Morag, Penny and Meg
How very kind of you to remember my dad, Robert Rennie! ("Bob" to his friends.)
My father's parents lived for many years at 104 Argyle Road, Saltcoats. When my father first set up in business, in the 1930s, he worked from his parents' house. Later on, he bought an ofice at 12a Hamilton Street, Saltcoats, immediately above Breckenridge the Hairdresser. The front door to the office had a beautiful big glass window inscribed "Robert Rennie, Chartered Architect" in gold lettering. On the wall beside it was a plate saying "Robert Rennie, ARIBA, ARIAS".
In the 1960s, when Robert Harris's store was built, my father was in partnership with Mr Drew Watson. There was a lot of building done in the 1960s, and it was common to see the architect's sign "Robert Rennie & Watson" on new buildings in the area of the Three Towns.
Also in the early 1960s, my father took over the Ardrossan-based firm of Black & Shapley and kept on the premises at 15 Barr Street for a while. (I'm told that Mr Arthur Shapley left architectural practice at that point and re-located to Bournemouth to run a hotel. Apparently, Mr Shapley is still alive, aged over 100, and living in a residential home in Bournemouth.)
My father died, aged only 63, in 1969. Some time after, Drew Watson took Mr Angus Starling into partnership, and the firm traded as "Rennie, Watson & Starling" from then on. They needed larger premises and moved to Arran Place, Ardrossan, to a lovely Georgian house immediately beside St Peter in Chains RC Church. In about 1990, Angus Starling took the sad decision to close the practice. This brought to an end almost 60 years of architectural practice in the "Three Towns" area, by my father and his colleagues.
The story is not entirely over, though. Historic Scotland, no less, are now compiling an on-line Dictionary of Scottish Architects - an ambitious project aiming to identify every architect who has ever practised in Scotland, together with a list of their work. I am in quite regular contact with Historic Scotland about this and a good on-line "bio" of my father is emerging. You will enjoy reading it, I'm sure. Do take a look!
In fact, Historic Scotland are using a photograph of my father as a young army officer (amongst others) to publicise the Dictionary. So, many years after his death, my father is now a "poster-boy" for the profession he practised for many years in the "Three Towns"!
I urgently need help from anyone who knows of buildings by my father' (and his firm) to help with the list. I can name, for example: - Chapelhill Mount, Harvie Gardens, The Braes, St Brendan's RC Church and St Cuthbert's Church Hall. There's a great deal more, of course. It was the tragic loss of St Brendan's Church this year that made me realise how important it is to get my father's achievements recorded - before they're swept away by the passage of time.
Can any of you help me with this? I'd be extremely grateful if you can!
