Hurlford

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Hurlford
Scottish Gaelic: Àth Cliath
Scots: Hulfurt
250px
One of the leading roads leading into Hurlford
 Hurlford shown within East Ayrshire
Population 4,968 
OS grid reference NS456366
   – Edinburgh  75 miles 
   – London  404 miles 
Council area East Ayrshire
Lieutenancy area Ayrshire and Arran
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town KILMARNOCK
Postcode district KA1, KA3
Dialling code 01560
01563
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Scottish Parliament Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley
List of places
UK
Scotland

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Hurlford (Scottish Gaelic: Àth Cliath) is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Including Crookedholm, it has a population of 4,968.[1] Hurlford's former names include Whirlford and Hurdleford.[2] The village was named Whirlford as a result of a ford crossing the River Irvine east of Hurlford Cross, near Shawhill.[3] It shares its name in Gaelic, Àth Cliath ("The Ford of the Hurdles") with the Irish capital Dublin.

The village's Blair Park is home to Hurlford United F.C. and many notable footballers have been trained there.

Local Council Wards

The village is mostly contained in the Kilmarnock East and Hurlford ward of East Ayrshire Council while some outlying hamlets are in the Irvine Valley ward.[4]

Religion

Traditionally part of Riccarton parish,[5] the village is now a quoad sacra parish in its own right. Hurlford is home to four church buildings—the Hurlford Kirk and Hurlford Church, both in Main Road, Crookedholm; St Paul's Roman Catholic Church on Galston Road; and the Mauchline Road Church.

Hurlford Church, the former Free Church built in 1857, is part of the Church of Scotland.[6] Mauchline Road Church was formerly part of the Unitarian Church.[3] It is now used as luxury housing.[7] The Hurlford Kirk, which was the original parish church built in 1875 has also been converted into a house, having become redundant as a church in 1996 when its congregation merged with that of the Free Church.[8][9]

Education

Hurlford Primary School

Hurlford Primary School, formerly Hurlford Grammar and Secondary School is the non-denominational primary school for the area and also houses Hurlford Nursery School.[2] The building itself dates back to 1905.[10]

Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Rothesay, visited and congratulated the staff and children on 20 June 2005 on their achievements transforming school meals,[11] which was followed by the school winning the Soil Association's School Food Award at the BBC's Good Food Show, presented by Jamie Oliver.[12]

Crossroads Primary School

Crossroads Primary School, now closed, formerly served the outlying areas of Hurlford and surrounding villages. It was closed by East Ayrshire Council as it was no longer financially viable to repair the building, despite parental and local protest. Pupils now attend Galston Primary School.[13]

Economy

File:Shawhill House, Crookedholm.JPG
Shawhill House near Hurlford.

The town developed rapidly in the 19th century, following the discovery of coal. Fireclay and ironstone were also worked extensively until production ceased in the 1970s. A poignant reminder of the heyday of the iron and steel industry of Hurlford is the ship's propeller erected at the Cross in the lately redeveloped town centre.[14] Today, industries found in Hurlford include brakepad manufacturing by Eurofriction Limited and whisky production by international company Diageo.[citation needed]

Transport

Hurlford railway station is now closed. However, East Ayrshire Council have recently entered negotiations with First ScotRail and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport to re-introduce passenger rail halts.[citation needed]

Hurlford also used to boast its own tramway system, which connected it to Kilmarnock. Nowadays, the main public transport links are provided by several Stagecoach Western bus services, including direct services to Glasgow.

Notable residents

The village is often referred to as a "football nursery" due to its high output of footballers.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 East Ayrshire Council Minutes, page 217, Item 7 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "East_Ayrshire_Council" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Kilmarnock_Standard" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ Boundary Commission for Scotland, Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements East Ayrshire Council area maps
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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