Fairlie not Arran 1967

In the late 60s I lived in Glasgow. Much of my free time was spent travelling around and taking photographs with my new Kodak Instamatic camera, bought for the princely sum of £5 from a shop on Sauchiehall Street.

I especially enjoyed travelling on the train to Helensburgh or Gourock and "gooin' doon the waters" — sailing in the Firth of Clyde. I recall one evening taking the train to Ardrossan and sailing over to Brodick. With just about half an hour ashore, there was time only to take a short walk and a few quick pictures.

A few years ago I started putting a selection of these old pictures on my website at Old Scotland, including the one above which was labelled "Brodick, 1967".

I was later informed by someone who has lived in Brodick all her life that the photograph is not of Brodick. I went back and looked at my original photographs and had three with "Brodick 1967" scribbled on the back in pencil, and another labelled "Arran". I presented these here in the hope that someone would recognise something in the photographs and confirm the locations.

A number of people said the photograph reminded them of Brodick but sources on Arran stated quite firmly that it wasn't.

Someone then suggested that the photograph might be of Fairlie. He recalled sailing to Brodick from Ardrossan in 1968 but the return ferry landed at Fairlie.

I found a photograph of Fairlie Church on an Ayrshire genealogical site and it looked very similar to the one in my photograph. I was unable contact the site-owner for verification, but finally got in touch with North Ayrshire Council and a spokesman for the Estates Office told me

I have checked your Photo on your web site . It was taken from the old pier in Fairlie looking back towards the village. I have double checked this against our old plans. My colleague informs me that Fyfe racing yachts were built in the small boat construction yards in front of the church.

The photograph below shows how the village has changed in 37 years!