What's happened.

[michaelm]

Seriously, I was very depressed last week. The paint is peeling off the shop-fronts and the people are all looking down-at-heel and giving off an air of downright misery. There is hardly a smile to be seen.

Try looking at things from a different perspective. The place is not the one we grew up in. I hesitate to use an emotional term, but there is no other word for it, it's become a dump.JD.

JD, has it ever occurred to you that most of the folk you encountered on your recent flying visit, might just have been looking down at heel and giving off an air of seeming misery because they'd just noticed an old guy walking towards them with a face that's tripping him?

You're quite right, it's not the same place today as the one you grew up in. I think you're maybe harking back to the so called 'Good Old Days' a wee bit and that often comes with an element of nostalgia which sometimes clouds things. In fact it reminds me a little of a line from quite a famous song ... "Memories, may be beautiful and yet, what's too painful to remember, We simply choose to forget"
I'm trying to make the point here, that there were already some social, economic and employment issues in the threetowns, even as you were growing up happily in the area, but you maybe wouldn't have remembered them as vividly, as you were too busy having a great childhood.


I think using the word 'Dump' is a bit strong also, especially in print, but hey ho everyone's entitled to their opinion. One thing's clear to me though, yourself and Big Sanny could 'moan' for Scotland.
And just to show that we're not all misery guts who live in the threetowns these days, have a few of these, it might cheer you up a bit after your depressing visit ..

[morag]

Michael, what JD and Big Sanny say has truth to it. I grew up there when we were all mostly living on the edge but we were happy, everyone was in the same boat, you just got on with it. Now, admittedly I'm a Pollyanna, I smile a lot, at strangers, passing cyclists, the postman, neighbours..the dogs, the cats...but the locals, last time over, were dour faced. And there were loads of shops when I was growing up, not many supermarkets, wee private shops, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers..

[michaelm]

You've completely missed my main point there morag.

[morag]

You've completely missed my main point there morag.

I don't think I have Michael. There's a change in attitude. I see it in my sisters. They don't chat to folk, or smile at them. Everyone just seems to be get out, get your messages, get home...don't make eye contact. Yes, I could be your mum or auntie, auld fert...things were diff, and nicer, at least in Stinstin.

[morag]

And I don't know if it's politics, unemployment, bad weather that seems to be to blame...I'll always love the place (and Arran) and miss it every min. Love the heck any time I manage over. Not often enough

[5eulbdog7]

Perhaps when your young you take things more for granted. There was a lot of industry in the three towns but it was a low wage area and not a lot of luxuries. We went to school carrying our books in gas mask bags. During the summer we wore kaki shorts and I bet their was a glut of clothing originally intended for the army but no longer needed due to the loss of Empire. Yes I think our town was a friendly place. We had the Glasgow overflow which impacted on our town. To-day Its wise to give people a glance and don't look vulnerable. Drug use is rife in our town and some areas are notorious. The staff at the health centre are protected with toughened glass and the same with the post office.There are massive social problems and who would have thought that safe houses would exist in our town centre? When I was a lad a member of the public would check you if you misbehaved, try checking kids to-day and you will get a mouthful or even a vendetta. Is it all bad? Well folk are better dressed but social responsibility has declined and its hard to see this town as a pleasant place to live.

[Pedantic]

What makes an area decent are residents, the community. Undoubtedly, there are more junkies shambling about like zombies. Kids hanging around doing nothing but boozing and generally being dicks.

Although, that's not just a three towns problem. Seems like it's most of the UK.

The #11 bus can be funny if you're in the mood. Or as I call it, the Scum-mobile.

[michaelm]

The #11 bus can be funny if you're in the mood. Or as I call it, the Scum-mobile.

