Tasting History Ayrshire Tours

TASTING HISTORY AYRSHIRE TOURS - EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PEOPLE AND PLACE

I am fascinated by the connections between people and place.  What makes a place?  What is needed to draw people together to create a community? Where does their wealth come from?  Who were the entrepreneurs of the past?  How do cities, towns and villages come about?

Thanks to my interest in local history, I have created my own Company - Tasting History Ayrshire Tours, THATco.  I am passionate about connecting people and place through celebrating the fantastic venues, interesting people and fascinating history of Ayrshire.  All our tours evoke a sense of connection between people and place through history.  Our present world is shaped by people and events of the past, and when we have a deep sense of connection with a place, it stays in our memory.

TASTING HISTORY AYRSHIRETOURS (THATco)

At THATco we provide a day out with a difference.  We visit beautiful buildings, admire awe-inspiring architecture, see amazing collections and experience quality providers of food and drink.  We are continuously researching and developing tours which highlight different aspects of our rich heritage.  We explore local history through captivating stories, told by our passionate guides.

Our guides are multi-talented.  They are actors, historians, singers, musicians, genealogists, chefs, costumiers, horticulturists, writers, researchers. They share a passion to pass on their knowledge.  

Our tour guides re-imagine characters from the past.  Who were their family members?  What did they wear?  Where did they live?  What work did they do for a living? and soon.  Our guides act as character hosts.  They dress as appropriate for the era in which they lived; they use the language of the era, provide information from the era and, in general, bring their era to life.

Of course, we have no accurate historical recordings of people, places and events from the distant past, so we must re-imagine how things were, and we do our best to be as realistic as possible.  

Where there are written records, these often provide different accounts of the same event.  For example, the Norse and the Scots records of the Battle of Largs differ considerably one from the other!  In re-telling this piece of history, we have to make our best guess as to how events unfolded.  

In our lifetime, the surge in electronic record-keeping allows us now to hold a wealth of information, literally, in the palm of our hand. This, in turn, presents enormous, but significantly different challenges for future historians.  We now have intimate, day-by-day records, photographs, videos and sound recordings.  Future historians will have to sift through these vast amounts of information which are all available at global, national and personal levels.

THATco TOURS

Our most popular tours include the Maritime History Walking Tour and The Millers & Merchants Tour. On the Maritime History Walking Tour, we visit the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine where we meet characters from Ayrshire's shipping and trading past. Captain Betsy Miller tells of her achievements as the first registered female ship's captain in Britain and Aggie MacIntosh recounts tales of living in tenement rooms at Irvine Harbourside.  The Tour ends with a visit to the Captain's tasting table where Island Slice Rum from the Distillery in Dumbarton is sampled!

On the Millers & Merchants Tour we visit the MYB Textiles Factory at Newmilns.  Once you step inside this Victorian Lace-making factory, you are faced with the sights and sounds of the lace mills which operate today just as they did over 100 years ago. The factory visit is followed by lunch in the opulent surroundings of nearby Lamlash House, built in 1890 as the Bank and Bank Manager’s house. Here, characters from the past give insights into events at the House over one hundred years ago and make links with the lace factory.

Tours planned for summer 2025 include

Heritage Walks in Eglinton Country Park Kilwinning, where Archibald, the 13th Earl of Eglinton, will show you round his estate and regale you with tales of the mock medieval jousting tournament which took place there in 1839;

The Mother’s Ruin Event, where Judith and Sal relay the story of their sordid pasts through the history of Gin production, whilst offering samples of Isle of Cumbrae Distillers Gin.

In addition to group tours, we also offer individual, personalised experiences.  For example, families may choose to mark significant birthdays by delving into their past in a particular place.  Or someone visiting Scotland may wish to learn more about where their ancestors came from. For example, I recently took a family from Canada on a tour of Saltcoats and Ardrossan.  They had traced their ancestry back to the 1770’s when their forefathers emigrated to Nova Scotia.  On the tour, they were walking in the exact places where their predecessors had walked. Their connection to place was obvious and their feeling of connection to their ancestors was tangible.  It was a very emotional moment for them.‍

THE ALLOWAY RAILWAYTUNNEL PROJECT

The Alloway Railway Tunnel Project is fantastic! It’s amazing!  The Project has engaged so many people of all ages and from all walks of life.  A previously dank space is now vibrant.  The characters are there on the mural for everyone to enjoy now and into the future. What a contribution to the local community!

There has already been a Tasting History Event in the Tunnel. Earlier this year, I brought a group of over 60’s from West Kilbride to Ayr.  We visited the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum and after lunch, we headed down to the Tunnel where Agnes Broun, Robert Burns’ Mother, introduced us to many of the characters portrayed in the Mural and told us their stories.  For those in our party who were unable to walk down to the Tunnel, we were fortunate to have the use of the Ayr Rotary Trishaws, so everyone was able to enjoy the day to the full.  

 We have plans to develop further tours which take advantage of the potential offered by the Tunnel, the Burns legacy and the wonderful Ayrshire scenery.  Keep an eye on our website and join us if you can! Tasting History Scotland - onlineV

Janet Martin

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