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Below - Residents at Crosne Street show off their Easter bonnets on Sunday afternoon |
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The complete text of the headlines above and more articles follows. |
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April 2006 |
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The oldest building in Maybole is the Collegiate Church at the foot of John Knox Street, affectionately known to locals as the "Auld College" March 20 was St Cuthbert’s Day, and Fr Stephen McGrattan, parish priest of Our Lady and St Cuthbert’s Church, took pupils of St Cuthbert’s primary school on a tour of the now ruined building. Founded in 1371 it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the old church served its generations till the Reformation in 1560, when the Roman Catholic religion was abolished in Scotland. The last glimpse of it as a place of worship is in April 1563. By that time an Act had been passed declaring the Mass illegal. Despite this, a band of two hundred Catholics, "with jakkis, speris, gunnis, and other wapins," assembled there to worship God once more in the ancient fashion. After the Reformation, the building fell into disrepair, and was finally set apart as a place of burial for the Cassillis family, and for one or two others of the local gentry, who contributed towards putting a new roof on it; while the lairds of Culzean erected a sepulchre for themselves. The old vestry became the family burial ground of the Earls of Cassillis and there is a large stone detailing the members of the family interred in this old Collegiate Church and the ground around it. The first name on it is David, the first Earl, killed at Flodden; then Gilbert, second Earl who was murdered at Prestwick; Gilbert, third Earl who died at Dieppe in France (he helped to arrange the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to the Dauphin of France but refused to allow the crown of Scotland to pass to France and was believed to have been poisoned because of his stubbornness); Gilbert, the fourth Earl (who roasted the Commendator of Crossraguel); John, the fifth Earl (who killed young Bargany at Ladycross) and John, the sixth Earl, known as "the grave and solemn Earl", a great churchman and a Commissioner to the Westminster Assembly and the husband of Lady Jean who was wrongly accused of eloping with a gypsy. In addition there are the graves of John Kennedy and his wife, Margaret Hamilton, daughter of the first Lord Bargany and their son, Sir Archibald Kennedy (who shot Gilbert McAdam, the Covenanter, at Kirkmichael) and over their tombs is a large square stone set in the wall and carved with the arms of the Kennedys and Hamiltons. Some of the lairds of Baltersan are also buried in the Auld College, one being James Kennedy who died in 1609. Members of the Kennedys of Kirkmichael also had the right of burial there and Provost Kennedy of Ayr, who lived at Drummellan (or Machrie Mor), is interred among them. After the Reformation the "Auld College" reverted to the Cassillis family and it was kept in fair preservation for some time but finally became so ruinous that a public subscription was raised by the townspeople in the 1880s to clear up its surroundings and build the walls round it which stand to this day. Maybole’s Davie Anderson made the annual trip to Droghada in Ireland where he performed in two concerts to mark St. Patrick's Day. He was joined on stage by local musician Aine Downes who accompanied on tin whistle. Other artistes included local band Comaltas and Esbardu, a folklore group from Aviles in northern Spain where Davie and Maybole Pipe Band performed in 2002. Davie commented, “A lot of new friendships were made on the trip and a few old ones strengthened and I was delighted to be presented with a framed Tara brooch at the Saturday night concert. The warmth of the people and the reception I got was tremendous - flights are booked for the event in 2007 already! The weekend rounded off with the world famous session at the Railway Arms in Droghada where Davie joined 16 musicians in a feast of music both Irish and Scottish. This year’s gala week in Maybole will run from June 11 to 17. Details are:
SUNDAY 11th June 3pm -
ecumenical service at Crossraguel Abbey with buses from the Greenside
from 2.15pm).
ALL WEEK Gala Day itself will be on Saturday June featuring a Grand Parade from Carrick Academy to the Glebe Park at 1pm with prizes for best groups and best parasol/umbrella, VIPs, Maybole Pipe Band, The British Legion Scotland (Maybole Branch and Guests) Doon & Dunaskin Silver Band, Dalmellington Brass Band, Samba Band then the crowning of the Gala King and Queen, Fancy Dress, entertainment, local groups’ stalls, races, tug o’ war, pony rides, fairground and our local emergency services with a theme for this year of the Queen’s 80th Birthday and the 85th Anniversary of the founding of the British Legion in Maybole.
