Talk:West Kilbride

message: Firstly I have archived all but the most recent discussion onto another page. Hope nobody minds, the page was a little long with all the lengthy discussion going on!
Secondly, and more importantly, I finally had the chance this evening to go out and take a few photos in the West Kilbride area. Unfortunately the time of day wasn't in my favour, and the sun's position over Arran prevented a lot of good shots from Law Hill. I did get a reasonable photo from Portencross though, which I have put on the article, replacing the Seamill beach photo. I've also replaced the Simson memorial geograph photo with a higher-res dedicated Wikipedia photo, and there's a couple of other photos that I've added to the sandbox version of the page I've been working on. That's all I managed to get for the moment, apart from photo of Portencross Castle which didn't turn out well, again due to the sun. --Dreamer84 00:15, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Archiving and Photos

message: Dear Dreamer, Like NSH, I haven't time to write much just now because I am immersed in my own work (real life?) at present.  However, I think that, overall, the article on WK reads pretty well.  Take a look at the articles on other comparable towns and villages.  No contest!  NSH, in particular, has done much sterling work.  Thank you, Neil!  Of course, there are no grounds for complacency.  We can always do better still!
I added a piece about the Scarecrow Festival because it is one of the ways in which West Kilbride is reinventing itself.  Apparently, scarecrow festivals are quite common in England.  But this is the first one in Scotland.  It started in 2005 and has gradually gained momentum, becoming a popular annual event with a high profile locally.  As you might guess, the appeal is primarily to children and young families.  It's a well-supported local activity and I think it deserves a write-up here.  (I shall update and prune what I have written asap.)  WK's efforts in the "Scotland in Bloom" competition each year are another visible way in which the town fosters civic pride and community spirit.
Much more important, though, is the "Craft Town Scotland" initiative which has hardly been written about here.  And generous sponsorship from the Moffat Trust is helping WK renovate the derelict shops and houses in Main Street, creating artists' workshops and studios.  We need to say something about this also.
Regarding Notable Residents, Major Whyte (of "whiskyisms" fame) lived for many years in a house called Underhill on the outskirts of WK.  Small in stature, he was nevertheless a high-profile "character" in the Scotch Whisky industry.  I remember him well.  He died about 20 years ago, I think.  Mr Walker lived for a few years with someone in Seamill, very near the beach.  He and his partner have now split up and he has moved away.  I don't know the story of Keller's time in West Kilbride.  (Was it days?  Weeks?  Months?)  I want to find out, for the sake of this article - and I fully intend to do so.  It's a fascinating story, I'm sure.  Even if Keller's visit to WK was comparatively short, I still think we should include it here because she was a very extraordinary, world-famous person!
I don't know who Al Lorraine is.  Is he or she notable?  I couldn't say.  (Perhaps not.)    
I'm glad someone is doing something about the photographs.  Much needed!  Well done!
Signing off for now,Avril.rennie 03:19, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: WK

message: I feel the page I've been working on at my sandbox is now viewable, so I've updated the main article with my current changes. Any grammar, spelling etc please feel free to change. It's definately still a work in progress, but I feel it now resembles a true Wiki article now.
Regarding the 'famous residents', I've changed this to 'notable residents', and removed a couple of names such as Roy Walker, as he stayed in Seamill (got to leave something for the Seamill page!). Some other stuff such as a cancer care shop in the town has been removed, not really notable as pretty much every town has at least one!
The churches section has been reduced to a sentence, but this could probably be built up again with the right sources cited.
Also, I have removed the trivia section, since they are discouraged on Wikipedia, but I have attempted to blend the information into the article (most of it is in the 'Present day West Kilbride' section. The external links section has been cut down, since a lot of the links are just a few lines above in the references section. I also removed the 'See also' section as Seamill and Portencross are linked several times in the main body of the article.
Would love to hear comments, good and bad. --Dreamer84 20:54, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Revamp moved

message: Thanks to Dreamer for his latest contributions. Unfortunately real-life commitments mean I won't be able to devote much time to Wikipedia or this article for the next few days, possibly up to a week. Apologies for the temporary delay to the restructuring work. But (obviously) OK for anyone to do useful small changes such as spelling/grammar corrections, or adding citations.--NSH001 14:46, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Apologies 

message: (sort of ...)
Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park gets a mention in the "Did you know" section, with a link to West Kilbride appearing on the front page.--NSH001 19:53, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  We're on today's [[Main Page]]! 

