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Millport
Millport maps
Historic maps of Millport and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Millport maps
Millport area books
Displaying 1 of 2 books about Millport and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Millport
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Millport.
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The Long Walk to Hire A Trike
Millport to me was, as I'm sure it was to most who have visited over the years a place where cars were few and pedal power ruled. All my memories of Millport as a child involved a long walk over the hill from the ferry, then to one of the bike hire shops to pick up my transportation for the day. Even though I was quite capable of riding a bicycle I often hired a trike as they were big and stable and a bit of a treat. Millport was the only place that had bikes of all shapes and sizes. Trikes were for kids who could not ride a bike but on Millport, mainland rules didn't apply. I have fond memories of racing my cousins and sister along the beach front. I was a tourist from Saltcoasts then, now I live in Perth, Western Australia. There is an island not far off the coast here called Rottnest. Cars are also few and far between and pedal power still rules... Read more
Isle of Cumbrae memories
Seafront Zoo
I have vague memories of a zoo on the water front at Largs. It definitely had a monkey that got loose inside the small building on occasions and would steal your scarf. There may also have been various birds. Can anyone refresh or debunk this memory? Any details would be welcome.
Nardini's
I was only a boy of 13 maybe 14 but we Kilbirnie folk regularly did the casual work, waitering ect, to the bus runs. Then on a Saturday night it was a great dance hall. I remember well dancing the night away with some middle-aged bit. The walk home over the Halyie brae was not so much fun but I always got back.
Sea-Front Zoo
I remember the zoo, I used to work in it. Email: teddieboyce@talktalk.net
Rothesay in Wartime
My father, 'John' Johnson, was a chaplain in the Royal Navy from 1943-46. He was based on HMS Cyclops, the submarine depot ship, in Rothesay harbour The family accompanied him to Rothesay and we lived at 2, Desmond Bank for a time and in other places. My Dad occasionally helped with services at a Presbyterian church in Rothesay. I attended school for the first time in Rothesay with my elder brother Tim.
My memories of the area are dim but I visited last summer and revived some of them. I remember from my childhood some high swings at Kilchattan bay (no longer there) and finding a duck egg while walking in woods at Ascog (later put into a cake by Mum!). I remember a boy taking us to a pond and saying to us 'If ye're not there in two ticks, I'll murder ye!' - still the only thing I can say in a convincing Scottish accent! I remember VE day with the ships lit up in the bay.
Last... Read more
A Sort of Evacuee...
My family have been on Bute for many hundreds of years but I was born in South Wales...Dad was a master Mariner and died in 1935. I have written a description of boyhood on Bute through the War and this is in the Bute Sons and Daughters Genealogical site. We lived at Ardbeg point all through the war and saw the Subs, Midget Subs, Frogmen, Commandos and landing craft together with the damaged ships being brought in with survivors and boats still burning in some cases... It was an exciting time to be a boy on Bute!
Of course, I remember the Trams, miniature Railway at Ettrick Bay etc. There don't seem to be many of us left!
BLAIR CASTLE AND GARDENS
From 1975-1985 approx, when we were kids from Dalry we lived in the estate below Blair House about 1 mile from main entrance,The Blair Scheme. Myself and a few lads and girls from there used to go up there walking at evenings and weekends, as you turned into the main drive through those large black gates with stone pillars and walls to match there was a gate house, in all my years up there I never saw anyone in or around, but you knew there were eyes watching you. We walked towards the forester's lodge, we would pass through the high archway of trees bowed over like a protective tunnel of golden leaves and branches high above us. As we neared the forester's lodge we would cross over a bridge with wrought-iron railings, half of which had fallen down into water passing underneath, to the left is the lodge, to the right on the bend is what, if I can remember, was a willow tree whose branches touched the... Read more
