 | 'Sir George Young, the MP for North West Hampshire derided Scotland's Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace over the tuition fees issue, saying the Lib Dem leader had told the electorate if they voted for his party on Thursday the fees would die on Friday, only later to say it was mere election rhetoric.' Michael Settle in the Herald, 24 th June 1999. |  |
Ayr, well used to races, is going flat out in its bid to become Millennium City. William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Mary Queen of Scots are claimed as old familiars while local lad Robert Burns, he who wrote what is claimed to be the "ultimate millennium song", Auld Lang Syne, and a few others bits and pieces besides, had been enrolled to lend weight to Ayr's attempt to become Britain's new city.
Loyalty to the Crown of a type seldom heard today is expressed in spadefuls in the town's presentation to the Scottish Secretary - you never know, it might be read by HM herself - and the town's International Cartoon Festival is given mention.
Academics, strategic planners and economists were consulted over the preparation of the submission and a £300m sewage scheme thrown in to make the whole smell sweeter.
Ayr, claiming it is the "Ayr apparent" for the decision, was established around 1197 when William the Lion, King of Scots, built a castle and installed a sheriff to keep law and order. Six years later he granted a charter to create a royal burgh.
Ayr, says Ayr, has it all: "Ayr Fields", allegedly some of the most spectacular farming land in Britain; "Ayr Brush", the imminent installation of artist Alexander Goudie's 52 pictures telling the story of Burns's poem Tam O' Shanter; and much more of the same ending up with "Ayr Cooled, there's nothing quite like the seaside on a hot summer's day". In addition, Ayr has what it is pleased to call a city status "tool kit"... a cathedral, university campus, distinguished history and royal connections.
A gazetteer of Scotland published 200 years ago describes it as "a borough of considerable domain of very ancient erection and owing its privileges to Robert Bruce, who, upon being attacked with leprosy, came to reside in this place".
As Ayr's Millennium submission points out the town is, today, healthy, with low population density, little crowded housing, better than average amenities and a higher than average proportion of graduates. The population 200 years ago was 1724: it stands today at around 48,000.
Ayr's contention is that a Millennium City will not be about office blocks and roaring traffic, its plan being to take the best of the town's medieval, Georgian, Victorian and 20th-century heritage and develop and enhance it.
In an outburst of candour seldom to be found in civic competitions, it does say "there is some work to be done in traffic management and accessibility". Oddly, there is not a word about ice cream.
Sept 1 1999
Their town, for many the jewel of that institution they call the Costa Clyde, has come in for the treatment from Which? magazine.
The magazine, which is published by the Consumers' Association, has visited nine British seaside resorts and graded them for their general attractiveness to the holidaymaker.
Ayr is the sole Scottish representative and it is perhaps just as well given our desire to promote Scotland nationally as a place for a holiday.
The author of the report describes Ayr as "a timewarp resort where brisk walking and staring out to sea pass for the height of excitement".
And with unintended irony, the report continues: "When one of the highlights is the annual sighting of five cruise liners moored a mile offshore you can safely assume that a resort is low key."
The magazine was not to know, after all, that one opportunity to do just that this morning has been thwarted with the news that the SS Norway will not be visiting Ayr as scheduled. She has engine problems in Bergen.
Associated British Ports official Gareth Russell said: "It is a real disappointment to us as the ship is one of the largest and most attractive in the world. In addition, there were all those passengers wanting to come ashore and enjoy Ayrshire."
But back to the Which? report and its fawning admiration for resorts in the south of England and rather liverish dismissal of Ayr, Rhyl, and Blackpool.
About Ayr, of which Burns wrote "Wham ne'er a toun surpasses, for honest men and bonnie lasses", the magazine is less enthusiastic. The town centre is "gentrified" and of the controversial pavilion building on the front it writes: "The dun-coloured shell of an Italianate castle, boarded up, and going to seed."
The article drew swift reaction from South Ayrshire Council leader John Baillie who said: "I believe the writer is being a little bit mischievous and a big bit selective in the highlighting of what Ayr has to offer.
"There is no mention of an impressive range of pubs and restaurants, of cinemas and theatres, and of a town which attracts world class musical and sporting events each year. I hope that Which? magazine will return when we are ready to launch a number of exciting tourist-based initiatives."
Mr Ian Robertson, interim chief executive of Ayrshire and Arran Tourist Board, said: "We are very disappointed at some of the comments in this article as we believe this paints a misleading view of Ayr.
"Ayr is a vibrant town with a host of quality features from visitor attractions such as Burns National Heritage Park, to the wide array of shops from little boutiques to main High Street stores." - July 1 1999
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