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I was just looking over some of the pictures which you
have recently posted on the Maybole web page. This one in
particular grabbed my attention. I would estimate that the
picture was taken from the approximate area of my
grandparents’ cottage which used to be known as Seaview
Cottage. I spent most of the summer holidays with my
grandparents and used to awaken every morning and look at
this very same view. This would be from about 1939 to about
1943. The farm steading to the right is Castlehill, the
farmers at that time were the Duncans, the cottages in the
middle were occupied the Jackson family, they worked on the
farm. The farm to the left I believe is Balchriston. The
Jackson boys taught me to fire a twelve gauge shotgun which
belonged to my grandfather. In 1939 I was nine years - old
heady days for a young fella.
I enjoyed watching the trains run from Balchriston
crossing to Knoweside and the coal boats sailing from Ayr to
Larne. Later on during the second World War, I would see the
bombers from Turnberry practising their bomb runs along the
coast. There were many fatalities during WW2 training
exercises and you only have to visit Dunure cemetery to see
the headstones of many young men from many countries in the
Commonwealth. I can recall watching one aircraft in
particular and see what appeared to be a propeller dropping
into the sea. The plane went down and a few days later while
walking along the shore I came across a plane washed up on
the sand. I don't know if it was the plane I had seen
earlier but I can still recall even as a young lad, thinking
about the crew and what happened to them.
On another occasion I was at home in Cairnfield Ave.,
Maybole. I was outside at the time when suddenly out of
nowhere this Lockheed Hudson appeared at an altitude a
little higher than the surrounding treetops. I remember
thinking at the time Wow! Perhaps it was some other
utterance as wow was not a household word in Scotland in
those days, but I had never seen a flying aeroplane so close
before. Apparently some of the residents took exception and
reported it to the authorities at Turnberry aerodrome. It
turned that one of the crew lived on Cairnfield Ave., and it
was said that the entire crew got a reprimand.
Jim McAlpine, now living
in Ontario, Canada.
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Seaview Cottage Revisited - by Bill McCubbin
I have been reading with much
interest the recollections of Maybole in the
thirties and forties. Of particular interest to me
was the story about Seaview Cottage which
incidentally is still known as Seaview. If ever
there was an appropriate name for a house that’s it!
The view over the Firth of Clyde is indeed
spectacular. This picture was taken from the
opposite end of another one on the website shows the
view from Culzean Castle towards the Howmoor.
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 What
a wonderful winter picture of the Maybole railway station. I
was employed by the London Midland & Scottish Railway
Company from about 1944 until 1948 prior to my National
Service service in the British army in 1948 until 1950, in
1950 I returned to my railway job at the Maybole station
before I left for Canada in 1951. I was what was known as a
booking agent selling tickets, making up payrolls as well as
consigning packages and merchandise to all points in
Scotland and the UK. The Station Master at that time was Mr
William Riddell, he was actually native to Newmilns and as I
recall he had a son who served in the RAF during the war.
During my time at Maybole Station there was an upbound and a
downbound track with waiting rooms on each side of the
track. The traffic between Maybole and Ayr and points beyond
was very substantial in those days. My brother David, now
passed away was the signalman in the signal box which is no
longer there. Janet Cook the wife of Murray Cook was one of
the ladies with whom I worked during the latter part of the
war years at the station. The London Midland & Scottish
Railway afforded employment to many people from Maybole and
surrounding area.
Another memory springs to mind which has
an oblique association with Maybole station. A co-worker by
the name of Alfie Caldwell who had recently returned from
war service to employment with the London Midland & Scottish
Railway. Alfie, his wife May and their daughter Rita, lived
in the cottage at Balchriston Crossing which is on the Wrack
road to the Maybole Shore. Well I was going to Ayr, probably
for some reason or another and he asked me to pick up a box
of 12 gauge shotgun shells for him, which I did. I was on
the last train back from Ayr to Maybole, always the last
train in those days, and unfortunately by the time the train
got to Maybole I was sound asleep and ended up in Girvan, 12
miles to the south with no return train to Maybole. Alfie
was waiting at Maybole station for his shells, He eventually
gave up and went home. I had to hurry to the SMT bus station
in Girvan to get the last bus back to Maybole. I presented
him with his box of shells the next day at Maybole station,
with a minimal explanation.
 I
remember the station as shown in
these old
photos with the exception of the signal box which is no
longer there. The little addition at the gable end of the
building was the stationmaster's office accessible only
through the ticket office. The sliding door at the front led
to the luggage and parcel area and this area in turn
accessed the ticket office. I don't know if you knew of
Willie Sherry, he had a horse and cart and was an
independent contractor and was paid a certain amount for
each parcel he delivered to the station for onward shipment.
He got a lot of his business from the shoe factories in
those days. The next door was the exit/entrance for train
passengers and part of my job was to collect the tickets
from the incoming trains. The trains from Ayr were
particularly busy, especially the one which arrived about
6pm. When the rush of people finally subsided from that
particular train and I had time to look at the tickets in my
hand I quite often many things which had absolutely no
resemblance to a railway ticket. The next door was the
entrance to the lunch room where we enjoyed such gourmet
meals as a cheese sandwich held in front of the open fire on
a shovel, to toast it, and to be washed down with tea from
an enamel mug. The pavilion across the road on the town
green was also in existence at that time. Ah those were the
days.
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Jim McAlpine with
Skye. Jim is now living in Ontario, Canada.
More
of Jim's stories below
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