Cairnryan -  The only thing between Cairnryan and Loch Ryan is the A77 road. Established in 1701, it was then named "Lochryan" after Lochryan House" which still stands at the northern end of the village today.

Until the 1800's Cairnryan was a staging post stop on the stage coach route to Ayr. This also brought notoriety at times from attacks by highwayman who preyed on the passing traffic before escaping on horseback across the adjoining terrain.

As these postcards which were kindly given to us show there used to be a bowling green opposite of Lochryan House.

The bowling green with Lochryan House in the background behind which is Cairn Hill. Lochryan House still stands today and often opens its gardens to the public once a year.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the lighthouse had been built. Now unmanned, pictured right, Cairn Point is a popular bird watching area.

In contrast to the up to date photo above, this old postcard shows a good view of the village and lighthouse as it once was many years ago.

Around the same time, circa 1860 a railway had been built which passed through Cairnryan before terminating at nearby Stranraer. That railway was to be of significant importance as during the Second World War, the Americans turned Cairnryan into a military port with a military railway branch line from the already existing main line. A 700 metre long jetty was built which assisted the construction of the "Mulberry Harbours", floating ports which the allies relied on after the D Day landings. It is this long jetty still visible today just to the right of our house that now acts as a natural breakwater.

The building of the port came about following the Dunkirk evacuation and fall of France in June 1940. This led to a greater threat to Ports in the southeast of England which were well within German aircraft bombing range. A reconnaissance mission to the west coast of Scotland was undertaken for a suitable site that would free up some of the south east England port facilities. The port had to be in an area with availability to house personnel, have good road and rail communications and most importantly, good anchorage. Though a number of sites were looked at from Barrow in Furness in Cumbria to Oban in Argyll, Cairnryan was chosen due to its naturally deep water that meant less dredging would be required so the Port could be constructed more quickly. The construction of the military port used 4,000 service men who were housed in hastily constructed military camps on surrounding farmland. On completion, the port was officially opened by King George VI and the late Queen Mother who arrived on a two carriage royal train. Cairnryan had never seen such tight security.

At the end of the war 86 German U-Boats surrendered in Loch Ryan and were anchored here before being towed to sea and sunk. Thereafter, the military railway was no longer required but before being dismantled the Government realised it found itself holding thousands of tons of explosives which were now no longer needed. The quickest and cheapest method for disposal of these surplus explosives was at sea so over the next few years numerous wagon loads of  de-fused bombs, mines, grenades, small arms, other ammunition, and even a consignment of German nerve gas was loaded onto ships and dumped  deep in the Irish sea well away from Cairnryan. In 1959 the military port closed and in 1967 the historic railway built during the darkest days of the Second World War was removed.

In the coming years  the earlier development of Cairnryan as a Port during the war brought for a short time new industry to Cairnryan, ship breaking.  Famous ships dismantled included the Centaur, Eagle and most famously on 22 September 1980 the Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.

HMS Ark Royal was the second heaviest ship ever to have entered service with the Royal Navy. The heaviest on entering service was HMS Eagle also broken at Cairnryan. Eagle weighed 54.000 tons fully loaded.

In 1970 development began to turn the old Port into a modern ferry terminal. Completed in 1973 it was purchased by Townsend Thoresen and then P&O Ferries in 1987. Improvements removed any remains of its history as a military port and ship breakers yard and with a faster crossing to Northern Ireland than from Stranraer, Stena Line who sail from Stranraer to Belfast are planning to move their operation to from Stranraer to a few miles north of Cairnryan from the end of 2009.

The rationale behind this is to avoid the extra 4 mile each way journey down Loch Ryan to Stranraer where speed has to be limited and the nature of the port at Stranraer delays the sailing further by requiring the ferries to turn around to reverse into their berth. The arrival of Stena at Cairnryan should bring a boost to the area and allow tourism to develop further in Stranraer and more widely in Wigtownshire with a proposed waterfront complex on the site of the port.