By- Pass Action on the 15th April
2006. He added, “We know that the report for a Maybole Bypass has been written and we were assured at the time that it would be published in the autumn of 2005. We now wonder which utumn that the Roads Minister, Tavish Scott, meant. He pointed out that this is the only safe crossing place on the A77 through Maybole, and that the problems with the lights were reported to Amey the previous Monday. He said, “On the Tuesday I telephoned Amey to be informed that there was a major fault underground. On the same day another member of the public also contacted them to report this fault. He was informed that the engineer had been out but his ladder was too short to get up to the fault.” Mr Mason had then e-mailed both Cathy Jamieson MSP and the head of Amey for this area and received an e-mail from Amey saying ‘Sorry to hear about the problem, but it will be fixed as soon as possible’. He told the protesters, “We all know the problems with these lights continually breaking down and drivers continually driving through on red lights. Why are none of these problems being addressed? Why has Amey taken a minimum of seven days to repair these lights, endangering the lives of all residents and visitors to Maybole? Why are there no warning signs out for drivers saying these lights are out of order? “Is the major problem for these lights continually going out of order, due to the fact of the weight of the heavy traffic and volume of traffic going through Maybole continually damaging the underground cables connected to them? “God forbid that there is a fatal accident at this crossing.” The By-pass action committee has also started putting up posters on lampposts and putting up signage at both ends of the town stating ‘that we need a by-pass now’. Mr Mason said that local shopkeepers have been very helpful putting posters up in their windows and the By-pass Action Committee is committed to escalating their campaign until it receives a satisfactory conclusion. The next action by Maybole Bypass Committee is planned for Saturday May 6 at 10.45am. Anyone who would like to be part of this is asked to meet at the Town Hall at that time. People will be a bit happier to see that the pedestrian crossing lights are now working again after two weeks. Peter Mason, who chairs the Bypass Committee, was angry last week at what seemed to be the runaround by Amey who are responsible for the lights which had not been working all across Easter holiday weekend, one of the busiest weekends of the year. There were also no signs notifying the public or drivers that the lights were not working. Mr Mason told us, “Last Wednesday, April 19, at 11am I was in Maybole Resource Centre talking to Peter Walker when Elizabeth Blair phoned upstairs to say that there had been an incident at the pedestrian crossing. I went down to see what had happened and was informed by that a young mother with three children - one in a buggy and the two others on each side of the buggy - had been walking down the road and had to move out to avoid the signage at the crossing. The child had to move onto the road just as a lorry came down the High Street and only missed the child due to the quick action of a local man. At about 1pm I phoned Amey’s press dept. to ask for a quote from them about the lights being out, to be passed through to their control room. I spoke to a Mr Watson and when I tried to explain what had happened with the signage just being put up he became quite aggressive and said that the signage had been put up on Thursday afternoon. When I said this was not right he said that they were put up on Thursday afternoon and had been checked every morning by Amey to ensure that they were still there. When I explained that there was a by-pass protest on Saturday morning and they were not there then, he said I was wrong and that they were there. I explained that there was another 50 people there, he still said I was wrong, I explained that I had photos of the lights and there was no signage in them (he said everything other than I was a liar). I went to inform the police of the next protest date and while there I asked if they had noticed when the signage was put in place at the crossing, to be informed that the first they noticed the signage was on Tuesday afternoon. Later I phoned Amey again and was told that the signage may have been taken down by the protestors or the police. When I said that this was nonsense, the person said she would investigate further and phone me back. At about 4.30pm x. Vicki from Amey phoned back to say that she had investigated further and she was sorry that there may have been a break down in information given to us at the start of this problem and the important thing was to get the lights fixed and working. I agreed with this although she was still adamant that the signage was put up on Thursday and may have been taken down by the police, the protester, or a third party. When I asked her to send me an e-mail of her statement I was informed that she would not be doing this as she did not have to answer to a member of the public. Maybole councillor Alan Murray has had word of progress on a bypass for the town. Malcolm Reed, of Transport Scotland which is an agency of the Scottish Executive, has written to confirm that the Part 1 STAG appraisal for the bypass is expected to be published in the next few weeks.
