Mossblown

Mossblown is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland, a little bigger than neighboring Annbank. It was a coal mining community but the mines have been closed for some time now. It is a bright and vibrant village full of hard working locals. There is also a book available written by a local historian entitled 'Old Annbank and Mossblown'which affords more written and pictorial information about the village. Most recently (2010-11), the population of the village has grown, with new residential (private and council) housing being added to the village's north east boundary on the B743, Ayr to Mauchline road. This is the latest expansion in housing development since a private residential housing scheme was built in Mossblown's south eastern quarter in the 1990's, adjacent to the old Annbank Church (and cemetery which serves the populations of both Mossblown and Annbank).

Rail Links

A railway line (which still runs through the village) used to serve as the main rail link from Stranraer to London, but this route has long since been demoted from public service, and all London to Stranraer services go via Ayr. Up until the mid 1960's, there was a thriving railway station located in the middle of the village, although it did not take its name from the village which hosted it, and instead was known as Annbank Station. it was of traditional timber clad design and had one platform, approximately 80 meteres long. Nearby, on the northern half of the village, a signal junction box stood for many years and required operators to manually change the signals and direct trains either north towards Tarbolton station or eastwards towards Annbank and Trabboch. A small BT telephone exchange now sits in the space that this station used to occupy.

Changes in Appearance

Although the majority of the current younger generation of Mossblown residents will have experienced very few cosmetic changes in the village's appearance, older residents can tell of how the village has changed considerably in character. For example, (it may not be widely known that) up until the late 1940's - early 50's, there was a working farm located practically in the centre of the village, called Whiskeyhall Farm. A nearby street takes its name from this farm.

The area to the north east of Mossblown where Sloan Avenue and Mossbank Place are located today, looked a lot different in the 1930's 40's and 50's, as this part was known as Drumley (hence nearby Drumley House School taking its name from here). There was a working pit also called Drumley and the houses, built for the pit workers, consisted of miner's 'rows': the 'long row' and the 'wee row' (single storey dwellings, often housing families of sometimes 9 or more family members in two or three rooms). There was a community 'wash hoose' (wash house) where the women folk would meet and do all their families' washing, whilst the husband would work long hours down the nearby coal pit mine.

Sanitation was basic with outside toilets only, and there was a single 'sheugh' sluce which would act as drainage for the whole street, "in the pit row".

One local anecdote warmly notes how one family liked to flaunt their (comparative) 'oppulence' during the years just after the second world war when commodities were still scarce, by ensuring their "eggs shells were seen to be floating down the sheugh". This apparently set them 'above their neighbours', and has always remained a fond memory of "austere but happier times" in the minds of older village locals.