Old Photographs Dockhead Street Saltcoats Scotland

Old photograph of shops and children on Dockhead Street in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland. Saltcoats is a small town on the west coast of North Ayrshire. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages along the shore. In the late 18th Century, several shipyards operated at Saltcoats, producing some 60 to 70 ships. The leading shipbuilder was William Ritchie, but in 1790 he moved his business to Belfast, Northern Ireland. By the early 19th Century the town no longer produced ships.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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