In this section is a series of articles based on personal recollections and newspaper stories about Lochwinnoch published in days gone by. And yes flooding of the road out to Lochside has been an issue ever since the road was built way back then.

There are recollections by my Dad about growing up in the village in the 1920’s and 30’s with the snappy title "Growing up in Lochwinnoch". He was born 1st January 1919 and lived in Lochwinnoch all his life. He died in 2003.

More recently are the recollections of Gorman McGee. He imagined a stroll round the streets remembering which shops were where during the 30's and 40's. We have added photographs to match the commentary. Two appendices have also been added. One shows how the streets he walked along have changed. The other is a gallery which contains photographs of all the shops he remembers. There were too many to fit in the body of the text.

The Lochwinnoch Guide is an information booklet about the village published around the 1930's. A number of the advertisers are shop owners remembered by Gorman McGhee in his virtual stroll round village shops.

The Grand Concert is a collection of pages advertising A Grand Concert being held in 1903 in aid of the poor of Lochwinnoch.

Charlie Jay who may be best remembered as an entertainer published a series of short tales about Life in the Valley which were compiled into a small booklet of the same name. With Charlie's permission I have scanned it and published in this section of the website.

Bitesize Series is a series of articles about a specific historic event regarding Lochwinnoch. They are short "tasters" rather than an in depth treatise hence the name Bitesize.

In a similar vein Bitesize Newsletter is based on events that were reported in the newspapers of the 1800's regarding Lochwinnoch. They give a snapshot of what was going on in the daily lives of folk back then.

Returning to my Dad, A Soldiers Story, are his recollections of being called up for the Second World War, his training and the action he saw in the North Africa campaign, Monti Casino and completing his tour of duty in Austria when the war ended.

Poems by John Smith are ones he wrote during the war. "Love Found and Left Behind" is particularly poignant. He met my mum in Alyth where he did his training and she worked in the land army as a lumberjack hence the references to the tall pines. "The Cobblers Wee Backshop" talks about Archie McIntyre the local cobbler back then who is also mentioned by Gorman in his stroll around the village. I concluded his poem section with some of the funny ones he had heard that made him laugh.

Harry Fenion was a cabinet maker who worked at Joseph Johnstone. As well as a skilled tradesman he was a phenomenal athlete specialising in long distance races. This is a short record of his accomplishments with newspaper clippings and numerous photographs.