Acknowledgements
Firstly, we must thank all the farmers and landowners without whose the generosity, understanding, and cooperation this superb natural asset would not be so readily available to all those who love the countryside.
This project could not have taken root and flourished without the advice and encouragement of David Gray, Countryside Access Officer for South Ayrshire Council, and his counterpart in North Ayrshire, Louise Kirk: South and North Ayrshire Access Forums; generous grants from South Ayrshire and North Ayrshire Councils, Scottish Natural Heritage, and Entrust (via South Ayrshire Waste and Environmental Trust, and North Ayrshire Landfill Tax Fund); and support from the National Trust for Scotland, Visit Scotland and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire.
On the practical side, we are indebted to Barr Quarries, Solway Precast, Alginate Industries, and Jewsons, for their generosity when supplying materials; and to the young workers from the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers and Scottish Wildlife Trust who helped members of Ayr Rotary Club in the construction of sections of path.
We would also like to acknowledge tremendous support from the Girvan, Alloway, Prestwick and Troon Rotary Clubs and members of the general public who joined the Ayr Club in a Beach Clean from Girvan to Troon, which in 2007 removed over 900 bags of rubbish from our South Ayrshire beaches in just 3 hours! This has now become an annual Spring event organised by Rotary to maintain the attractiveness of our Ayrshire Coastal Path.
Thanks are also due to Archie McGregor for his civil engineering expertise, and to Jen Beattie for setting up our website.
Finally, I must thank John Davidson, Alec Thomson, Alistair Tyre, Willie Watters, and Neil Beattie, fellow members of the Ayr Rotary Coastal Path Group, for unstinting commitment to the success of their project, and the stalwarts of the Rotary Club of Ayr for their cheerful labour on the chain gangs, clearing jungle and breaking rocks to create link paths.
James A Begg, Coordinator/Chairman
Ayr Rotary Coastal Path Group.
