Tag Archives: New Cumnock

New Cumnock Community Action Plan 2014-2019

Had a fantastic time at the New Cumnock Community Action Plan event in the Community Centre. What a tremendous turnout and great to see so many people taking an active interest and having their say in shaping our future.  Add to that the superb entertainment provided by our young folk and those younger at heart….. New Cumnock’s got talent indeed. Of course the tea, coffee and home-baking went down a treat too!

To the business of the day ……

OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF NEW CUMNOCK

We asked you what you wished for your community by the year 2020.

Here is a summary of the collective vision for the future of New Cumnock taken from the household survey and stakeholder interviews.

  • We will have a healthy local economy creating jobs, and provide quality amenities, goods and services for locals and visitors.
  • We will be known as an attractive place to live and visit.
  • We will have made the most of our local heritage and environment.
  • We will have good community and recreational facilities for locals and visitors …… and good community organisations, activities and events.

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I was delighted to host a stall on behalf of the New Cumnock Liaison Group and share the progress and plans for our Auld Kirk and Village Heritage Trail.New Cumnock Community Action Plan 02

Thank you to everyone who visited the ‘Auld Kirk and Village Heritage trail’ stall and sharing their memories of the kirkyard. It was great to hear how some people had only noticed the Auld Kirk ruins, now that ivy had been removed, while out on their walks to the lagoons.

Help for our Heroes

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ayrshirememorialsRussell Brookes and his team from Ayrshire Memorials have made great progress on the four soldier headstones we thought worthy of the most immediate attention. Below we have some before and after photographs we would like to share.

William Sloan, Roughside

  • William’s headstone is in danger of being broken on its base.
William Sloan

William Sloan

Walter Scott Murphy, Bluebell Cottage

  • Walter’s headstone had fallen face-down with the inscription hidden.
Walter Scott Murphy

Walter Scott Murphy

Archibald MacKenzie, Rottenyard

  • Archibald’s fallen headstone had been re-erected at the wrong location and with the inscription facing away.
Archibald MacKenzie

Archibald MacKenzie

Robert Paterson, Coalcreoch

  • Robert’s headstone had fallen face down and to make matters worse the face had previously suffered from mindless graffitti – hopefully we can attempt to have it cleaned.
Robert Paterson

Robert Paterson

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New Beginnings at the Auld Kirk

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AULD KIRK RUINS

aa_HLF_auldkirk01Things are moving along at a great pace in the Auld Kirk.

  • Vegetation has been removed from the ruin to reveal parts of the Auld Kirk that have never been seen for generations.
  • The next phase includes essential masonry repairs to part of the ruins.
  • Followed by a programme of lime pointing

HLF_AuldKirk_BeforeAfter

HEADSTONES

Work has started on cleaning and repairing some of the headstones

Reverend Thomas Hunter

The lair of the Reverend Thomas Hunter and his family lies against the Auld Kirk walls. He served the parish for 50 years and died in 1760, aged 95 years.  His first spouse Christian Ker lies and son Joseph lie buried here too.

HLF_RevHunter_BeforeandAfter

Soldiers

A number of the family headstones which remember their sons fallen in the Great War required to re-set in new foundations.  Local firm Ayrshire Memorials from Auchinleck came to the rescue with an amazing piece of kit that could lift the fallen stones, some weighing 1.5 – 2 tonnes.

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  • Ayrshire Memorials at work

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New foundations with securing pins now in place.

Of course on occasions the Auld Kirkyard doesn’t only allow us ‘to walk in the footsteps of  our ancestors’ it delivers some wonderful sunsets.

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Uncovering our parish roots

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StoneTimberLineLogoStone, Timber & Lime Conservation are have started the work on preserving the ruins of the Auld Kirk.

  • Removing the roots of the ivy is beginning to reveal parts of the kirk that haven’t been seen for many years.

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  • The east entrance to the old kirk with the window revealed and the top of the bell tower.

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  • Stone TLC tell us this is a good example of a traditional harl finish, a technique for providing a weather-proof finish. The lime deposits in New Cumnock at both Benston and Mansfield were known its property of being able to bind under water, and used in bridge building.

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All photos courtesy of Stone TLC

Stone, Timber and Lime Conservation

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Click on logo

Click on logo

On Wednesday I met with Stephen Kerr and Wendy Corrigan of our project conservation architects Wylie Shanks Architect at their Glasgow Office and was introduced to Graeme Frew of Stone, Timber and Lime Conservation who will be carrying out the conservation work on the Auld Kirk ruins and on five lairs in the kirkyard  – Rev Thomas Hunter, Rev James Young, William Arthur and Hyslop of Bank.

Soldiers

I am also delighted to announce that after discussions with  one of our  funders it has been possible to realign some of the grant to reset four of the soldiers headstones that have tumbled – we believe this is a more meaningful use of the money, particularly with next year being the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War.

StoneTimberLineLogoThe work is scheduled to take five weeks and begins tomorrow morning.

Welcome to our project, Stone TLC.

Border Signs and Graphics Sign Up

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Heritage Trail

Click on Logo to visit BSG's web-site

Click on Logo to visit BSG’s web-site

We are delighted to announce that Dumfries based Border Signs and Graphics, will manufacture and install the interpretation panels for our Village Heritage Trail. Welcome to our project BSG.

Planning the Trail

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I enjoyed a very productive visit to East Ayrshire Council at the Johnnie Walker Bond, Kilmarnock this afternoon.  A big thank you to Sandra Marshall and Marion Fergusson at East Ayrshire Council for taking me through the process for applying for permission to erect the Interpretation Panels (Story Boards) and Information Boards that will make up the Village Heritage trail.
heritagetrail01

Next step is to complete and submit the applications.

Auld Kirk Clean-up

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Auld Kirk Log : Stardate 01 July 2013

Another trip to the Auld Kirk tonight and another wall cleared including the window sills. Quite a bit of cleaning carried out before the midgies got the better of us again.

Another wall cleared

Another wall cleared

We received a detailed report on the Auld Kirk and the five family lairs we plan to work on from  WylieShanks Architects, the conservation architects that are supporting us with the project. At a meeting in Glasgow last week we  agreed a strategy for progressing tenders to carry out the necessary work and these will be issued in the coming weeks.

Adele is a big hit at the Auld Kirk

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Adele and Louise

Adele and Louise

New Cumnock Liaison Group’s (NLCG) youngest volunteer Adele was a big hit when she joined in with mum Louise, big sister Annabelle and big brother Ewan in the second session of our Auld Kirk clean-up.

Clean up continues

Clean up continues

Later own we were joined by another two young helpers Calum and Thomas, who along with the rest of us battled the midgies as they came out in their droves for an evening snack. A big thank you to my wife Sheena for another star turn and early birthday wishes for tomorrow xx

We're getting there !

We’re getting there !

We’re making good progress …….

Auld Kirk Clean Up Session 1

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Clean-up Session 1

Clean-up Session 1

An excellent start to the clean-up sessions with the focus on the inside of the ruins . A big thank you to Mr and Mrs Glendinning, Billy Lees, Sheena and Cameron. Six full bags of litter, leaves and twigs.Cleared wall

Cleared wall

A good few hours work before the midgies came calling !

Auld Kirk

Auld Kirk