March 2004

March 26th 2004

Congratulations to Primary 7 at Gardenrose PS. The young Maybole pupils set up their own business “Kebabylon” with the aim of encouraging the whole school to eat healthier snacks as well as finding out how to run a business. They also decided to enter their project for the Donald Mclean Competition for Enterprise in Schools and won! The competition is organised annually by Alloway Rotary Club in memory of the late Donald McLean, former depute Director of Education with Strathclyde Regional Council in Ayr. Last week Allan Baird, youth projects convener with Alloway Rotary, and committee members Iain Oliver and Douglas Graham visited the school to present the pupils with the winning trophy, a certificate and a cheque for £250. Mr Baird said that Donald McLean’s vision was to acknowledge the invaluable work done in local primary schools. “He envisaged a challenge competition where the pupils, helped and guided by their teacher, would carry out investigative and research work individually and in groups,” added Mr Baird. “Donald thought this would be an exercise in confidence building, educational advancement and personal skills development of the pupils,” he continued, “and he hoped participation in the challenge competition would assist the pupils in their preparation for senior school.” As part of the project the pupils set up a management committee of Lisa Campbell, Manufacturing; Claire Scobie, Accountant; Claire Houston, Secretarial; Iain Coleman, Advertisement; and David McCulloch, Buyers. “We wanted to make something to sell,” said a spokesman for the pupils, “and decided on healthy food and that fruit kebabs would be fun.” They had to decide on a name for the company and after considering some that were “OK” and some that were “just a bit silly”, they settled on Kebabylon. They also decided to put the fruit kebabs on straws because it was the cheapest way. They were all delighted with their win and Lisa Campbell thanked Mr Baird for presenting the prizes to the school adding, “We’re not sure yet what to do with the money but we’ll let you know!”

Pupils and staff at St Cuthbert’s primary school in Maybole came up with a good idea for Mother’s Day and raise funds for charity at the same time. Staff took along lots of items which the pupils could buy for a Mother’s Day present by bidding for at an auction. The lowest price was 20p so everyone could buy something, although some items went for a bit more that that and £115.60 was raised for SCIAF, the international aid fund. Catalogues were printed so pupils could see what was on offer and decide what the wanted to try to buy for their mums. Auctioneers were Jamie Cron, Amy Strang, Kerry McKeown, and Owen McDowall. Assistants were Robert McGougan, Annie Morris, Alice-May Morris and Stephen Sweeney.

A large number of members and guests were welcomed to the March meeting of Minishant SWRI by President Kathleen Hawthorn last week. The speaker for the evening was Sister Veronica Scully who entertained the ladies with tales from her days as a novice, a teacher within her order, retirement and her move to Scotland where she was introduced to the Rural. Having let the Rural into her life, Sr. Scully discovered a wonderful talent for craft and needlework. Stars of her display are beautiful hand made dolls, in particular one dressed in traditional French peasant costume similar in many ways to the habit worn by nuns until recently. Competition winners were: A pin cushion in any craft 1 Kathleen Hawthorn 2 Margaret Miller 3 Glynnis Tuck Fruit loaf 1 Janet Blake 2 Mattie Murdoch 3 Jean Eccles

Seven local primary schools took part in a swimming gala hosted by Maybole Amateur Swimming Club last Saturday afternoon at Maybole pool. Brian Connolly of J D Cameron’s sponsored the event which included Cairn, Crosshill, Gardenrose, Kirkmichael, Maidens, St Cuthbert's and Straiton primaries. Gardenrose won the MASC Trophy, with Crosshill taking the village shield. Gardenrose also won the boys and girls relay races, and full results were:


Breast
Boys P5	1. Stephen Sweeney 2 Brad Mellor 3 Jonathan Webster 4 Andre Queen
Girls P5	1 Caitlin Davidson 2 Rachel Montgomery 3 Abigail Sinclair 4 Ali Roy
Boys P6 	1 Stewart Freeburn 2 Jordan McCulloch 3 Stephen Sweeney 4 Glen Torbit
Girls P6	1 Louise Allan 2 Emily Hastings 3 Kirsty Ireland 4 Tamsin Lang
Boys P7	1 Duncan Sturgeon 2 Daniel Sweeney 3 Calum Laurenson 4 Calum Dunlop
Girls P7	1 Danielle Horton 2 Alison Baird 3 Claire Houston 4 Jodie McCoy

