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*[[Brian Whittle]], athlete
*[[Brian Whittle]], athlete
*[[Steve Nicol]], footballer
*[[Steve Nicol]], footballer
*[[Michael Ferrara]], Local G.L.A.A.D activist
*[[Michael Ferrara]], Local GLAAD activist


==Further reading==
==Further reading==

Revision as of 17:51, 19 April 2009

Troon
PopulationExpression error: "14,766 (2001 Census)" must be numeric
OS grid referenceNS345255
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTroon
Postcode districtKA10
Dialling code01292
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland

Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is situated on the west coast, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services — the P&O Express to Larne and a yacht marina. In May 2006, a ferry service to Campbeltown was added.

In the 2001 census the population of Troon, not including the nearby village of Loans but including the Barassie area, was estimated at 14,766 — a 4.77% increase on the 1991 estimate of 14,094 [1].

Troon is famous for its Royal Troon golf course, one of the hosts to the Open Golf Championship. The course is chosen to host this annual event roughly every seven years.

Troon Harbour played a notable part in the development of the town for many years. It was home to the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, which constructed many vessels for worldwide customers but mainly small passenger and various merchant vessels. The fishing fleet from Ayr moved to Troon Harbour and a revitalisation of the abandoned section of the harbour started. An approach road was constructed to connect to a P&O terminal which operates a service to Ireland. The Seacat high speed ferry service briefly operated from Troon Harbour but has now ended.

Troon Harbour is now a fishing port, yachting marina, seasonal passenger ferry port and Ro-Ro ferry terminal for timber and containers. The shipbuilding industry at Troon Harbour ended in 2000 [2].

The name 'Troon' is derived from the Gaelic An t-Sron, meaning 'The Nose' or 'The bill' and a look at a map shows how it got this name. This could equally, however, have derived from Old Welsh. In various deeds, the spelling is given as "Trune", "Trone", "Truyn", and "Trwyn". Nevertheless, the Scots Gaelic etymology is consistent with that of Stranraer (An t-Sròn Reamhar - The Fat Nose) located further south on the coast.[3]

The town is served by Troon railway station. Troon has its own secondary school, Marr College.

Troon is also the birthplace of C.K. Marr, who left a considerable fortune upon death to the people of Troon.[4]

SeaCat service

SeaCat were most notable for opening Troon as a passenger harbour back in 1999. They were "copied" by P&O Irish Sea in 2003. SeaCat closed the following year in 2004.

Notable residents

Further reading

  • McPherson, I (2000) Old Troon
  • Wylie, Stewart C. and Wilson, James (1991) Troon in Old Picture Postcards
  • MacIntosh, I.M. (1969) Old Troon

References

  1. ^ General Register Office for Scotland
  2. ^ Visit Ayrshire and Arran: Troon Harbour and Marina
  3. ^ I.M. McIntosh, Old Troon, 1969
  4. ^ Marr Educational Resources Centre
  5. ^ 'I'm no threat to anyone.' Why the war is over for Mad Dog AdairThe Guardian newspaper article, 19 February 2006.

See also