. We couldn’t agree more! It’s a wonderful place for a holiday.