Back
Boys P5 	1 Christopher Rae 2 Daniel Wallace 3 Keiran Porte 4 Andrew Hudson
Girls P5	1 Amy Strang 2 Ebony Skilling 3 Abigail Sinclair 4 Jenna Dunlop
Boys P6	1 Blair Jardine 2 Derek Dorrans 3 Glen Torbit 4 Stephen Sweeney
Girls P6	1 Emma Alexander 2 Kimberly Gallacher 3 Amy Strang 4 Maria Slednere
Boys P7	1 Calum Smith 2 Robert McGougan 3 Alexander Hyslop 4 Ben Coultard
Girls P7 	1 Shannen Baillie 2 Alison Baird 3 Danielle Horton 4 Siobhan Wilson

Free
Boys P5	1 Christopher Rae 2 Grant Ward 3 Stephen Sweeney 4 Andrew Hudson
Girls P5 	1 Olivia Steven 2 Abigail Sinclair 3 Jenna Dunlop 4 Ali Roy
Boys P6	1 Stewart Freeburn 2 Blair Jardine 3 Calum Laurenson 4 Stephen Sweeney
Girls P6	1 Tamsin Lang 2 Emily Hastings 3 Vicky Hannah 4 Amy Strang
Boys P7	1 Iain Coleman 2 Duncan Sturgeon 3 Ross McCulloch 4 Daniel Sweeney
Girls P7	1 Alison Baird 2 Lauren McFadzean 3 Justene Farrell 4 Kerry McKeown

Relays
Boys 	1 Gardenrose 2 Cairn 3 St Cuthbert’s 4 Crosshill
Girls	1 Gardenrose 2 Crosshill 3 Cairn 4 St Cuthbert’s

Winning school	     Gardenrose
Winning village school	     Crosshill

March 19th 2004

Two years ago in February 2002 families in Maybole's Manse Street were ordered to flee their homes after council workmen branded them dangerous. Last week demolition work on the vacant properties started and our pic shows the rubble that formerly housed four families. At the time they were given three just three hours to pack up and move out of their homes despite having insisted that the building had been subsiding for years before serious structural defects were discovered. Three families were evacuated from the four-in-a-block building after council workmen discovered a crumbling supporting wall during routine work on an empty house. The families had complained about cracked walls and sewers for years and till then had no idea they family was in any danger. The houses were built more than 50 years ago on the site of the former Lorne Tannery and it seems that some of them could have been erected on top of abandoned tanning pits. The building was deemed dangerous by building control officers. The demolition work is being carried out by local firm J B Black who expect the rehabilitation works to be completed by the end of next week.

Maybole Community Council will be in existence for the next three years. The recent call for nominations by South Ayrshire Councils resulted in only twelve names being put forward therefore no election is required and there are three vacancies. The first meeting of the new council is scheduled for Tuesday April 6 and it will be chaired by Ronnie Sinclair, Community Education Officer with responsibility for the Carrick area until new office bearers are elected.

March 12th 2004

Thirteen-year-old Maybole boy David Donald is off to Thailand in July to take part in the World Amateur Muay Thai Championships. David started kickboxing five years ago training with Alan Currie at his gym in Ayr. David started doing Martial Arts to basically give him more confidence and for self defence because in this day in age his mum, Carol, felt he should have some form of training. As he got more confidence he started going more often and entering into competitions and he is now the undefeated S.T.B.A 38 KG champion two years running. David has also been made up to a junior instructor and holds an adult blue armband. His fight record is 6 fights undefeated and he trains six days a week. He and all the rest of the Scottish team train under the watchful eye of Alan Currie, former undefeated Scottish Thai Boxing Champion, former international runner, triathlete, 5th dan which is the highest Thai grade. Alan is also the president of the Scottish Thai Boxing Association. They all train at the Wossobama Gym in Ayr, Scotland's only specialized Martial Arts Centre, where other fourteen Scottish, British and Area Champions have been taught. All the fighters going to Thailand in July for the World Amateur MuayThai Championships require sponsorship because we have no access to funding via Sports Scotland yet and rely on fund raising events. David's mum tells us, "Sports Scotland presently will not recognise Muay Thai as a sport, even though it is now in the Olympics." Carol added, "Businesses or companies can help by sponsoring a sleeve print with their logo on it for £75 or a large chest print with their logo on it for £175 or a back print for £150. They are sponsoring one fighter and will have their company logo on five T-shirts, three hooded tops, two tracksuits and one sports bag." She can be contacted at 01655 883430.