He continued, “The appraisal has involved an assessment of the existing difficulties faced in Maybole. It has identified conflicts between the level of strategic traffic, specifically HGVs, travelling through the town centre and the local demands on the High Street such as parking and servicing and pedestrian facilities. The appraisal links these problems to the restricted width of both carriageways and footways in the historic centre.
A questionnaire was also issued to 5,000 local residents. The results of this consultation were considered as part of the appraisal process.
Seven potential
transport solutions were identified and appraised against the standard
criteria of environment, safety, accessibility, economy and integration.
The potential solutions considered were:
Once the report has been published I would be happy to let you have a copy for consideration.” On a glorious afternoon there was some red hot golf played at the Carrick Speakers Club Open on Sunday April 23rd .Both Handicap and Scratch competitions produced some very low scoring with David McCulloch of Brunston Castle eventually winning the Carrick Sports Club Trophy, shooting a net 58, but only after a count back. The Scratch Trophy was won with a magnificent 63 by Stuart White of Girvan Golf Club who covered the inward half in just 28 shots. Other major prize winners : second, G McCulloch ;third, D Wallace ;fourth, W Smith ;fifth, J Houston ; sixth, G Knox. Carrick Speakers Golf Club would like to thank South Ayrshire Council for the use of the course, the greenkeeping staff for preparing the course so well and all sponsors whose generosity contributes immensely to the success of competition, especially the main sponsor Carrick Sports Club in Maybole. Club Captain, Les Newlands thanked all the committee and golf club members for their contribution to the success of this year's event. A Maybole resident is taking part in this year’s Tesco Race for Life to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and is looking for local support. Eleanor McLaughlin, 19 Elms Drive, Maybole and her family only moved to Maybole last year and says her inspiration was her mortgage advisor! “However,” said Eleanor, “just before we concluded our business with Vivienne McBeth she was taken ill and diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour.” Her details can be seen on www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/eleanormclaughlin. Eleanor adds, “Please dig deep and sponsor me online, and please spread the word too! I really want to help make a difference and I can only do it with your help. To those who have already done so, my heartfelt thanks. This is my first Race for Life and I'm no athlete! However, with the approach of the big 4 0 next year, it's about time I thought about getting fit! This year's birthday is on the same day as a school reunion which has led me to reflect a lot on my life since starting Mainholm Academy. I have had a lot of great opportunities since then - going to college, running my own business, getting married to James and having two wonderful children, Alice and Evan. Elizabeth McCreadie sat behind me on my first day at secondary school - eleven years later, my Mum helped nurse her until she died at the Ayrshire Hospice, aged 23. Mum was also around when May Kyle gave birth to her first daughter. May died in December 2005 but she enjoyed the same wonderful relationship with Ruth and Alexa as I have with my own Mum, Chrystel. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cancer Research UK will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you. (If you would prefer to sponsor me offline, that is fine too.) I want to raise at least £500 so I am really hoping you will be able to help - it doesn't matter how much or how little. Every penny helps. Please sponsor me now, and many thanks for your support.” The 11th annual Robin Speirs Memorial Golf competition was held on Easter Sunday at Maybole golf course. There was a good turn out of 22 competitors and the standard of golf was of high quality considering it was very windy. Winner, courtesy of a better inward 9, was Graham Lester with a net 65 (and best scratch score 74), second was two time winner Davie McCulloch with net 65 (scratch 75) and third was defending champion Bobby Green with net 68 (scratch 74). Food for the golfers, was supplied free by Callum and Lesley of the Maybole Arms, and many raffle prizes were donated by golfers and regulars of the Maybole Arms. The raffle raised £135 for the British Heart Foundation. Attached photo of (left to right) Paul Speirs, Bobby Green presenting the trophy to Graham Lester and Robina Campbell. (Bobby stood his ground with the wife this year and stayed out after the golf, to hand over the silverware.) Carrick Speakers Club. Dave Killicoat was the guest speaker at the penultimate meeting of the season of Carrick Speakers Club last Thursday evening. In introducing Dave, the President Bill McCubbin, made reference to the sterling work done by Dave and others to establish Maybole Historical Society and the excellent facilities that they had made available for research into family history. The members present were intrigued by the title of his speech, The Maybole Indians! All was revealed in a fascinating talk about the MacIlveans of Thomaston and Grimmet and how Scots from this part of the country became closely involved with the Canadian Indians. He also compared the Indian tribe system to the Scottish clans. It was a talk which was much appreciated by his audience and an invitation was extended to him to return next season to explain more aspects of his research work. Folk singing giants Gaberlunzie have contacted us to tell of their folk concert in the Masonic Hall, Whitehall, Maybole (above the Carrick Hotel) this Saturday 15th April. Also playing will be Davie Anderson and Bryce McCulloch and there will be a short talk on William Wallace from Rab McMurdo. Robin Watson and Gordon Menzies have been together as Gaberlunzie since the early 1970s and are well known for producing an exciting blend of modern and traditional songs. Essentially Scottish, with an emphasis on rhythm and harmony, Gaberlunzie has a wide appeal to audiences both at home and abroad. They have travelled extensively in Europe, Canada, United States, and the Middle East, taking with them not only Scottish music but also that other extra special ingredient - Scottish humour. The Gabs, as they are popularly called among their loyal following of supporters, have a wealth of experience in performing for a wide variety of audiences - from folk clubs to football stadiums, from holiday resorts to concert halls. They have appeared many times on television and radio not only in the UK but also in Canada, and the United States. To date, Gaberlunzie have recorded 18 albums and two videos. Their latest release Independent Scots is sponsored by the Scots Independent newspaper. In addition, they have been engaged in solo projects creating albums in different musical styles. Robin's are entitled Summer Storms and Colours. Gordon's solo album is Full Circle. The performance of the duo spans the breadth of Scottish culture. As singers, instrumentalists, and songwriters, their talents are impressive and Gaberlunzie's gift for entertainment is unsurpassed in Scottish folk music. This will be a special treat for Maybole people and doors open at 7.30pm with the concert starting around 8pm. Tickets are priced £10 and all are welcome. Unfortunately May-Tag Ltd of Maybole has closed two of its training projects, the horticulture ‘Groundforces’ and the I.T. Training due to changes in funding of training by statutory agencies. David Kiltie, May-Tag chairman, has told us. “May-Tag is still a local company limited by guarantee with charity status, with its own board of directors and company accounts and currently operates and manages Maybole Resource Centre and Maybole Access Point (M.A.P)”. He added that the staff and directors are currently working on developing new community projects, in partnership with the Cassillis Estate and others, on new innovative social enterprise projects such as community woodlands, community composting scheme, wood recycling project, and Maybole Castle.
All of these will bring new employment and training opportunities to Maybole and the rest of North Carrick. To date May-Tag has secured over £480,000 towards these new projects and work is on going on further funding applications. May-Tag is also working in partnership with Maybole Community Council, Maybole Historical Society, and Maybole Community Association on several local initiatives and projects to enhance the town’s environment and increase visitors to the town. The company is also in partnership with Maybole & District Seniors Forum and Over the Rainbow on a new one-stop-shop facility.
