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New Cumnock in the Sixties

Back to Credits - Page one - Page Two - Page Three

Please note, you can enlarge any picture by simply clicking it.

On the left is the Working Mens Club, not many cars there back then compared to now. The road to the left was an entrance in to Bridgend Mine. As a kid I used to walk along that road and back up at the bottom of Lime Road. Judging by the colouration on the grass, someone has been burning the dead grass, probably silly young boys like me as this was something the Hamilton Drive kids were guilty off. Just to the right of the club was a petrol station, owned by the McKechnies where there is now new housing after the former was demolished but despite being completed for a number of years, still remain empty – bureaucracy I presume. And to the left where there was a line of small single storied houses, stands the Afton Court Complex.

Fond memories from Bobby Guthrie from the Working Mens Club, who remembers – his mum, wee Mary, used to work there. Every year she wrote a poem about the “achievements” of the hard-working !!! committee men and recited it on New Year’s morning much to their chagrin. I used to love hearing the stories of the rubbish acts at the club that were paid off at ‘hauf-time’ to be replaced by a bingo!

Picture fourteen on the right, shows Polquirter Farm and its greenhouses and where Jimmy the fruiter kept his horse over the years. The glass buildings have long gone and the area is now home to some very expensived houses. The farm was home to Rab and Jim Wilson. Rab is now one of Scotland’s well respected poets, renowned for his work in the 'mither' tongue.

Across the main road is the entrance to the new Bridgend mine, the replacement for the one mentioned above. It too would probably have been closed at the time the picture was taken.

Featured in picture 15 on the left, is what used to be Danny Rae’s transport cafe also known as the Tam O’Shanter. It hasn’t altered much over the years other than petrol pumps disappearing. I don’t recall them so would have to assume the pumps were removed late 1960s. Despite changing hands a few times, the cafe was operational until very recently when a fire caused a lot of damage to the inside of the wooden structure. It would be nice to see the old place reopening as it was popular not only with travellers but with the locals too. Over the back of the cafe once stood Pathhead pit, better known as Paddy Waddle's.

The farm pictured above left, was Muirfoot Farm, which recently made way for new private housing in the form of bungalows. In the 1960s, the farm was home to Jean Beattie and her family. In the picture directly above, the gaps have been filled by new houses, although I assume that older buildings were present previously. One thing of note is the size of the gardens, which are huge.
The picture on the right has Bella Dick's shop, where it was said she sold everything from a needle to an anchor. In one of the small single storey houses lived the Lorimar family and just beyond the post box was the Cross Keys, the gable end is in view. The council houses of Polquheys Road and Loch View were constructed just before the Second World War.

Picture nineteen above left, shows the fire station on the corner of Castlemains Avenue and Holm Road but at the time this picture was taken, there was no watch tower. The prefabs have been replaced by new bungalows but I can’t recall if the flat roofed houses were pulled down or renovated, maybe someone can let me know?
The picture above features the Cross Keys, which at one time was run by Mrs. Bell Downie and her husband along with their son Billy, who also has an pub in Ayr. John Walker remembers his father working in the Cross Keys as a waiter on a part time basis. The pub was later taken over by former Glen’s player ‘Funny’ Brown or Broon if you are from Ayrshire. He hailed from the Washer Row and went on to play professional football.
The building at the lower right of the photo was the Bank of Scotland.
The picture on the right shows McGarva’s Garage which started life as Tweedie's. The first bungalow past Millar Road was owned by David Henderson, the grocer and James Tweedie lived in the large white house, called Threave, presumable because the family arrived from Castle Douglas, the home of Threave Castle many years ago and is now the church manse. He also owned a garage in Ayr.
The old manse can be seen to the right before it was demolished and replaced with a modern house.

In the middle picture above, we have a well known local concern, which was built as The Avenue and later became The Pigeon Club or dookit as it would have been known locally. It was original owned by local grocer Bobby Currie with Tip Jess being the first barman when it was opened. Mr. Currie owned the Bank Pub and Grocers at Craigbank before they closed and he had the Avenue specially built to carry on his work. The Houston family resided above the pub in the 60s.
The toilets have long gone of course and to the rear we can see the back of Arthur Scoular's shop, possibly the first licensed grocer in the area.
The photo on the right is McGarva’s garage, the shop has since moved to the left of the building and a car wash stands in its place. John Trotters furniture shop is to the left followed by their drapery department. At one time Lees shoe shop was next to that but at the time of this picture, Trotters had the whole building. In the 1950s there was also a factory to the rear of the shop which made boiler suits/overalls.
The left picture is Pathhead before heading down the Mansfield Road. The right hand building at one time housed Bing’s chippy. Beyond the chippy heading towards the railway was a line of houses known simply as Paddy’s Castle, which may have been called Railway Terrace but citation is required on the latter. Paddy’s Castle took its name from the Irish navvies who dwelled there in the 1860s during the construction of the railway.
The first bank stood in this area of Mansfield Road many years ago.

Picture 25 above left shows the Town School house in the centre, would have housed the headmaster at the time, Mr. Douglas. To the rear is Afton Villa. The school is on the left and on the right across the road is the old Toll House or old mill cottage depending on who you are speaking to. This was once owned by Jock ‘the Bean’ Robertson, who worked the old mill. The brown houses above are known as Mataura.

The right hand picture shows Hugh Turnbull’s barber shop. Hugh was the son of Peter who had the barbers in the Trotters building at the Castle. To the right of this is Danny Orr's ice cream factory. Orr's started life across the road in a similar building to the left of Mary Mill's chippy, which was Hunter's wee shop in the late 60s. Moving to the left is Scoular’s shop, now Spar of course. Moving to the extreme left were the premises of Lindsays the Carters premises. There were two brothers Wullie and Tam who hauled coal from Bridgend mine to the station as well as doing door to door deliveries. The brothers also hauled coal from the station to the gas works. Bobby Currie later bought the house and rented it to the one and only, Alex Jess. Alex lived in the second house with the blue door whilst the first one was Currie’s shop. Across the road from Scoular's was Black the barbers/hairdressers.

The picture in the centre is the Old Mill Farm, owned by the Mair family for many years and the McKnights when Robert Burns visited the area. The farm once hosted Victor Biddall and his family in an old majestic wooden caravan, that travellers would be seen in many moons ago. There is a picture of the caravan and the Biddalls elsewhere on the site. The family came from the Annan area and ran the picture house in the Castle.

Picture 28 on the left brings back memories of winters nights delivering tatties for Matt Hastings with Gibby Murray. The tatties were bagged in the long green hut behind the large grey house and delivered in a Vauxhall Viva van. The field on the right was the ‘Wastie’ – the Pathhead Nou Camp. Famous players included the Woods, McLatchies, Rushes, McKies, Jollys and Rowans amongst the Pathhead stars. There was a door-step of an auld house right in the centre of the pitch which was the cause of the odd injury.

Picture 29 on the right shows the old church that sat at the bottom of the Temple Brae and the accompanying manse. The Temple Brae would have orginally taken you up to Cairnhill Farm before the houses were built. The old farm was situated near the shops at High Park. If you can supply dates for the Catholic School being built and demolished please get in touch. The school would have been towards the left of the path seen in the middle of the picture. Any information on the cottage on the left would be welcome too.