edcayton Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Something on the radio today made me think of Ailsa Craig (had a girlfriend-ish who lived in Girvan), so I Googled it and found out two things: 1) it is for sale for £1.5 million 2) there is/was a tramway on it! If I was clever I would have posted a photo and asked you to guess where it was, as it is I can't do links, so I can only refer you to it. Google "Ailsa Craig Tramway", and the fourth? one down is Helensburgh CC. org and that has an article about some canoeists who paddled across and took a photo of the remains. Oh, and it was built to carry the granite they quarried to make curling stones to the harbour. Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted September 6, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 6, 2012 Very Interesting Ed. http://www.helensburghcc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/003.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 Thank ypu very much for putting the link on John. See what I mean about a "where am I?" contest? It kind of makes Sodor more believeable to me. Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb900f Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 I thought it was a variety of Tomato. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 What-Sodor or Ailsa Craig? Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bon Accord Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 The tramway is still there and mostly intact, complete with track. If memory serves there's a couple of rope worked inclines leading down to a small pier, which is also tramway served. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 You can see it from Croy Beach - it always looked kind of forbidding to me....sheer cliffs rising from the sea. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 What gauge is it? and how was it worked? Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Here are a few photos of the tramway in question.......... http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1444547 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1363692 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/41024 http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1444559 Brian R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 Well found Brian! Thank you. The gauge looks fairly wide to me-could it be standard? Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Comparing with the size of the bricks in the winding house, the gauge looks to be around 3' to me. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted September 7, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 7, 2012 It was featured on BBC Countryfile a while back. Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted September 7, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 7, 2012 an older series of 'coast' also featured ailsa craig - interviewed the guy who cut granite there, i believe his family had been doing it for a couple of generations and lived there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted September 9, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 9, 2012 Wasn't this the supply of granite for Curling Stones? Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 From what I remember from geography and geology almost forty years ago, the rock at Ailsa Craig is a very distinctive form of granite, known as a 'microgranite'. Its distictive character meant that it could be used as a marker to establish the extent of the flow of glaciers during the last Ice Age over part of Britain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Wasn't this the supply of granite for Curling Stones? Yes, and almost certainly still is. Stones are manufactured at Mauchline, a village to the east of Ayr. Believed to be the only curling stone works in the world back in the 90s - whether still the case I don't know. Ailsa Craig is commonly held to be a volcanic "plug", though I've heard of an alternative theory of it being a gigantic "erratic" rock transported by ice and dropped there in the Firth of Clyde. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Yes, and almost certainly still is. Stones are manufactured at Mauchline, a village to the east of Ayr. Believed to be the only curling stone works in the world back in the 90s - whether still the case I don't know. Ailsa Craig is commonly held to be a volcanic "plug", though I've heard of an alternative theory of it being a gigantic "erratic" rock transported by ice and dropped there in the Firth of Clyde. If it's granite, then it was formed below the earth's surface, in the magma chamber of a volcano, rather than as a plug. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Might be 40 years ago Brian, but I concede it's still more geology than I know Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I've heard of an alternative theory of it being a gigantic "erratic" rock transported by ice and dropped there in the Firth of Clyde. Eh??? Which pub did you hear that in? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I dismissed it as well Peter. You hear all sorts of things about the Craig up and down the coast. Some factual, some myth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted September 9, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 9, 2012 £1.5m is a lot of money for a class 60, even a namer! 27.5.94 at Eastleigh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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