New Radio Archive about Local Heritage

I have started a new audio archive with many of my recordings about local history, South West Scotland and other things I have made over the years. You can hear it by clicking on the menu at the side of the site – I’m still testing it and adding new content. I am aware that right now everything is lumped together.

As I add more content, it will sort itself out.

On mobile devices, it is appearing at the bottom of the page.

Joseph.

Kilbirnie’s Museum (The Stables)

During the 1980s and a bit of the 1990s there was a museum under the Walker Hall – it was accessed via a small alleyway right next to the hall and the sign “museum” hung on it long after the museum disappeared. It was called the Stables museum because supposedly before the Walker Hall, there were stables there and also the remains of a very old medieval pub.

I have been in touch with the council to try and find out where the stuff went when it closed. They have given me a catalogue of stuff they hold from the museum which you can access here.

There are a few things missing though which I can clearly remember which you can see below:

  1. A 19th century original portrait picture of Robert William Knox of Moorpark in a frame
  2.  The block cement stone from the lamp on the bridge which was Robert William’s gift to the town.  It has engravings on there. 

It is possible that the picture was loaned either from the Knox Institute which was at the cross in Kilbirnie (it’s been closed for years though), the Masonic Lodge, the mill office or the main Walker Hall which the museum sat under. That would have been returned to wherever it came from when the museum closed.

 The stone from the bridge on the other hand was fairly big and my guess is that it might be stored somewhere by the council or else left under the Walker Hall where the museum was.  The lamp had long gone, it was only the stone that was left.

If anybody knows where these things are, please let me know because they should be catalogued somewhere to make sure they don’t get lost again so they hopefully can be preserved.  

Continuity and Change in Scottish Death and Burial Customs, 1875–2025

This is a research document I prepared for my University Course about Culture and Heritage. I  researched “Continuity and Change in Scottish Death and Burial Customs, 1875–2025”. I used  headstones in cemeteries in Kilbirnie as examples, as well as family stories. There’s pictures in the appendices.

Click Here for the Document

 

 

 

 

Random Old Cemetery PIcs

I was down in Kilbirnie this week and took some random pictures of graves in the  Kilbirnie Cemeteries:

Old Knox Grave behind the kirk. I will add these to the Knox Section.

Francis Cowan – a 20 year old KIlled in a freak accident in the Steel Works

Bell/McKelvie/McTaggart

Crawford Mausoleum

 

McKelvie, Bell, McTaggart
Francis Cowan, 1920
Crawford Mausoleum
Lord and Lady Crawford statues
Robert Knox, Agnes Barclay
Robert Knox, Agnes Barclay
George, Janet, Robert, Hugh Knox
William Knox, Jean Knox
RW Knox Monument
RW Knox Monument

 

William John Glass

This is William John Glass, he was my Great Grandfather. He married Sarah Hay in 1905 and lived in Glengarnock. At the time of marriage he was living at Auchengree,  He had many brothers and sisters and came from a huge family. His parents had emigrated from Northern Ireland in the 1800’s, they were James Glass and Anne Moore from around Bushmills somehwere.

He died in Central Avenue, before it was rebuilt into private houses we know today.  They are buried in KIlbirnie old cemetery in an unmarked grave.