Maybole has an amateur football team again.
Carrick
Amateurs, have recently had their application to enter the league
accepted, and last week they were presented with a brand new strip by
sponsors Reid’s Transport. Robert Laidlaw, of Reid’s Transport, presented
the strips, in the Argentina national team colours, in time for the new
team to take part in the Crosshill Summer Cup. There is a new committee
and George Logan takes over as manager assisted by Maybole man George
McCulloch but the team will have to start off in the second division. They
are hoping to work their way back up to where Maybole Amateurs were when
they were evicted from the league over a year ago. Maybole made numerous
appeals against the decision and even went as far as the Scottish Amateur
Football Association but were unsuccessful. The team had great support
from locals at their games every week and the new team is hoping that will
continue.
Maybole’s Carrick Colts 16’s team is pictured wearing their
new strips purchased through the sponsorship of Reid’s Transport of
Minishant, near Maybole. The boys wore them for the first time at the
recent West of Scotland Youth Tournament at the Old racecourse in Ayr. The
team made great progress over the two days going out in the semi final of
the plate competition, beaten in a penalty shoot out by the eventual
winners Mauchline Names : Back row from left to right Gary Cooper, John
Calderwood, Steven McConnechie, Ross Davidson, Jonathan Innes, Craig
McKay, David Hose, Stuart Coughtrie, (Coach Hugh McKay) Front row: Josh
Skilling, Dougie Barr, Steven Pollock, Colin Sturgeon, Mark Wilson, Dean
Hood, Andy Penman. They are still looking to strengthen their squad for
this season and any boy born in 1990 can contact Hugh McKay for
information on 01655 889692 They would also like to thank Reid’s Transport
for the strips.
The two Church of Scotland
buildings in Maybole have been sold. A closing service for the Old Church
will take place on Sunday August 7 at 10.30am and one for the West Church
on Sunday August 14 at 10.30am. Both services will be concluded with
Communion. From then on the united congregation will be worshipping in the
Baptist Church, on Carrick Street with worship commencing at 10am. Bill
Miller added, “Now that the two Churches have been sold at prices well
above those anticipated and that the site for the new Church has been
secured, detailed planning is rapidly moving ahead for the New Church. As
all regular members know we will be worshipping in the Baptist Church at
10.00 am on Sundays starting on Sunday August 21st and until the New
Building is complete. The Parish Church is very appreciative of the
generosity of all the other Churches in Maybole who have offered
accommodation and support during this period of change. Everyone is
welcome to worship with us and help with the exciting community work
ahead!”
West Church
has closed after more than 160 years. Like the Old Church, it has been
sold to help finance a new community church in the town. Also known
locally as the Glen Kirk, the West Church was built in 1842, and was the
gift principally of Sir Charles Fergusson of Kilkerran. But
minister/historian
Rev Roderick Lawson, 1831-1907, tells us the endowment of the church
was accomplished chiefly at the cost of his son,
Sir James Fergusson. Rev
Lawson was parish minister in Maybole from 1863 to 1897, and during his
time produced pamphlets, books and monthly letters which build up into
remarkable picture of a community during the latter half of the 19th
century. Roderick Lawson was born at Girvan on March 15, 1831 and went to
Newton-on-Ayr as assistant minister in 1861.
In 1863 the West Kirk at Maybole, still under the patronage
of the Fergussons of Kilkerran, fell vacant, and Sir James Fergusson gave
it to the young assistant at Newton-on-Ayr. Lawson was delighted to return
to Carrick, where he was to spend the 34 remaining years of his ministry.
He was inducted on Thursday, April 14, 1863 and this was followed by a
dinner which Sir James Fergusson gave in the Buck's Head (now Chequers
bar). Lawson's first Sunday in Maybole was a pouring wet day yet crowds
came from Ayr, Girvan and the neighbouring parishes to hear him preach.