Over the last sixteen years May-Tag has had many different projects through which over twenty thousand local people have been assisted with training and employment opportunities. From these projects around £5 million has been brought into the local economy. May-Tag Ltd headquarters are located at 48/50 High Street, MAYBOLE, and staff would welcome visitors and enquires on May-Tag’s future development. Mr Kiltie added, “May-Tag is still an integral part of Maybole and plans to work with others to bring new innovative projects to the town.” Bishop John Cunningham, Diocese of Galloway, visited Our Lady & St Cuthbert's Church in Maybole on Easter Sunday morning to celebrate Mass with Fr Stephen McGrattan. Bishop Cunningham officially installed Fr Stephen as parish priest explaining that when he had been appointed to Maybole in November 2004 he had been the "administrator" as he had not been a priest for long enough. The bishop also presented certificates to children who had recently been confirmed. PONTOON GOLF CLUB WINNERS 2005 MEDALS MARCH R.SCOTT APRIL R.SCOTT MAY A.GEMMELL JUNE P.SPIERS AUGUST W.WESTCOTT SEPT R.GREEN OCTOBER A.GEMMELL MEDAL WINNERS CUP W.WESTCOTT BOGEY COMP P.CONWAY SPRING OUT P.CONWAY 2ND K MCSORLEY STABLEFORD K.McSORLEY SUMMER OUT P.CONWAY 2ND R.DOBBIE C.MILLIGAN TR K.McSORLEY JUDY SHAW A.GEMMELL. LADIES PRIZE ISOBELL GEMMELL 5 CLUB TROPHY A.GEMMELL V/CAPT PRIZE A.GEMMELL WINTER OUT R.McDOWALL 2nd P.CONWAY SENIORS P.CONWAY SAS TROPHY P.SPIERS A.GEMMELL BIRDIE TROPHY A.GEMMELL C.MILLIGAN CLUB CHAMP SINGLES P.CONWAY 2nd W.WESTCOTT Last Thursday April 13 was a special day for Mrs Nell Samson, chair of Crosne Street Residents group. She presented a cheque for £1,000 to Isobel Montgomery of Marie Curie Cancer Care saying that the funds had been raised as part of the Great Daffodil Appeal. “We have raised this amount in less than a month,” added Mrs Samson, “and we had a wonderful, wonderful time doing so. We enjoyed ourselves so much and there was lots of laughing. Thank you to all who kept their purses open to help the Marie Curie fund.” In accepting the cheque, Mrs Montgomery, Fundraising Co-ordinator, said she was “Thunderstruck” when she found out how much had been raised by the residents of Crosne Street Sheltered Housing Unit. She continued, “This is a fantastic amount and very much appreciated. I must also compliment Mrs Samson on her wonderful speech, given with no written notes – truly straight from the heart.” Also attending were, David Burns and Linda Challis, South Ayrshire Council Housing Dept, other residents, Pat Docherty, Warden, as well as Sadie McKay, Nicola Dochertyand Kerrie Docherty, volunteers. To add to the day there was a surprise champagne reception for Mrs Samson who was 95 that day. There was birthday cake provided by Betty Falconer and flowers from Crosne Street residents. And by a strange quirk of fate Mrs Samson had been born in the same year that Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Through her discovery of radium, Marie Curie paved the way for nuclear physics and cancer therapy. Nell Samson was born in Townhead, Glasgow on 13th April 1911, the year of the coronation of King George V. Also born that year were Ronald Reagan, Maureen O'Sullivan, Vincent Price, Ginger Rogers and Roy Rogers. Nell came to Maybole in 1971 from New Zealand where she had lived for a time due to her husband's poor health and she and her daughter Jean Falconer were founder members of Maybole Community Council in 1977 and ran a business together in the town.Jean was asked by Kenneth Roy, who lived in Maybole Castle, to help him start West Sound, which she did. She had her own Country and Western programme but her health was not so great and she left there and went to Girvan as editor of the Girvan Gazette. When her health deteriorated she worked from home. In 1986 she was told she had cancer and she died at the early age of 49 that year. Nell was also in the Community Association for many years, but gave up both after Jean died. She has been a member of "Opportunities In Retirement" in the town and was Treasurer for ten years. She is currently chairperson of the Crosne Street Residents Association. A few years ago Nell says she was very proud to receive a Maybole Community Council Scroll in recognition of her services to the community. She had it framed and put on her wall. Nell used to knit slippers for charity, but since she lost the sight of one eye, she cannot do so any more. She enjoyed doing that and must have knitted hundreds of slippers which she sold for £1 or £1.50 and sent the money to the Children's Hospice Association of Scotland. She thanked everyone for making her day special and added, “When I moved to Crosne Street in 1992 somebody said I was coming here to die. “I didn’t,” she said, “I came here to live! I have a new lease of life and we have tremendous fun!” To other residents and staff she said,” Thank you for all your kindness – I don’t know what I would do without you.” Events that took place in Crosne Street Sheltered Housing Unit Maybole during March and April.
Pancake Tuesday 9th March, 2006
Soup & Pudding Lunch 16th March, 2006 - Raffle &
Donations
Bring and Buy Sale Coffee Morning 30th March, 2006 -
Raffle & donations
Easter Bunny Lunch 1st April, 2006 Rafflle & Donations
Crosne Street Residents Lunch on 8th April, 2006 |
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