Saltcoats ( gd, Baile an t-Salainn) is a town on the west coast of

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east a ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

, carried out in small cottages along the shore. It is part of the ' Three Towns'

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most cas ...

along with Ardrossan and

Stevenston Stevenston ( sco, Steenstoun, gd, Baile Steaphain) is a town and parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Along with Ardrossan and Saltcoats it is one of the " Three Towns", all of similar size, on the Firth of Clyde coast; the easternmost parts o ...

and is the third largest town in North Ayrshire.

History

In the late eighteenth century, several shipyards operated at Saltcoats, producing some sixty to seventy ships. The leading shipbuilder was William Ritchie, but in 1790 he moved his business to Belfast. By the early nineteenth century, the town had stopped producing ships. Saltcoats Town Hall, which dates back to 1826, is a Category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. In 2018, a statue to commemorate the popular football Bobby Lennox, from the town, was constructed across from the main station.

Governance

Saltcoats is part of the North Ayrshire and Arran constituency in the House of Commons and Cunninghame North

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

in the devolved

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...

. Both seats are held by the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...

. Historically, Ardrossan has been part of the UK parliament constituencies

(1868–1918), Bute and Northern Ayrshire (1918–1983) and Cunninghame North (1983–2005). These constituencies historically returned Conservative or Unionist MPs until 1987, when the constituency was won by the Labour Party.

Transport

The harbour was designed by James Jardine in 1811, however no cargo or passenger services run from the harbour any more. Saltcoats is served by regular bus and railway services. Primary bus services are provided by

Stagecoach West Scotland Stagecoach West Scotland ( gd, Stagecoach an Iar na h-Alba) is an operating region of Stagecoach UK Bus, comprising Western Buses Ltd based in Ayr, Scotland. Operations Stagecoach West Scotland operates in west central and southwest Scotland ...

, while rail services are operated by ScotRail. These rail services are frequent and serve nearby Glasgow, as well as Largs, Ardrossan and Kilwinning. Although Saltcoats currently only has a single railway station, the town was once served by a second railway station located in the north of the town, originally as part of the

Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway The Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway (L&AR) was an independent railway company built to provide the Caledonian Railway with a shorter route for mineral traffic from the coalfields of Lanarkshire to Ardrossan Harbour, in Scotland. It opened in ...

. This station ceased regular passenger services on 4 July 1932, and there is no trace of the station today bar a nearby bridge.

Notable people

* Alexander Allan, founder of the

Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers The Allan Shipping Line was started in 1819, by Captain Alexander Allan of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, trading and transporting between Scotland and Montreal, a route which quickly became synonymous with the Allan Line. By the 1830s the company had offic ...

* Andrew Allan of the

Sir Hugh Allan Sir Hugh Allan (September 29, 1810 – December 9, 1882) was a Scottish-Canadian shipping magnate, financier and capitalist. By the time of his death, the Allan Shipping Line had become the largest privately owned shipping empire in the wor ...

, of the

George Biagi George Biagi (born 4 October 1985 in Irvine, Scotland) is a retired Italy international rugby union. He represented Italy on 23 occasions. He was born in Scotland to Scots/Italian father and an Italian mother and later went to Italy to stud ...

, Italian national rugby player * William Burns, historian * Kenneth Campbell, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previousl ...

* Steve Clarke, professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

Hamish Fraser Hamish Fraser (16 August 1913 – 17 October 1986)'Edinburgh University Students in Spain', ''Archives @ University of Edinburgh''. http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/edinburghuniversityarchives/2016/12/, December 2016. Accessed 31 December 2018. was ...

, former communist, traditionalist Catholic writer and local councillor *

Janice Galloway Janice Galloway (born 1955 in Saltcoats, Scotland) is a Scottish writer of novels, short stories, prose-poetry, non-fiction and libretti. Biography She is the second daughter of James Galloway and Janet Clark McBride. Her parents separated whe ...

, author * Michael Garrett, first Sir Bernard Lovell chair in astrophysics, Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics * Colin Hay, musician, singer-songwriter, leader of Men at Work * Al Howie, long-distance runner * Bobby Lennox, professional

* James Manson, engineer * Hugh McMahon, professional

* Betsy Miller, sea captain * Hugh Munro, author * Graeme Obree, cyclist * Robert Thornton, professional darts player

References

External links

Video footage and history of the old Saltcoats HarbourVideo footage of the 1678 Auchenharvie coalfield drain aditVideo footage and history of the old open air poolsThe railway between Saltcoats and Stevenston

the3towns.comThreetownersSaltcoatsCommunityCouncilIrvine Bay
{{Portal, Scotland Seaside resorts in Scotland Towns in North Ayrshire Firth of Clyde Ardrossan−Saltcoats−Stevenston Populated coastal places in Scotland