May 2010

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May 2010

In what could be described as the first official Cluniac visit to Crossraguel Abbey in 500 years, Provost Winifred Sloan welcomed a 25-strong delegation from the Burgundian town of Cluny, its surrounding region and from Romanmotier in Switzerland. The party included elected municipal officials, office bearers of the Federation of Cluniac Sites and residents of French Cluniac sites, many of whom had a particular interest in tourism. more

Photo on the left: From left to right: Michel Gaudard, Chairman of the Federation of Cluniac Sites, Adam Ingram, MSP (Minister for Children and Early Years), Colette Xavier-Rolai, Deputy Mayor (Culture) of Cluny, Provost Winifred Sloan, Jean-Luc Delpeuch, Mayor of Cluny, Cathy Jamieson, MSP & MP, Christophe Voros, Director of the Federation of Cluniac Sites and James Brown of the Cluny 2010 Scotland committee.

Maybole Historical Society Castle Open Day Photograph L-R Elspeth Kidd, Myra McLanaghan, Nancy MacGregor and Helen McAdam (chairwoman). Maybole Historical Society held its first open day of the year in Maybole Castle on Wednesday May 19. This year is the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of the Abbey of Cluny in France which established the Cluniac order of Monks. Two Cluniac abbeys were built in Scotland - Paisley and Crossraguel and Maybole Historical Society's summer exhibition is entitled "Cluny to Crossraguel". The castle will be open throughout the summer (see local posters) and entry is free.

Maybole’s town twinning adventures started away back in 1981 when a group of four made an exploratory visit to the French town of Crosne to discuss the possibilities of linking up. That first visit was at Whitsun or Pentecost as the French call it and they had been organising carnivals each year at that time. Since then the carnival is held only every second year. Some twinners attended last year’s carnival in Crosne and this year new chairman Margaret Davidson decided to have a cheese and wine night for twinners over the Pentecost weekend. Margaret is 4th from left in the photo. more

Over the years, Maybole postman Alex Gemmell has walked hundreds of miles and raised thousands of pounds for good causes. This year he is looking for sponsorship for research into neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that mostly affects children. Alex will be donating the money he raises in sponsorship to Joining Against Cancer in Kids (JACK). The charity provides advice and support for children and families who wish to undertake innovative or experimental, (clinical trials), treatments for neuroblastoma. They also fund research designed to discover the causes of and cure for neuroblastoma... Alex is planning to walk from Inverness to Milngavie along the Great Glen Way and the West Highland Way starting on July 17. more


Carrick Primary class of 1949	Class of 1955 IIC	Class of 1955 IID	6th year 1959-60

During the past year former Maybole man Jack McLeish has been getting in touch with former classmates and having monthly re-unions in Glasgow. He tells us, “It has been suggested that we hold a meeting in Ayr so it is intended to get together on Tuesday 1 June. “Anyone who went to Carrick Academy with me, Ian Corbett or Margaret Miller (nee Sturgeon) are welcome to come to the Ivy Rooms in Miller Road around 11am - midday until late afternoon.” Jack can be contacted on 0131 339 4333 or email: jack.mcleish@blueyonder.co.uk

The 150th Anniversary of the extension of the railway from Maybole to Girvan was marked on Monday May 24, 2010 when South Ayrshire Council Provost Winifred Sloan and Community Councillor Alec Clark, Girvan and District Community Council, unveiled a commemorative plaque at Girvan’s distinctive art deco station. The celebrations, exactly to the day, were organised by the Stranraer to Ayr Line Support Association (SAYLSA), included a swap of commemorative plaques between Alec Clark and David Kiltie, chair of Maybole Community Council. Photo shows them with Richard Carr of SAYLSA. more

Sunday May 23 was a very special say for five young parishioners of Our Lady & St Cuthbert's Church in Maybole. Fr Philip Kitchen celebrated Mass and Zoe Cole, Josh Malone, Toni McLaughlin, Abbie Valdrighi, and Finlay Wright received the Sacrament of Confirmation and the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Afterwards they cut a special cake in the church hall and Fr Kitchen commented, "It was a wonderful community occasion, an occasion when the three essential communities of home, school and parish merge as one community, the community of the followers of Jesus Christ." Photo shows left to right back row Mrs Victoria Devlin, Fr Philip Kitchen, Mrs Gemma Rooney front row Abbie Valdrighi, Josh Malone, Zoe Cole, Finlay Wright and Toni McLaughlin

The feasibility study into the potential for transferring sport, leisure and social facilities in Maybole from South Ayrshire Council to being managed by the community was accepted without any changes by local organisations who met in the Town Hall on Monday April 26. Now the consultant who carried out the study will look into what the next step could be by setting up a meeting between local representatives and Lottery Funders who are apparently very interested in the project. The feasibility study was part-financed by the Scottish Government and the European Community Ayrshire Leader 2007-2013 programme. more

Members of the Junior Section of Maybole Golf Club would like to thank Alistair Fleming Ltd, Citroen dealer in Ayr, for their sponsorship. Jonathan Boyce, sales manager, visited Maybole Golf Course on Sunday to present the young golfers with £300 which will be used to help them in their training.

