Ayrshire coastal view sparks wartime memories

Feb 6 2009 by Edwin Lawrence

A CLASSIC Ayrshire coastal view has sparked memories for a 79-year-old ex-pat in Canada.

Jim McAlpine from Ontario is an avid viewer of the award-winning Maybole website.

And this picture grabbed his attention, prompting him to post this message.

He writes: “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 by the Jackson family who 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.”

Jim goes on: “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 seeing 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.”

He continues: “On another occasion I was at home in Cairnfield Avenue, 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! But 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 out that one of the crew lived on Cairnfield Avenue, and it was said that the entire crew got a reprimand.”

The Maybole website can be found at www.maybole.org