Maybole has reached its broadband target of 500! Sarah Anderson, local campaign co-coordinator said last week, "This is great news - we've reached our target! We now have 500 registrations and they’re still coming in!" "This means that Broadband will be coming to Maybole," Sarah continued, "Though we may have a few months wait until the exchange is enabled. She has told everyone who registered on www.broadbandformaybole.co.uk that she will be in touch when the date is known for activation. Anyone interested is still welcome to register. Sarah concluded, "Well done to everyone who has helped the campaign."

Maybole Women's Health Forum is planning a night out on Friday 26thMarch. It will be a ladies only social evening with tickets costing £3.50.Anyone interested should contact a member of the committee or any member of the Forum.

The next meeting of Maybole Historical Society, on Monday April 5, will feature a talk on "Crime Scene Investigation. This will be a fully illustrated talk on the fascinating work of the police forensic department by local man Tony Kerrigan and it is open to all. The March meeting last week was very well attended. "There was a lot of interest in the subject," Dave Killicoat Society vice-chairman told us, "but before we got underway our own David Hunter appeared with some of his memorabilia in photographs. He realised, after they had been introduced, that it was about thirty years since he had last met Alistair Dinsmore who was giving the talk and he had no idea until he saw the poster that Alistair was now curator of the Police Museum." Dave continued, "Alistair was very careful to point out that this is not a "black" museum, very much more a museum depicting the lives of the people who actually were policemen, their lives, achievements, social history and conditions. In only an hour, Alistair showed us the remarkable history of the oldest police force in Britain, how a small force had gradually absorbed the even smaller forces from the surrounding districts starting with the Gorbals (formed 1813), Calton (formed 1819) and Anderston - absorbed in 1846 - and later Maryhill, Clyde Navigation Trust, Partick and Govan in the 1850s and 60s. He also outlined how the force was at the forefront of technology although the struggles they had to introduce good radios to the force resulted in one of the most senior officers having to go to the United States to bring back a car radio system and telling his boffins 'There you are! It can be done.' "He must have felt much better than John Edgar who 'designed' the first police boxes to be used instead of local Police Stations. They were modelled on Parisian street toilets - whatever did our foreign visitors think of the oldest police force in Britain?"

Maybole Community Council has been wondering what has happened to the Town Cross. At last week's meeting the subject was raised and community councilors decided to write to South Ayrshire Council to enquire. One member said he had raised the matter with Amey when the road was re-laid last year but nothing seemed to have been done to replace it. Maybole Cross has a significant part to play in the history of the town. Its charter was confirmed on November 14, 1516 by King James V, or rather his guardian John, Duke of Albany, as the King was a young child at that time. The townspeople were granted full power and free faculty to buy and sell within the town "wine, wax, cloth and all other common merchandise”, with the "power and liberty of having and holding in the said Burgh, bakers, brewers, fleshers and vendors of flesh and fish informal and all other tradesmen belonging to a free Burgh of Barony". The Charter also stated that "there be in the said Burgh free burgesses and that they have power, in all time to come, of electing annually Bailies and all other officers necessary for the government of the said Burgh". It also granted the right to the townspeople to hold a town market each Thursday and public fairs at Lammas and to have a Market Cross set up forever. The old town cross, erected about this time, stood in the centre of the High Street until it was removed in 1773 as it was causing obstruction to traffic which had increased considerably in the second part of the eighteenth century. Parts of the original cross are now in Maybole Castle grounds. Maybole Historical Society has also been wondering if the Cross will ever come back. A spokesman said, " The tourist season starts soon but it is just not the same asking people to imagine where it was - compared to asking them to look for the wee glint in the street which marks the actual spot!"

Maybole man Davie Anderson has been working on a new cd, which is a collection of Robert Burns' songs. The songs are up tempo yet still traditional backing and Davie has enlisted a few friends in the project. They include Jimmy Murdoch, bass, and Gavin Loch, drums who he reckons "are amongst the finest musicians around Ayrshire if not Scotland." "Without their help," he said, "I simply couldn't achieve the sound I’m striving for." Davie has had a busy time since the New Year at various events including a Burns' Supper in Germany and is off to St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Ireland. He has become a bit of an international artist ever since Bryce McCulloch invited him to join Maybole Pipe Band to an Interceltica festival in Spain. Davie also attended fourteen Burns' events in January and February. He has his own recording studio and it has already been used by local musicians and anyone interested should contact him at carrickrecords@aol.com or telephone 07812954778. Watch this space for news on the album release.

