More on Ayrshire Archives closure and relocation

Following my blog post on the forthcoming closure of Ayrshire Archives from March until early 2021 (see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/ayrshire-archives-to-temporarily-close.html), I have spent two very productive days for clients yesterday and today at both the Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock and the Townhouse in Irvine, both of which offer satellite access to Ayrshire Archives, the main base for which is at Auchincruive.  I've had a few conversations about the plans, and so here is a quick update:

When Ayrshire Archive re-opens, the new purpose built facility will see the relocation of materials from Auchincruive ONLY - the locally offered records in both Kilmarnock and Irvine (such as Irvine's superb burgh records collection) will continue to be offered at those facilities. The reason for the complete closure of all facilities in the short term is due to the staff being required to assist with the relocation of the South Ayrshire based archives - at present, access to material in Kilmarnock or Irvine is by appointment only, and a staff member from the joint service has to travel to one of those locations to facilitate that.

Also, the family history room at the Townhouse will continue to operate as normal, as will the ScotlandsPeople access and family history provision at the Burns Monument Centre.

The new centre in Ayr, at the new Ayr Grammar School facility in Fort Street, will be much easier to access in the centre of the town by way of public transport (the current centre at Auchincruive is in the back of beyond, with distances to get there measured by way of how many days ride it is by horse!), and will be very shiny and smiley and wonderful. I'm very much looking forward to seeing and using it!

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.