A golf festival was organised at Carrick Academy last week by Ryan Douglas, Active Schools Coordinator. In what was described as golf extreme, 58 S1/2 pupils took part from all over South Ayrshire and learned skills such as chipping, putting and pitching.

Councillor Brian Connolly presents trophies to the joint top goal scorers with Carrick Colts under 13 team this year. Lewis Wise, left, and Jordan Speirs both scored 17 goals.

Once again Carrick Academy proves that size doesn’t matter. On Thursday 20th May they defeated Prestwick Academy in the under 15s League cup final played at Kyle Academy. Prestwick started the game very well and forced some magnificent saves from the Carrick goalkeeper Jamie Miller before going on to take the lead through Darryl Crossens. Photo on the left was taken earlier before they left for the game. In photo at right is Captain Mark Nisbet with his cousin Ryan Nisbet who scored all 5 goals in a 5-2 win over Prestwick. more

Back row, left to right John Fulton, Kyle Callow, Keillan Cook, Martin Stewart, William Fleming, Marc Nisbet, Jamie Millar, Blair Howie, Jamie Green, Matthew Howie, Ryan Nisbet, Adam Copeland.

Front row, L to R Ross Sargent, John McInnes, Mr Clark, Mr Dunsmuir, Mr Kerr, Stefan Hillhouse, Fraser Wason. Liam McQuade played but wasn’t in the photo.

Pupils at Cairn Primary, alongside Active Schools Coordinator Jill Tomlinson, held their own version of the World Cup to raise funds for CLIC Sargent, the UK's leading children's cancer charity, supporting children and their families through cancer and leukaemia every step of the way. The pupils raised £103.80 and last week Ann McKee from CLIC Sargent was presented with the cheque.

St Cuthbert's Primary School‘s Eco Council has had plans drawn up to redevelop the school garden. They worked with a landscape designer and have come up with a stunning design. A few weeks ago, the pupils appealed for help to put their plans into reality. Some materials were required to complete the garden such as decking and slabs and also some muscle and skills. They would like to thank everyone who donated materials and those who turned up to help get the work started. They all enjoyed the hard work especially Mrs Campbell who was janitor for the day and got roped in to helping! more

Gardenrose Fringe Festival. After a successful Awards for All bid, a committee was formed to plan an event that would involve drama, dance, music and art workshops and performances, involving groups within the local area and also to celebrate a range of arts from across the world. The committee included staff, parents, community members and pupils. Weekly meetings commenced and a range of performers and artists were sourced. By the end of February a range of bids had been received. Staging was purchased and the staff and the school community were kept abreast of developments through newsletters and pupil and parent council meetings. more Photos by Barry Qua

Once again it was a day of brilliant sunshine, and again hundreds of local people turned out for a “Family Fun Day” organised by Gardenrose Parent Council. more

The complete text of the headlines above and more articles follow below.

ABBEY PLAYS HOST TO FRANCO-SWISS DELEGATION

Jean-Luc Delpeuch, Mayor of Cluny said, "We have received a particularly warm welcome in Glasgow, Paisley and now Crossraguel. The interest shown by government ministers, elected officials of South Ayrshire Council and members of the Scottish Parliament has been particularly pleasing for us."

Before presenting gifts to the Mayor and other officials, Provost Sloan commented on the ancient links between Crossraguel and the Burgundian town of Cluny. She noted, "The Abbeys of Paisley, Crossraguel and Cluny all lie just over 4 degrees west of the Meridian giving us a direct line of contact with the abbey whose 1,100th anniversary we are celebrating and the two furthest-flung abbeys from Cluny."

The monastic Order of Cluny was founded in 909 or 910 and it grew to be the most powerful in Europe. But the Order was abolished at the French Revolution and the great abbey was systematically destroyed leaving only 8% of it to be seen today. Guiding the visitors round Crossraguel, Adrian Cox of Historic Scotland explained, "Not only is this site the most complete medieval abbey in Scotland, it is the most complete Cluniac Abbey in the UK. Next year a French technical team led by Christian Pere of ENSAM, a technical college in Cluny, will, in partnership with Historic Scotland and Maybole Historical Society, conduct a digital documentation of Crossraguel and then we will see it in all its original glory."

