Innovation & Great Minds

Since before the Industrial Revolution, Scots have been at the forefront of innovation and discovery across a wide range of spheres.

Amazingly, for a country whose population has never been much in excess of 5 million, native Scots or those descended directly from them have been the recipients of some 11% of all the Nobel Prizes that have been awarded.

Ayrshire is the home of many great inventors including Sir Alexander Fleming (penicillin), John Dunlop (pneumatic tyre), John McAdam (tarmacadam), William Murdoch (gas lighting) and Robert the Bruce (King of Scots 1306-1329).

Ten facts about Ayrshire (courteousy of Scottish Field magazine)

1. Prestwick hosted the very first Open Golf Championship in 1860.
2. A road at Sauchie house was the first in the world to be covered in Tarmac. The house belonged to John Loudon Macadam.
3. The discovery of the remains of an ancient settlement in Dreghorn, near Irvine, including a well dating back to 3500B.C, makes the village one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited village.
4. There is a myth / legend that says that Sawney Cave at Ballantrae, near Girvan is the place where the notorious sixteenth century murderer Sawney Bean (whose family reputedly killed and cannibalised 1000 people) lived and was captured, prior to his execution in Edinburgh.
5. Saltcoats and Largs were used as the location for filming the scenes for the fictional coastal town of Finport, featured in BBC comedy series Still Game.
6. Crosbie Castle, on the outskirts of West Kilbride, was home to William Wallace’s uncle, Sir Ranald Crawfurd. It is believed that Wallace spent some time at the castle.
7. Prestwick is the only part of the United kingdom Elvis Presley ever set foot on. In 1960, whilst in the US army, the plane he was in stopped at Prestwick airport on it’s way to Germany.
8. Ayr Academy is the oldest secondary school in Scotland.
9. Ailsa Craig, the volcanic plug rising out of the Firth of Clyde, as well as being the only source of curling stones, is also famous for its gannet colony. Since the 1950s the population of breeding pairs has risen from 5,000 to over 35,000.
10. Culzean Castle was designed by Robert Adam in 1777. The castle is one of the grandest buildings in Ayrshire, and along with the country park, offers bundles of history, romance and culture.

Come back to Ayrshire and experience Ayrshire innovation past and present.

Add to your trip our breathtaking scenery, fascinating history, fine food and drink and world class golf and you too can become inspired.

Come back and be inspired

Come back to Ayrshire