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Sorn
Sorn maps
Historic maps of Sorn and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Sorn maps
Sorn area books
Displaying 1 of 2 books about Sorn and the local area. View all books for this area
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Memories of Sorn
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Ayrshire memories
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
Born Near Stewarton, Lived In Newmilns For 11 Years
I lived in the pre-fabs built a few years after the war, on Strath Crescent. That would have been around 1953. Later, those 'white boxes' were to be demolished, so we moved to new council semi-detached houses at Persian Sands (I don't know what it's called now) near Greenside (I think that was the name) Park. I recall walks along 'The Broon's Road', playing near The Meal Mill, being in the Newmilns Boys' Brigade, 'scatters' at weddings at all the churches, buying 'The Beezer', 'The Dandy', 'The Hotspur' and 'The 'Beano' at the newsagents. While on Strath Crescent, I remember 'The Bleachfield', 'The Bing', and 'Heron Nancy's' (I always wondered how it got that name). I moved to Canada when I was 12 and often wondered what happened to childhood friends and classmates that I of course lost contact with after emigrating. I'd love to get in touch with some of them after 46 years. I wonder if they stayed in the area or moved to other parts.
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,
The People of Mirkirk
I lived in Muirkirk for a few short years and did not want to leave. The people of Muirkirk are fantastic, I moved there about 1978 when I left Edinburgh. My dad got a job in the area, he was not long out of the forces and came from Ayrshire and we have family in Mauchline anyway. When we arrived the very first night a group of teenagers came to our door and introduced themselves and took my sister and I out, from then on we had loads of friends from the village and had a great time there, swimming in the dam in summer, Tibbies Brig, the discos in the centre and who could forget the pie shop where we used to go early hours after the disco. The walks were lovely. The bus journey to Auchinleck Academy was a great laugh and I will never forget the time I made cakes in home ec and the boys from the village threw them at everyone on our bus, much... 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.
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!
Fishing at Craufurdland Lake.
I was born in Armour Street in Kilmarnock in 1959. Around 1963 we moved to Onthank. I went to Onthank School. My friend Bryce Herbert and I from about the age of 10 onwards used to go to Craufurdland Lake to fish for Perch and Pike. On Saturday mornings we would knock on the door of the castle in the picture. An upstairs window would open and we would shout up asking for permission to fish in the Lake. If "Mr Craufurdland" as we imagined he was called said yes, off we went. If no, we walked home again. The Lake was and is a magical place for me although now it is a trout fishery and all of the beautiful lilies and reeds are gone.