Unconventional as always, he did not set out his aims and beg his
parishioners help in achieving them. But just as Christ had told his
disciples "Ye Are The Light of the World", he asked his congregation to be
the best they could be and shine brightly in Maybole. For the children he
produced question and answer booklets, or catechisms, on various subjects:
Scripture knowledge, Bible antiquities, the Christian life, the Lord's
Supper, Good Manners for Boys and Girls, and the Shorter Catechism which
he had published. He estimated that in the first few years of its life his
Catechism sold a quarter of a million copies.
When he arrived in Maybole he was disturbed to discover
that about half of the people who came to him to be married were unable to
sign their name, so he started Monday evening writing classes at Whitehall
School. Soon he had 100 pupils, and by the end of the session many of them
could write a letter fairly well. It gave him great happiness to later
receive letters from these people. To help these same people to save he
instituted a penny savings bank. Soon it was being used by the whole town
and was receiving between 20 and 30 every week. By 1887 the bank held
1,140. Lawson was disappointed that his temperance efforts never brought
the results he had hoped for, and he had a couple of other failures
trying to establish a Boys' Brigade and a working men's club.
When Maybole's best known fresh water spring, the Wee Spout
in the Glen, fell into decay, he raised 32 to repair it and put over it
the motto: "Ye may gang farther and fare waur". James Parlane, the Paisley
publisher who had printed some of Lawson's writings in The Dayspring,
heard about the minister's lectures and offered to publish his children's
talk on wild flowers as a pamphlet in 1883. The same year he persuaded
Lawson to expand another of his talks into a small book, and the result
was titled Crossraguel Abbey. From then on a book followed every year
until the end of the century. In April 1880 he began the West Parish
Church Monthly Letter. And it gradually expanded into a kind of local
Community News about the church, spiritual welfare, and a wide range of
news of Maybole and its people, local and afar, as well as his own
travels, and local history. Its circulation rose to 1,600 a month: 1,100
copies to local people and 500 posted all over the world. It was financed
entirely by voluntary subscription and continued for 17 years. Lawson also
donated 100 books to start a library for the town's Poor House.
He announced his decision to retire at the end of 1897 on
the grounds that he could no longer sustain the high standard of his
ministry, and he feared that to stay might damage the work he had already
done. On November 14 he preached his last sermon, and at a reception in
Maybole Town Hall the following day the townsfolk presented him with 250
sovereigns. He accepted the gift with some embarrassment, because he knew
it was made up of shillings and coppers they could ill afford but had
given willingly. But he would not accept an allowance from the Aged
Ministers Fund ,and was determined not to be a financial burden on his
successor. Lawson died on Monday, February 26, 1907, and was buried in
Maybole. In his will he remembered the causes dearest to his heart: 400 to
the poor of Maybole for their annual outing; 200 to the West Church
Sabbath School; and 200 for the upkeep of his wayside seats. Today he is
commemorated in the town by the street name of Roderick Lawson Terrace and
there is a bust of him on the stairway in the Town Hall. Closed doors at
church with a lot of history Aug 17 2005
At the closing service of the Glen Kirk recently a
presentation was made to Miss Jenny Graham who had been organist and choir
mistress for over 63 years serving with eight ministers. Willie Fielding
said, “Jenny was a true and faithful servant to the Glen Kirk over her
long years of service.” He told us that it was in 1936 when the church
organist resigned to take up the duties of organist in Maybole Old Parish
Church. At that time Jenny was a young student of Miss Oram, organist of
Cargill Church. She was recommended by her teacher to be interim organist
at the West Parish Church. Jenny felt she couldn’t do the job as a young
girl, however Miss Oram told Rev A Williamson, then minister of the West
that Jenny the pupil was very capable of playing the organ and so she was
persuaded to play for the next six or eight weeks until Tommy Bell was
appointed organist and was there for seven years. Jenny was appointed
organist in 1943, a post she has held ever since. Mr Fielding said the
church owed a great deal to her efforts in maintaining a choir which was
always appreciated by the congregation in leading the praise at Sunday
services. She was thanked for her faithfulness and presented with a
painting of the West Parish Church.
