Ailsa Craig

The most evocative picture of the Craig that I have ever seen (and I have seen and taken an awful lot!) is this one:

It was taken by my husband - Andy, in 1998 when we were lucky enough to visit. It was a glorious day, the sea was like liquid silk.

It had long been my ambition to go there. I had watched it and imagined what it was really like, across the 10 mile divide of the Firth of Clyde. One of those items my personal list of "Things to do before I die" - achieved at last, but not crossed off, once is not enough!

It is truly a magical place.

Photograph by ajo ............ © sujo.com

Although this picture itself has always been my favourite - one of those 'once in a lifetime' shots, I was also lucky enough to find a website that offered me the chance to really make the picture "come to life".

My thanks to David Griffith -

Next question:
"how can I get the one on my wall at home to do this please?"

Now owned by the Kennedys (their title was taken from here - Marquess of Ailsa), the Ailsa Craig had been part of the lands of Crossraguel Abbey, the dispute of ownership of these lands had formed the background to the notorious "Roasting of the Abbot" in the 16th century.

It is a volcanic plug which lies in the firth of Clyde, 10 miles from Girvan. It can be seen not only from Culzean, but from miles in either direction along the Ayrshire coast. The shape appears to change as you move along the coast, viewing it from different angles - it's intriguing!

It is my intention to extend the information given about the Ailsa Craig in the near future. Information on the internet is scanty and I would like to see more about it. My own knowledge is also very limited so I need some assistance here. As I often receive emails from visitors to this site to say thank you for a memory revisited, I had a brilliant idea:

Do you have any connections with the Ailsa Craig? or has a relative or friend passed on stories from the past? If you have any tales to tell about the Ailsa Craig that you would like to see published within this site, please do send them to me. They do not have to be in HTML, e/mails or WP attachments would be fine and I will translate them . For the sake of historical accuracy (if there really is any such thing!) and in order to protect any copyright requirements, if your articles are factual and you can source references that would be great. If not, articles will have to be categorised as "opinion or hearsay"

Photographs too! All contributions will be gratefully received and if used the sender/author/photographer will be acknowledged.

If you already have relevant information published on the internet, let me know the URL and we can set up reciprocal links.

What a terrific site we can build together about this very special place in this fashion - I'm really getting excited about the potential of this!

note: 25/05/01 - We're collecting some really interesting stories, have a look! Also a big thank you to all of you for being part of this!

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