message: West Kilbride has a pretty good page with lots of of info compared to towns of a similar size in Scotland, but I started thinking about what weaknesses it has compared to top-quality articles on Scottish towns.  I have changed a couple of headings to bring them in line with A-rated articles such as Glenrothes, Arbroath and Kirkcaldy - ok W.K. is a smaller town than these so content may be shorter but it is helpful to readers to follow a standard format rather than the ideosyncratic headings which had crept in.  Also, one thing the article lacks compared to those examples is a section on Geography.  I also think that the primary school should be listed in a new section 'Education' rather than under Amenities. Lord Spring Onion (talk) 22:57, 10 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I have added the headings History, Geography, Governance with some new text.  The later sections need reorganised.Lord Spring Onion (talk) 12:57, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

text: The 500-word section on 'Coat of Arms' needs drastically cut or completely removed...it is made all the more ridiculous in that it starts with "West Kilbride does not have a legitimate coat of Arms..." Lord Spring Onion (talk) 08:05, 11 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text:  I have removed coat of arms for the time being, and put more standard headings into the section.  I also incorporated the 'historical buildings' into the subsection on medieval buildings.  I excluded Hunterston Castle as it is not in West Kilbride. Lord Spring Onion (talk) 12:45, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

text: Thanks NSH, that's good to hear.  Look forward to seeing your future edits.Lord Spring Onion (talk) 21:36, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

text: Thanks for the kind words, Rosser. I think the article still needs a lot of work to get it up to Good Article status. Never knew that Burns visited Seamill (but it wouldn't surprise me) - if you have a source for that statement, it would be good to post it here, ditto for any other source(s) you may have. Never heard of "Seamill Cottage", sorry. Regards, NSH001 (talk) 15:50, 18 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Updates - aiming for a top-quality article

message: Most of what currently appears seems cherry-picked and doesn't provide an overview.  I suggest locating most of it under a subheading of 'early history' and adding a paragraph with more recent history - the weaving town/agricultural era which is actually the history of WK and not just of the general area.  Also, Roman remains?  I have found no other reference and it seems a tad unlikely and there is no citation...a book on the area says that The Fort was built on the site of an iron-age fort and does not mention Roman connection so I'm going to change it for now. 
Lord Spring Onion (talk) 07:36, 11 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: The 500-word section on 'Coat of Arms' needs drastically cut or completely removed...it is made all the more ridiculous in that it starts with "West Kilbride does not have a legitimate coat of Arms..." Lord Spring Onion (talk) 08:05, 11 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text:  I have removed coat of arms for the time being, and put more standard headings into the section.  I also incorporated the 'historical buildings' into the subsection on medieval buildings.  I excluded Hunterston Castle as it is not in West Kilbride. Lord Spring Onion (talk) 12:45, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

text: Thanks NSH, that's good to hear.  Look forward to seeing your future edits.Lord Spring Onion (talk) 21:36, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: History

message: I have put the later sections in what appears to be a more standard order.  I haven't done anything radical with the content though I have moved a few things - each edit should have an explanation beside it.  I have added a few bits e.g. bus info to the transport section.
The landmarks section has become quite long but perhaps rightly so.  It would be good to see more on the Glen, including perhaps the recent orchard development.
Do you think the education section could do with a bit on nearby secondary schools/colleges? Even if they are not in WK, that is where local kids have to go...
Haven't done anything to the last couple of sections, and I am aware a few things need citations added in.  Hopefully that won't be long in being sorted.Lord Spring Onion (talk) 21:41, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Later sections 

message: One other thing - most articles on towns have a townscape-type picture at the top right, above the map.  I could take one but if anyone has something suitable that would be a good addition, I think.Lord Spring Onion (talk) 21:47, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Picture

message: I read that Robert Burns visited Seamill Cottage and left a diamond point engraving of some sort. Can anyone tell me if it's still there and where is Seamill Cottage? Part of the Hydro? 
I feel that the West Kilbride article is of a professional standard by the way. Far better than most - including mine! Rosser Gruffydd 09:14, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for the kind words, Rosser. I think the article still needs a lot of work to get it up to Good Article status. Never knew that Burns visited Seamill (but it wouldn't surprise me) - if you have a source for that statement, it would be good to post it here, ditto for any other source(s) you may have. Never heard of "Seamill Cottage", sorry. Regards, NSH001 (talk) 15:50, 18 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Robert Burns

message: Is it noteworthy that the man who bought the church gave a roundabout way to account for their loss? He claimed that he had hired a company to store them for safe keeping and for some unexplained reason, were unable to account for their whereabouts, (but he couldn't produce them to speak up in court to show any records or evidence for this) and was actually fined the same amount he paid for the building in the first place. Apparently the windows had been gifted to the community, so there was obviously great local interest in their return.2.125.77.121 (talk) 11:57, 7 June 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: As always on Wikipedia, do you have a source or sources for that info? For example, link(s) to newspaper articles or a book from a reputable publisher (see WP:RS). This is an article about the town, rather than any of its scandals, but if the case was widely reported, then it would probably be appropriate to include something in the article. Regards --NSH001 (talk) 15:12, 7 June 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Barony Church Windows