Mention the Cabin and most people would think of Coronation
Street but Maybole has its very own Cabin and members are looking for
others to join them in it. It all started over twenty years ago when the
former caretaker’s house in Maybole Town Hall was made available for a
group of senior citizens. It gave them their own place to meet to chat,
play cards and have a cup of tea or coffee. Over the years the Cabin has
lost members and currently is open on Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings
from 10 – 12 noon plus from 1.30 – 3pm on Friday evenings. It could be
open longer if someone was available to open and close the premises. It
has its own access of Whitehall through the Town Hall garden. Anyone
interested in joining the Cabin, old or young, is invited to go along at
any of the above times and they will be made very welcome.
Maybole Memorial
Park Bowling Club’s under 15 Open Pairs competition was sponsored by Liz
and Robert Reid of the Prince of Wales, Ayr. Winners were Declan and
Michael McClymont of Springhill Bowling Club, Kilmarnock. Runners up were
Jason Brannon and Samantha Drysdale of Ardeer Rec. Bowling Club,
Stevenston. The trophies were presented by Liz Reid, accompanied by club
President Ian Paterson.
Maybole Access Point (MAP) would like to apologise to all
visitors who have wanted internet access over the last three weeks. There
have been problems but they have been sorted out and the good news is that
the project now has broadband. This means that internet access is now
considerably faster so everyone is to drop in or phone to book (01655
882111) a free hour slot on any of their four computers.
The Scottish Community Foundation is delighted to announce
that two grants have now been awarded from the Big Lottery Fund fair share
Trust programme in the Maybole area. Maidens Bowling Club has been awarded
£14,819.70. This grant will be used to pay for the enhancement of the
existing facility by improving access, increase usage by other local organisations and to encourage local youths to try bowling as a sport.
May-Tag Ltd in Maybole has been awarded £60,704. This grant
will be used to employ a Rural Community Development worker for 2 years to
support and build the capacity of voluntary organisations in 8 Villages
within the Fair Share area, which takes in Maybole and the surrounding
district. The project will also develop a database of local groups and
activities and organise and manage a rural community funding and advice
conference.
The fair share Trust grants programme aims to make
long-term strategic grants tackling specific local priorities in each of
13 target neighbourhoods in Scotland. Maybole and Surrounds has been
selected as a fair share neighbourhood, and a ‘local panel’ of people who
live and work in the area has identified four local priorities which the
funding will be used to address:
• Connecting people and places
• Building capacity within the local voluntary sector
• Improving facilities for community activities
• Encouraging engagement with the local environment
In addition, priority will be given to projects which
engage young people. The Scottish Community Foundation is administering
the Big Lottery Fund fair share Trust programme in Scotland. For more
information, contact Helen Leah, Grants Officer, on 0141 225 6670.
The lights at Maybole High Street’s pedestrian crossing
have been causing an uproar in the town over the past few weeks. The
lights have hardly been working for weeks and there were at least four
attempts to repair them Residents and shopkeepers were having a terrible
time trying to cross as traffic sped non stop up and down the street. At
the August meeting of Maybole Community Council there were several
complaints and for a day or two it seemed that the lights had been
repaired. By the middle of last week, however, they were off again and a
call was made to Cathy Jamieson MSP which saw the lights fixed by the
weekend. No sooner were they back working and cars stopping on the red
when one vehicle was seen overtaking stopped traffic and going through the
red light nearly knocking down a pedestrian. The driver has apparently
been reported to police This is not an uncommon occurrence and just part
of the problems Maybole folk face on the High Street However, by Sunday
they were out again and Ms Jamieson was being contacted again. Pic show
some locals at the lights. When they had complained a notice was put up
beside the lights saying they weren’t working. The notice was too small
and as it was at the foot of the light no driver would see it till it was
too late if in fact they saw it at all as pedestrians walked past it.
|