The Franco-Swiss group parted with the wish to see as many people from Scotland as possible in Cluny for the climax of the year-long celebrations of the 1,100th anniversary of the Abbey of Cluny. paisley Abbey were sending 40 "pilgrims" and it is hoped they wil be joined by others from South Ayrshire.

Also see Cluny 2010 Celebration Programme

Maybole’s town twinning adventures started away back in 1981 when a group of four made an exploratory visit to the French town of Crosne to discuss the possibilities of linking up. That first visit was at Whitsun or Pentecost as the French call it and they had been organising carnivals each year at that time. Since then the carnival is held only every second year. Some twinners attended last year’s carnival in Crosne and this year new chairman Margaret Davidson decided to have a cheese and wine night for twinners over the Pentecost weekend.

Margaret has the ambition of seeing Maybole Twinning Association get back to what it was like at the start and told us, “I hope to try to revive the twinning and bring it back to some semblance of what it was 30 years ago. I also want to celebrate those 30 years as I feel the twinning is even more relevant now than 30 years ago with our involvement in Europe.” She added, “Also, I'd like to see more younger folk involved and we will be having discussions on the best way to involve them.” Margaret is 4th from left in the photo

Funding was also provided by the Council and Ian Hughes, Managing Director of Creation Ltd attended the meeting to hear the reaction to his interim report which had been presented in March. Assets discussed included Maybole Town Hall; Maybole Swimming Pool; all football and rugby pitches at Carrick Academy (including the all-weather pitches; Maybole 9 hole golf course and clubhouse; Maybole Memorial Park bowling green and clubhouse; football pitches and changing facility at Glebe Park; Ladywell Stadium; and the local skate board park. It was also agreed that a ‘full town’ consultation should be designed and rolled out as part of any Stage 2 process. See also Maybole Pathfinder Working Group.

Over the years, Maybole postman Alex Gemmell has walked hundreds of miles and raised thousands of pounds for good causes. This year he is looking for sponsorship for research into neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that mostly affects children. Alex will be donating the money he raises in sponsorship to Joining Against Cancer in Kids (JACK). The charity provides advice and support for children and families who wish to undertake innovative or experimental, (clinical trials), treatments for neuroblastoma.

They also fund research designed to discover the causes of and cure for neuroblastoma. Alex got to hear about the problem through a colleague in the Territorial Army, Chris Riddle whose daughter Vanessa learned last year that she had this type of cancer. Vanessa, of Loans, is Scotland’s first child to undergo a procedure which may be a turning point in tackling the condition. Chris is doing the Loch Ness marathon and Relentless 24 events later in the year but Alex is planning to walk from Inverness to Milngavie along the Great Glen Way and the West Highland Way starting on July 17.

The Great Glen Way runs from the city of Inverness along the Great Glen Fault to Fort William at the northern end of the West Highland Way. The route is 73 miles in length following closely the line of the Caledonian Canal. The West Highland Way links Fort William in the Highlands to Milngavie, just outside Glasgow, a distance of 96 miles. Much of the Way follows ancient and historic routes of communication and makes use of drove roads, military roads and disused railway tracks. Alex will be delighted to accept sponsorship for this cause so if you see him on his post route round Maybole just give him a shout.

Once again Carrick Academy proves that size doesn’t matter. On Thursday 20th May they defeated Prestwick Academy in the under 15s League cup final played at Kyle Academy. Prestwick started the game very well and forced some magnificent saves from the Carrick goalkeeper Jamie Miller before going on to take the lead through Darryl Crossens.

Carrick responded just before half time with an outstanding strike from the young Ayr United striker Ryan Nisbet. Early in the second half Carrick took the lead with the goal coming again from young Ryan Nisbet.

Prestwick continued to battle and had chances to equalise but it was Carrick who extended their lead to 3-1 and Prestwick looked down and out. An outstanding performance led to Ryan Nisbet scoring 5 goals, but don’t take anything away from the rest of the Carrick boys as this was truly a team effort. Prestwick pushed again late on to grab a consolation goal, but by this point the game was all but over.

Both sets of players and supporters were a credit to their schools and made this a very enjoyable experience they won’t forget in a while. The victory for Carrick Academy was even more special as this was the first time they have won the under 15s cup since 1976, and hopefully they won’t need to wait as long in the future.

