Irvine Bay – on the trail of heritage

Plans are being drawn up to create a network of Heritage Trails in the Irvine Bay area – and local people are being asked to play their part in ensuring it is a success.

The idea is to encourage residents and visitors to explore the area’s historic, natural and cultural attractions in a way that is sociable and healthy.

The clever use of mobile phone technology will provide a resource to help people get the most from the trails.

Now Irvine Bay Regeneration Company, which has acted as a catalyst in developing the project, wants local people to come forward and get involved with the newly formed North Ayrshire Heritage Friends Group – established in May to help establish the Trails.

Patrick Wiggins, Chief Executive of Irvine Bay, said: “The Heritage Trail will draw attention to the rich history of the area, from Burns, Betsy Miller and Robert the Bruce. The newly formed North Ayrshire Heritage Friends group will be linked to the North Ayrshire Heritage Centre. The first task of the Friends will be to apply to the Heritage Lottery for funding for the new heritage trail.

“The role of Irvine Bay is as catalyst of this process: we contracted with and funded Rathmell Archaeology to carry out a feasibility study and initial work on how to establish a network of heritage trails in the area as a route to encourage residents and visitors to adopt an active, social and healthy lifestyle through exploring historical, natural and cultural locations within their communities.

“The study identified the exciting opportunity to develop three mobile phone driven heritage trails that promote key aspects of the heritage of Irvine Bay. The development of these trails would enable community involvement, learning and training through the preparation of a rich web resource and selection of the themes of each trail.”

Other suggested trails that could be adopted include:

• Seaside Nostalgia – re-creating a typical holiday/day trip to Saltcoats starting from the railway station before touring key sites such as historic shops, the seaside, Melbourne Park, the promenade, harbour and site of the bathing pond.
• Maritime History – a trail developed from a hub point at Scottish Maritime Museum linking to harbours, shipyards, maritime individuals (inc. graveyard locations), customs houses and views out to wrecks across Irvine Bay.
• Ancestral Trail – a trail that ties together the locations of genealogical reference material at the North Ayrshire Heritage Centre for those searching for ancestors, key graveyards and the individuals buried within them.

The proposed structure has been adopted by North Ayrshire Council whose Heritage Centre staff assisted in supporting the development of the feasibility study.