Lochwinnoch is lucky to have a rich photographic record of its history dating from the early days of photography in the late 1800's. This website is a "Cairn"* of a number of these photographs of the village and the people who lived here. An important aim of the site is to put names to faces and thereby preserve a more personal record of the people of the village. This project may already be late because many of those who can put names to faces are no longer with us.

The village is a child of the Industrial Revolution, it was born out of the technological revolution that swept the textile industry. And when that fire had almost burnt itself out a new spark ignited the village, furniture making. A demand that sprang out from what had gone before, more houses, bigger cities, steam driven liners that could carry more passengers than ever before all requiring furniture.
 
There have also been other sources of employment in the village that helped to made it a place where you could raise a family and live as part of a community of neighbours. The jobs have gone but the village has grown, its situation and interconnections with larger conurbations make it an ideal dormitory town.

Despite the fact Lochwinnoch no longer has any significant employment in the village its sense of community and family remains despite the large influx of people and born and bred Lochwinnians such as myself departing the village for opportunity in other places. This is down in no small part to the very active volunteers who organise the many activities that go on in the village such as the Arts Festival, the Gala Day, local newsletters such as Chatterbox and Facebook pages such as Lochwinnoch Past and Present.
 
And I guess in some small measure this website tries to add to that sense of community by trying to preserve a digital record that will help people new to the village connect with its past and for those in far off lands to reconnect with what was left behind.
 
*The word 'Cairn' used in this context means a collection.