Guest speaker at the recent meeting of Kirkmichael Wine Circle was Mrs Anne Risk, Troon, who gave members a very interesting talk and demonstration on rubber stamping. Quite a number of members made attempts at producing birthday cards etc under her supervision. The vote of thanks on behalf of everyone was ably done by Mrs J Wilson. Results of the club winemaking competition were: Red made from a kit Dry 1 Mr J Leith 2 Mrs M McGawn 3 Mrs J Wilson Sweet 1 Mrs M McGawn 2 Mr J Leith 3 Mrs J Wilson The next meeting is on Thursday March 25 and the competition is for White - sweet and dry - made from a kit.

Maybole Golf Club is holding its AGM in the clubhouse at memorial Park at 7pm on Thursday March 18. Old and new members are welcome to attend.

At a dinner with his colleagues and partners Sub-officer Ian Wallace thanked him for his twenty-five years service with local firefighters saying how much he had appreciated Robert's contribution. They reminisced over the good times, the comradeship and glossed over the more traumatic times attending incidents. "On behalf of all of the crew," said Sub-officer Wallace, "We hope you enjoy your retirement and wish you all the best for the future." In reply, Robert recalled many of the stories of their times together including the laughs as well as the serious parts.” I will never forget these twenty-five years," he added. Two recent recruits, Kevin Murdoch and Dale Mullen, then presented Robert with a statuette of a firefighter.

March 5th 2004

Last month local youth groups were invited to bid into funds, which the former Youth Café held. All requests were carefully considered and it was felt that all had merit. Basically everyone got what they asked for- Maybole Youth Club £1123 for various items of equipment - Maybole Youth Action Group £1000 for a piece of equipment to augment the skatepark development - Maybole Bowling Club £440 for four sets of bowls for younger members - Boy's Brigade £300 for a lockable storage cupboard - Maytag £300 for a greenhouse to assist with programmes for their young Horticulture Trainees - Over The Rainbow £310 for equipment to be used to produce an 'information pocket' for young people

Maybole band The Haze will play their next gig in Glasgow at Fury Murrys (Behind St Enoch Centre), on Friday 26th March on Stage around 10.15pm. David Galloway told us, "We last played there on Friday February 6 and opened for three other bands." This time we have been asked back to headline and hopefully with the later start we will be able to get more of our following along for the support." Tickets are priced £4 and are available from all Band members however, if you can't grab one of them you can get one by emailing hazemusic@hotmail.com or by calling 07736052639 and ask for David. Other bands on that night include, Shrinking Violets & Laker.

This month's lecture organised by Maybole Historical Society is on "The Glasgow Police Force". Alastair Dinsmor, curator of the Glasgow Police Museum, was to talk on the story of the oldest police force in Britain and the careers of the personalities and characters who policed the city during 200 years of its history. Many of them subsequently policed Carrick. Mark Bain, of Connecticut, USA, saw the poster for the meeting on the Maybole web site and wrote to its co-authors, "Dear Mr. Kiltie and Mr. Pettit, I see on www.maybole.org that a History of the Glasgow Police is taking place on March 1 in Maybole. I thought you might like to have these pictures of Murdoch Bain (b. 1831, d. 1919), in uniform, who was for few years a member of that force, and then went on to become Superintendent of the Carrick Division and then the Irvine Division of the Ayrshire constabulary as described in the newspaper obituary also attached. He was my great great grandfather. I wish you success with the informative meeting and keep up the greatwork with the web site." These black and white photos and the obituary will be added to the web site in the near future

Last week some Tackety Bit Walkers went to Braemar where they climbed Benin A` Bhuirdon on a brilliantly clear day although the wind was bitterly cold. At the weekend other members were in the Galloway hills and had a walkup by loch valley to Loch Enoch and over the Merrick. It was a very cold wind but the views off the Merrick were really good.

Senior citizens in Maybole had a great day out on Saturday when the local OAP Association organised its annual Dinner and Concert in the Town Hall. Pearl Barton, chair of the association, would like to thank Provost McKenzie, Councillor and Mrs Hill, and Councillor Murray; entertainers Kirkmichael SWRI, Crosshill Guild, Jim Stevens and Mhairi; Jim Bryant for the PA system, Mrs McCulloch for the catering, Derek Walker, Safeway, Spar, and Carrick Round Table for two hampers which were won by Margaret Caird and Jessie Campbell. "last but certainly not least, " Pearl added, "I would like to thank my committee. Without them this event just would not happen."