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Rankinston
Rankinston maps
Historic maps of Rankinston and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Rankinston maps
Rankinston photos
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Rankinston area books
Displaying 1 of 2 books about Rankinston and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Rankinston
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memories of Rankinston.
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I Was Born in Rankinston
I had many very happy years spending my summer hols with my wee Granny and Grampa Bowman! I met my first love there too!
Ayrshire memories
School
I remember my first day at St Xaviours in Dalmelington. It was run by nuns who were very strict. I wore a uniform like St Trinians (I cant remember what it was called - Gymslip maybe?). I got the ruler on my hand for dipping my finger in the inkwell on the desk. I was only 4 or 5 at the time. The bus stop to go home was on the main road next to a barn with horses in it. The old bridge was still in use when I went to school. The new bridge was being built, it must be over fifty years old now. How time flies. My dad was a miner and we lived in brand new houses with inside bathroom and toilet. We had our own back and front garden, I think the street was called Barnsheen Ave (16).
Aroon'' The Raws
AROON THE RAWS
l9th.March, 1980
Memories of bygone days,
We now live in different ways,
A modem world..treats us proudly,
This we acclaim, oh so loudly,
Yet somewhere, hidden in our minds,
We all live in different times,
Mine is runnin’ doon the raws,
Late for schule, get the tawse,
Big Annie, pokin’ on ma airm,
Though awfu’ sair, it did nae harm,
Keekin’ in the Readin’ Room,
See the smoke go swirlin’ roon,
Joiner Tham’s horse an’ cairt,
Sittin’ high, an’ feelin’ smert,
Maggie Hazel’s cups o’ peas,
“Sa’t an pepper”? “Yes please”,
Doon tae Neillie’s,pinchin’ eggs,
Through the nettles, stingin' legs,
Sneakin’ ahin’ the playgr’un’ wa’,
Rabbie’s gairden’s lookin’ braw,
Tumshies, grosits, carrots tae,
We’ve got enough, we’ll away,
Johnnie Widburn roars an’ shouts,
Will the snotter put oot his dout,
Roon the loch for stankies’ nests,
Happy Days
To me there is nowhere like Skares was, and anyone who came from there will say the same. Everybody knew everybody else and they were always ready to help anyone that needed it. You could go out and leave your door open without worrying about anything being pinched. In the summer we used to all go on a picnic doon the blackwater when it was nice, and we'd go for walks roon the pluck. My mother sometimes took us up to the Covenanters monument up the Knockdunder hills. She used to take us picking rasberries to make jam in the summer, and when the brambles were ready she'd take us to pick them and scribes to make jelly. It was guid. We used to take our mother's clothes pole and loup the burn. At Halloween we'd go roon knocking on doors and we'd sing or say a poem and get sweeties, nuts and fruit. We were always made welcome. At Hogmanay some folk would go first fittin'. My granny (Meg... Read more
Annbank Hotel
I remember my dad asking me to go to the hotel in Annbank for his fags (funny how it was always at night), if it wasn't for the promise of getting a bag of crisps for going, I'd surely never go. This was the most scariest hotel, in the most scariest wood I'd ever seen. Sadly in the mid 1960s the old place got knocked down. Now that time has passed, I always think of the old hotel with affection. I no longer live in Annbank, I live in Barnsley, South Yorkshire now, but I always make a pilgrimage to my old home and stand where once the hotel stood, overlooking the river Ayr.
Primary School
St Quivox had a primary school in the 1950s and while my family lived in farm cottages near Prestwick airport, my brother and I attended the school. The only two teachers were a married couple but I cannot remember their names. We had to move from the area when the cottages we lived in were being demolished because another runway was to be built for the airport. That said, it was a nice area to live and we often walked to the beach at Prestwick or Ayr. However, I do not have such happy memories of the school, for example at the Christmas party every child got a present except my brother and I merely because we had not been at the school long enough. My father was a farm worker and, as is well documented, such workers moved around the country on a regular basis but being left out at Christmas never happened at any of the other schools. I was at 11 primary schools during the years 5 and... Read more
Does Anyone Remember The Rag And Bone Men?
Does anyone remember the rag and bone men that used to come round the scheme looking for old rags etc? I was so desperate to own a red balloon, nothing was to stand in my way, but where would I get enough good quality rags from? Being a wee lassie and not really understanding,that you shouldn't take your mums best towels, and sheets got me into hot water. My poor wee mum had to chase the rag and bone man down the road to retrieve her stuff.........I got to keep the balloon as the old man had a good laugh! Does anyone remember the bird on a stick? It used to whistle when you spun it round your head, it was great fun! I have so, so many happy memories of growing up in the 1960s and maybe that's why I tend to live in the past too much... It's a fault of mine.
