A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Discuss all aspects of the three towns in the Threetowners' Lounge.
meekan
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1961
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:29 pm
Location: Saltcoats

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by meekan »

Susan,
I'm pretty sure they are still in business but they don't have a service route, Stagecoach are now operating their '585 coastliner' service from Ayr to Greenock covering the Saltcoats to Largs route which the Clyde coast used to service. I believe they only do private hires now garaging their fleet at the Old Calais Station Ardrossan. I'm not sure but I think Mcgregor's son runs the business now.
meekan
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1961
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:29 pm
Location: Saltcoats

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by meekan »

down south wrote: . The service buses to Largs were (mainly ) double deckers in blue and silver; what shade of blue would you call it, wedgwood or lavender maybe ? As I remember it, their single deckers came in quite a different colour scheme, cream with red lettering and decorations; or was that the SMT ones ( still different from their double deckers, if so ).


Susan
Susan,
The Clyde coast coaches were mainly silver with some blue ones. The deckers had a similar mix of livery.
The cream and red coaches were Western SMT, these were known as dual purpose coaches, and would be used for private hires, excursions, middle distance routes, and if needed could be used for general service. The SMT also had coaches with a white and black livery they would be used mainly for London runs and normally had a toilet on board.
Scott McCallum
Frequent Poster
Frequent Poster
Posts: 192
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 10:10 am
Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Scott McCallum »

Sorry to double back just a wee bit, but between the Clyde Coast office and the Star of the Sea church there was another doctors' surgery. Doctor Stewart and Doctor Forsythe were in the first house on the left going up Ardrossan Road (toward Ardrossan).

I think Doctor Stewart passed away in the mid fifties and Doctor MacIntosh took his place. Until recently Doctor MacIntosh's son was the sergeant at Partick Police Station in Dumbarton Road, Glasgow.

Scott McCallum - Glasgow
Alexmac442
Regular Poster
Regular Poster
Posts: 258
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:35 am
Location: Previously Ardrossan, now Thailand

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Alexmac442 »

Re- The Clyde Coast coaches., back to the 80's there were only two owners, George McGregor (I guess his son Kenny runs it now) and McCall Fraser had the garage in Fairlie.
Alex
User avatar
down south
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 3532
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:18 pm
Location: Cheshire,formerly Saltcoats

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by down south »

Thanks everyone for setting me straight about the Clyde Coast buses. I don't know why I'd remembered the cream-coloured ones as being theirs, unless it was that I only ever seemed to be on one in the Ardrossan direction. I enjoyed the view PT found of a Clyde Coaster in West Kilbride, looking as ancient and extinct as a dinosaur.... Not quite sure where we are there , top or bottom end of the main street ; I never went there on a bus myself, I imagine they must have taken quite a circuitous route round West Kilbride and Seamill to serve as many places as possible. But we'd better not digress too far...

Turning down Winton St now , we come on our right to the lane that runs behind the houses of Ardrossan Rd and Montgomerie Crescent. In the late sixties the council got a new batch of street signs, black lettering on yellow ground, and elevated this to the dignity of being Montgomerie Road; it was Montgomerie Lane before. In fact with the old sign being half broken off I'd always thought it was called Eerie Lane; a highly suitable name I thought when I was little , because it could seem quite spooky in the dark with nobody about ...

Just walls and back gates along there then, and a few garages. Someone once told me that some houses had been built along the lane in the 1980s, in back gardens I suppose that would have been; I daresay you'll be able to tell me if that's right or not.

Morag's relatives must have been staying somewhere quite near the side lane which connected with the seafront . Up at our end of the lane, the best shortcut to the beach was through the grounds of the council chambers; there was a sliding panel in their back gate, and we used it quite a lot with nobody seeming to mind...even though with a thick layer of pebbles surrounding the building to wade through it was quite impossible to sneak through quietly !

Susan
Last edited by down south on Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Penny Tray
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 19032
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:46 pm

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Penny Tray »

Susan,

It's interesting that you call Montgomerie Road "EERIE LANE" because come to think of it you've just highlighted the only thoroughfare in Saltcoats I don't think I ever set foot in! Does it still exist? If someone says "yes" I'll visit it soon. It must have been the sort of lane you wouldn't go done unless you lived in one of the adjacent houses or were up to mischief. I have to say too that I walked down Winton Street often en route to the swimming pool.
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
meekan
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 1961
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:29 pm
Location: Saltcoats

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by meekan »

Penny
It still exists but there are lots of newish bungalows built along there in the back gardens of Montgomery Terrace and Ardrossan Road.
Penny Tray
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 19032
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:46 pm

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Penny Tray »

Meekan,

I was back in town tonight and true to my word drove up and down Montgomerie Road. The first thing that struck me were the houses you describe. I was going to ask Susan if houses always existed on either side of the road or if this a fairly recent thing as people in Ardrossan Road and Montgomerie Crescent have sold off land from what were obviously huge gardens? I was also interested to know if it was once a 'through road'? I was confronted with a wall across the end of the road but it seemed of fairly recent origin?

Finally, about half way along I noticed that there is a road which joins Montgomerie Road and Mongomerie Crescent. Has this road always existed and if so does it have a name? I couldn't see any street sign.
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
User avatar
Hughie
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 11135
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:42 am
Location: Australia Formerly Ardrossan
Contact:

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Hughie »

Penny Tray wrote:Finally, about half way along I noticed that there is a road which joins Montgomerie Road and Mongomerie Crescent. Has this road always existed and if so does it have a name? I couldn't see any street sign.
Penny, That would be Kerrs Lane. I took this photo in July. My interest is in those pillars you see - will post about them in another topic shortly - had some queer looks by a couple of locals who saw me tapping them to confirm what they were made of. :roll:

kerrslane.jpg
Penny Tray
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 19032
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:46 pm

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Penny Tray »

Hughie,

You're amazing. That is it. Was the street name displayed or were you aware of it from some other source?
Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
User avatar
Hughie
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 11135
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:42 am
Location: Australia Formerly Ardrossan
Contact:

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by Hughie »

Got a local map from the Newsagents in Hamilton Street covering the three towns and Kilwinning. :wink:
User avatar
down south
Mega Heid Poster
Mega Heid Poster
Posts: 3532
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:18 pm
Location: Cheshire,formerly Saltcoats

Re: A Stroll round 1960s Saltcoats

Post by down south »

If you go back and read my earlier post on the lane, PT, you'll see that I actually mentioned that I'd heard houses had begun to be built along there around the 1980s and asked if that was true or not; a question you have now satisfactorily answered. There were no such in my day. The side lane never had a street sign in my day either, and I only found it had a name when I saw it marked on one of the satellite maps.

The lane never went through that I know of; there was a big high wall blocking it off just beyond our back gate. Behind the wall was an odd patch of land used as an allotment; the man who rented it was supposedly a local policeman, we could see him digging away of an evening from our back window.

People must have walked along the lane more than you'd think. because in the early sixties a foot passageway between brick walls was built from Ardrossan Road down beside the Baptist Church to join it; don't suppose you noticed if that was there any more. It had a wonderful hollow drumming feel beneath your feet as you walked along .Walking down there was the very last thing I did before leaving Saltcoats for ever, but that's another story or I'll never get this posted !

Susan
Last edited by down south on Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply