The Irvine that was!

This photo was taken from George McMaster's Collection.

This photo was taken by George McMaster. This view is taken from the steeple of Irvine Old Parish Church: in the foreground are the villas and houses which reached down towards the River Irvine from Kirkgate; the Water Bridge is in the middle of the frame, with the WIlson Fullarton Church and Waterside curving round along the west bank of the River; in front of the Wilson Fullarton are the shops and pubs of Central Fullarton; and the houses and tenements of Friars Croft, New Street and Church Street beyond. At the top of the picture you can see the River Irvine as it doubles back on itself, to join with the estuary of the River Garnock in Scotland's Ancient Atlantic Gateway - Irvine Harbour. The Ardeer Peninsula, home of one of Alfred Nobel's first dynamite factories, lies at the top of the photograph.

This photo was taken by George McMaster.

This photo was taken by George McMaster.

This photo is taken from George McMaster's Collection. We are looking westward to the harbour from a few yards beyond the Water Bridge. The elegant arched stone railway bridge, which crosses the street in the distance, has been replaced by the less attractive iron one which we have today. The road to the left is Loudoun Street, the one to the right is Waterside. Not one structure which is seen here has survived to redevelopment of the area. Had the laws, then available to the local authority (Irvine Town Council), been used properly, this would have been designated as Conservation Area in 1967; instead of which, the area was completely wiped from the map by 1975.