St Cuthbert's Primary School‘s Eco Council has had plans drawn up to redevelop the school garden. They worked with a landscape designer and have come up with a stunning design. A few weeks ago, the pupils appealed for help to put their plans into reality. Some materials were required to complete the garden such as decking and slabs and also some muscle and skills. They would like to thank everyone who donated materials and those who turned up to help get the work started. They all enjoyed the hard work especially Mrs Campbell who was janitor for the day and got roped in to helping!

Pupils of all ages helped to sweep up the leaves Mrs Robina Campbell was a great help with the front playground garden The girls were a dab hand at the painting—look closely to the left and you’ll see they’ve dabbed their hands on the wall. The boys were too shy to pose for a photo. The adults did the heavy work—helped by some pupils. We won’t mention the adult who bet one of the pupils £5 that he couldn’t dig out a tree root when she couldn’t—has she paid him yet?

Gardenrose Fringe Festival May 2010

After a successful Awards for All bid, a committee was formed to plan an event that would involve drama, dance, music and art workshops and performances, involving groups within the local area and also to celebrate a range of arts from across the world.

The committee included staff, parents, community members and pupils. Weekly meetings commenced and a range of performers and artists were sourced.

By the end of February a range of bids had been received. Staging was purchased and the staff and the school community were kept abreast of developments through newsletters and pupil and parent council meetings. The pupil council decided on a name and bookings were confirmed.

After much planning and activity ‘fringe fever’ gripped Gardenrose. A gospel choir opened the event and every pupil wore a costume from around the world made by a very committed parent group. During the fortnight pupils, parents and the community enjoyed samba drumming from Big Groove; street dance with Jennie Campbell; Maybole Pipe band; Indian Classical Dance with Dance Ihayami; floral art; card, paper and felt making; Ayrshire Spinners; Country Dance with Wilma Brown; The Lion King with Alloway School of Dance; Saxophone and guitar performance and instruction; willow weaving; Jo Jingles; The Call of Africa with Creative Themes; Tapestry with Tracey Freeman and Vicki Ross; Sign Sing with Kenny Fraser; Scottish Singing with Mhairi Gibson and Jim Stevens; dance mats, and much more.

Carrick Choir joined the primary pupils to sing and Cairn Primary 5 went along to teach them some circus skills. Parents were free to attend the school at any time to join the fun and Rainbow Services Day Care kept the coffee shop busy.

The festival was a roaring success and exceeded the vision. It was an experience that will remain with pupils for a long time. Many have already joined clubs and developed new interests, friendships have been made and relationships and links formed that the school hopes will grow and develop. The final comment in the visitor’s book reads “What a fantastic experience the festival has been. Thank you!”

Once again it was a day of brilliant sunshine, and again hundreds of local people turned out for a “Family Fun Day” organised by Gardenrose Parent Council. The main difference was that last year they raised £1,900 and this year there was a clear profit of £3,582.32! Head teacher Mrs Mary Scott officially opened the event, assisted by two young pupils and members of Maybole Pipe Band got the music started as the stalls opened.

Throughout the day there was music and games by Travellin Light Disco, pony rides, Beat the Goalie - Penalty Shoot Out, rides, games, BBQ, raffles, sweets, pre-loved books, baking, Bric-a-brac, bottle stall, Craft Corner, face ainting, golf, tattoos, nails and hair, duck pond, inflatables, Emergency Services, teas and coffees, spot the ball, hidden team, frog hoopla, bash the malteser, bean bag in the ladder, wellie wanging, wheelbarrow of beer, wheelbarrow of sweets, coconut shy, stocks - sponge throwing, roll the coin, Rainbow the Clown - P7s, pick a lolly, scooters and bikes, and an ice cream van.

“The Family Fun Day” Committee would like to thank all those who have contributed by means of sponsorship or donations to secure “The Family Fun Day” for 2010. Their special thanks go to:- B & Q, West of the Moon, Boswells, West Kirk, Loudoun Castle, J Ian Gillies, Solicitor, Bella Mani, Ian Urquhart, Odeon Ayr, Odeon Kilmarnock, Brunston Castle Golf Course, William Grant & Sons, Taylor Manning, Beauty Image, The Rupee Room, Morrisons, Photo Studio Ayr, Stewart Travel, Ayr Racecourse, Ayr United, Palace Theatre, Nurseries Direct, Jamie McIntyre, Sorn Castle, The Greenside Pub, Somerfield, Trees Farm - Pony Rides, Carrick Round Table, Alan’s Ices, We Hae Meat, Girvan, A.D. Rattray Ltd, Maybole, Rainbow the Clown, Travellin Light, Mrs Johnstone. They would also like to thank all the local businesses that contribute to, other events throughout the year; and offer a special “thank you” to Jamie Miller for going back to Gardenrose to be their Goalie.