Five stations in Ardrossan - now only three left!

[@Dunbardoddy]

Beautiful summer day in Ardrossan. Which reminds me that I hated going away on summer holidays when I was growing up in Seamill back in the 1960s...

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

Thanks for sharing your memories

[@michaelhammond5412]

Southend on Sea has many more than 3 stations !

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

Thanks for your comment. I was thinking of the three stations with the name beginning Southend. No offence meant to Prittlewell!

[@diane6836]

Brilliant

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

Thanks for your comment.

[@fhwolthuis]

Happy New Year, Clive!

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

And you Frank - nice to see you again on here.

[@scottc1589]

Quite nice! I didn't know about the ferries to Aaron moving to Troon for the pier upgrade. I can look it up, but do you happen to know what form the train/ferry connection from Glasgow will take during the upgrade? I can't explain why, but from the first time I saw it, Ailsa Craig has had a hold on me, so seeing it in the distance was an added bonus. Peace, happiness and health in the new year Clive! 🕊

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

I believe there will be a bus connection from Troon station, but the details will appear when CalMac put the summer timetable online. The sailing time from Troon is about 1hr 10 mins so there will be a different timetable. You could also walk from Troon station to the ferry terminal as it's not that big a town. Ailsa Craig is also visible from the Campsie Fells, north of Glasgow, if you know where to look. On a clear day, for example on a sunny and frosty March day when there's no heat haze.

[@scottc1589]

Thanks for the info! Knowing CalMac, I'd take their schedule with several rather large grains of salt this far out anyway, so I'll keep checking their website, but I didn't know a thing about the Troon detour until you mentioned it. Speaking of 'far out,' I looked on a map to find the Campsie Fells. It 'curls' my mind that Ailsa Craig is visible from there on a clear, crisp day. Sounds like a great winter hike with the right conditions.

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

@@scottc1589 Yes, from Meikle Bin or Holehead. You can also see the peaks of Arran from Airdrie, there is a road in Airdrie called Arran Drive, and a house on it called Arran View. Best in June, late evening, with the sun going down.

[@borderlands6606]

@@Clivestravelandtrains Apropos of very little, Ailsa Craig was also the name of LTC Rolt's narrow boat. A four month trip he made on the Ailsa Craig at the outbreak of WW2, and the resulting book, lead directly to the creation of the Inland Waterways Association.

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

@@borderlands6606 Oddly enough, I have a first edition copy of Tom Rolt's book "Narrow Boat" published in 1944. I thought his boat was called "Cressy" but that could have been an abreviation of Ailsa Craig. Thanks for your comment.

[@yg5444779x]

The monument on Castle Hill is not a war memorial but is to the memory of local philanthropist Doctor Alexander McFadzean.

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

Thanks for pointing that out. I like it when local people add extra knowledge to my films. I should have checked my facts first, as I realised on a subsequent visit to Ardrossan that I'd dropped a clanger, but unfortunately once a video is posted on KZbin you can't edit things like that - apart from adding a sub-title, which I will do next time I have a film management session..

[@robertfoulkes1832]

There are a LOT more than 3 stations in Manchester!

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

Thanks for your comment. I was thinking of stations with name beginning Manchester. Should have included Manchester Airport I suppose!

[@briannettlefold5484]

The station referred to as "Ardrossan North" was also known as "Ardrossan Montgomerie Street". And continuing along the CR line to Stevenston Junction, the other stations on that line were Saltcoats North and Stevenston Moorpark. Incidentally, British Railways used the names "South Beach" instead of Ardrossan South Beach and "Saltcoats Central" instead of just Saltcoats. For images of the stations in their final days, see kzbin.info/www/bejne/boLYiKR3mNaHd8U

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

Thanks for your comment, it's interesting how station names have altered over the years. Ardrossan South Beach appears like that in my 1959 British Railways timetable. I hadn't come across Montgomerie Street before - maybe that was a local name as Montgomerie Street was nearby. The 1923 railway atlas published by Ian Allan simply shows it as Ardrossan Caledonian. I intend to do a similar film about Saltcoats in the future and will cover the name changes in that.