The 11 bus is usually the only double decker that passes through Stevenston on a regular basis - running back and forth between Ardrossan and Kilmarnock.
A fair proportion of the folk who use it will have purchased 'mega-rider' tickets to enable them to get to and from work, visit friends/relatives, or do a bit of shopping etc. so it's a lot busier than the more local service buses like the 18(hayocks) or the 12(shore road)

99% of the folk who travel on the 11 are people just going about their normal business, so to even suggest that it's some sort of scum-mobile is utter bollocks!

[meekan]

I've been biting my tongue, (or my typing finger I suppose) following this topic with interest. First thing that springs to mind is Rabbie's words "O some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us".

Michael I don't know in which age group you fall but over the years the three towns have been systematically vandalised by various local authorities. You are maybe too young to remember how one side of Glasgow Street in Ardrossan was torn down and how modern monstrosities were built in place of substantial buildings. The other side of the street was modernised probably at a fraction of the cost. Similar events took place in Saltcoats (Raise Street) and in Stevenston (the cross ) all in the name of progress.

Regarding the people, in days when the council housing schemes were being built at a rapid rate people helped each other and neighbors were neighbors in the true sense of the word. When I was growing up I knew the names of everyone who stayed in my Street and I regarded them as my friends, I would have quite happily run errands for any of them. Nowadays I very seldom see my neighbors other than the immediate ones. Attitudes have gradually changed with most people too busy, and with more women working and with the availability of television 24/7, a neighbor stopping by for a wee blether hardly happens now. Most households have at least one car so while before we would have to walk through the neighborhood to get anywhere, nowadays we jump into the car and we are off.

There was a lot more employment in days gone by. I could leave a job on the Friday and start another on the Monday. ICI, Shell, Shipyards, Engine sheds, foundries etc all kinds of industry was flourishing in the three towns.
Each town had its own council, all intent in making their wee town the best. Now we have a council based in Irvine who for for their own reasons seem to favour places other than the tree towns.
Irvine in particular has had an enormous amount of time and money spent on it.

Times have changed, and life in the three towns has changed, sometimes for the better but some would say mostly for the worst.
While we don't like people being critical of us and ours, maybe we should see things as others see it.
Instead of accepting what we are left with, and have become used to, we should be trying to change it.

[michaelm]

meekan, you must be glad to get all that off your chest.

As far as age groups go, I'm just the right side of 60 - and I grew up in Stevenston - so I'm not too young to remember what happened to the New Street and cross area in the early 70's.
In fact, what happened also affected me directly at the time, as I worked in a shop in the part of new street that was demolished.
I doubt if the local councils intention at the time was to 'systematically vandalise' anything though.

[peterm1711]

The car's off the road, so I'll most likely be on the newly named Scum-mobile on Saturday as I have to be in the Kilmarnock area that day.

Should any jake-ball or smack-head have the audacity to make eye contact with me, I shall take my chib to them.





Joking aside, but this thread could be describing virtually EVERY town in Scotland nowadays, not only TTTs.

There are many reasons for this, which several posters have already covered.

Large retail parks have sprung up all over the country, nearly every family have cars, so most folk can get to them easily, and this of course, has led to the demise of most town centres.

Bustling industries of just a few decades ago have mostly gone, which has a knock-on affect on every other business.

It's a shame, but that's the way it is now. No wonder ex-pat visitors are a bit shocked when they return and see the area like this, as it's not the way they remember it.

[michaelm]

This thread could be describing virtually EVERY town in Scotland nowadays, not only TTTs.
Large retail parks have sprung up all over the country, nearly every family have cars, so most folk can get to them easily, and this of course, has led to the demise of most town centres.

Couldn't agree more peterm1711.
But I wonder what the cross/new street area in Stevenston would look like nowadays if the demolitions in the 70's hadn't happened and everything was just left as it was.
Pubs like the White Hart Inn and the Douglas would be lying empty (just like Rankins ) along with many of the small independent shopkeepers outlets as well.
We currently have a Health centre, Library and Housing Offices and a Dental Practice there, so some progress has been made in that respect.