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Ardrossan Harbour 1920-1930.

Tom McGrattan

Thanks Tom,

After that photo was taken the Shell Mex must have reclaimed the land in the top left part of that picture. I remember the retaining boulders stretching all the way from North Crescent Road - that was the route we'd often take to the harbour.

Can't recall those tenement buildings being around when the harbour was one of our playgrounds. Only building I remember there was a pump house for the submerging pedestrian bridge.

I can also see where the cattle were penned next to Winton Pier for transport to Arran.

Nice one!

Great picture Tom. I've never seen that particular one before.

Hi Hughie, I can remember those buildings, the faced on to gerrys pier, and on the other side, the dock gate, it would be around 1950,s the Kane family from Ardrossan lived there, the were called harbour place I think, regards Harry.

harrysteell wrote:faced on to gerrys pier.

Hi Harry,
Yes I remember Gerry's Pier but not the houses. Wonder if Gerry's Pier was the official name? Can't recall seeing it mentioned on any maps, but I could be wrong.

Good picture. I can't recall those tenements being there either in all my harbour visits prior to leaving for N.Z. in 1963. Here's a picture of Dad & I on that submerging footbridge. I'm sorry I never saw it operating. As I recall it crosses the channel from the basin for the shipbuilding yard.

Bob

I used to live in an upstairs flat in 6 Harbour Rd right opposite the old oilskin factory. Harbour Rd led right into Ardrossan shipyard. That was my first job as a plumbers mate after leaving school. I made just under 2 pounds a week.

hi all i can remember those tenements being there,they were there when i visited the harbour when i was a boy.It was almost our second home, i also spent time in the plumbers shop in the shipyard,it was great fun and i have fond memories of the whole shipyard, as for the lock gates they were badly in need of repair when i was employed there as were the ones for the drydock,i can remember the wooden wedges being put in them when there was a ship in the drydock to try an stop the flow of water,because they leaked very badly,when kelly took over the shipyard he had one of his men try and repair the one that has the photo of bob and his dad (incidentely bob a great photo) he wore one of those divers suits the one where the helmet screws on and the big lead boots,an a wee guy on that machine pumping air,that is the exact spot that the arran boat docks,before all the shipyard was filled in and the arran boat still docked there,the gate was gone and in its place was filled with rocks, underneath there was a big pipe, that was to allow the tide to come and go in the old shipyard basin,i think it also served to let the water out when they eventualy did infill all the shipyard i wonder what some of the old timers would think if they came back for a day,also come to think of it there has been tremendous changes in the three towns in our time,and in saltcoats reid terrace is due for demolition,that another place i have fond memories of, i used to go to my grannies house in the terrace after school. James Barr (brvhrtjimmy)

My Granda and Grannie lived at the Dock Gates when he worked for the Harbor Company. He skippered the Cockspur and, later, the Seaway before retiring after the war. His name was Alexander Francis. My Mum and her brothers and sisters have great memories of the Dock Gates. I have faint memories as I was 2 when they moved to Bath Square in Ardrossan.

Roerick

my cousin Betty worked in the oilskin factory she loved it. i also remember houses their?

Through our father, Jimmy Carson, now 84 years old and who living at Montgomerie Court in Ardrossan, our family knows quite a lot about the houses at Dock Gates. Jimmy well remembers going there regularly when courting our mother Annie Kelly. The Kelly family lived in the bottom flat of the second house from the left - number 3 Dock Gates. Hugh and Roseanne Kelly, our grandparents, lived there with their nine sons - Joe, Pat, Jimmy, Billy, Tommy, Hugh, Johnny, Dan and Frank - and two daughters, Annie and Letty. Only Frank is still alive and living in Ardrossan.

The Kelly's were a very well known family in the harbour. The Dock Gates house was for workers of the Ardrossan Harbour company. Hugh Kelly was a crane driver. The family were sea farers of one kind or another. Our ancestor, Dan Mulvena, who stayed with the family and was drowned at Ardrossan harbour, captained the Margaret Wetherspoon and sailed around the world and has an amazing history, documented in old copies of the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald.

If anybody wants to know more, or can add to this post, please do. Jimmy has an excellent memory!

HI kellyclan,
I have a great memory of those houses, in the late fiftys,a pal of mine Archie Kane and all his family lived in those houses, I thought they were called harbour place, a great grand father of mine also lived there, away back in 1850, he was an engine driver at the sawmills which must have been near by,and belonged to the shipyard, I think, his son John Steel also worked there,the foreman at that time was Lewis Fullarton, my/g grandfathers son was named after mr.Fullarton, his name was Lewis Fullarton Steel, I think MR. Fullarton was originally from the Isle of Arran,