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Ardeer, North Ayrshire
Ardeer was a small town now officially incorporated into Stevenston on the Ardeer peninsula, in the parish of Stevenston, North Ayrshire, originally an island and later its extensive sand dune system became the site of Nobel Explosives, a dominant global supplier of explosives to the mining and quarrying industries and a major player in the design and development of products for the chemical and defence industries during the 20th century, the company was also a subsidiary of Nobel Enterprises. The peninsula is now part of North Ayrshire's most important area for Biodiversity. Geography Ardeer Island Ardeer was once an island with a sea channel running along to exit in the vicinity of Auchenharvie Academy. Blaeu's map of 1654, based on Timothy Pont’s map of circa 1600 clearly shows a small island with the settlements of Ardeer, Dubbs, Bogend, Longford, Snodgrass, Lugton Mill and Bartonholm all being on or near the coastline. The island was small and extended no further tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th Census in the United Kingdom, UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Detailed results by region, council area, ward and ONS coding system, output area are available from their respective websites. Organisation Similar to previous UK censuses, the 2001 census was organised by the three statistical agencies, ONS, GROS, and NISRA, and coordinated at the national level by the Office for National Statistics. The Order in Council#Orders in Council as Statutory Instruments, Orders in Council to conduct the census, specifying the people and information to be included in the census, were made under the authority of the Census Act 1920 in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earl Of Eglinton
Earl of Eglinton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created by James IV of Scotland in 1507 for Hugh Montgomerie, 3rd Lord Montgomerie. In 1859, the thirteenth Earl of Eglinton, Archibald Montgomerie, was also created Earl of Winton in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which gave him an automatic seat in the House of Lords, and both earldoms have been united since. Furthermore, other titles held with the earldoms are: ''Lord Montgomerie'' (created 1449), ''Baron Ardrossan'' (1806) and ''Baron Seton and Tranent'' (1859). The first is in the Peerage of Scotland, while the latter two are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. William Dunbar mentions a Sir Hugh of Eglinton in his '' Lament for the Makaris'', citing him as a fellow poet. He has sometimes been tentatively identified as Huchown, but this is not certain. The Earl of Eglinton is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Montgomery. The ancestral seat was Eglinton Castle in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire. Lords Mon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George McRoberts
George McRoberts (1839–1896) was a Scottish chemist and early explosives expert. He assisted Alfred Nobel in establishing the original Nobel Enterprises dynamite factory at Ardeer. He was a close colleague of Nobel and probably a close friend. Life He was born in 1839 in central Scotland the son of John N McRoberts and his wife, Sarah Ogle. He was educated at Falkirk Grammar School. In 1870 he established a chemical factory at Westquarter in Falkirk, mainly producing sulphuric acid. Alfred Nobel bought the company in 1871 and started making detonators there, mainly for the Scottish coalfields. He was very impressed by McRoberts and in 1873 he moved him to the new British Dynamite Factory in Ardeer, North Ayrshire as its Manager, directly under Alfred Nobel, the first dynamite factory in the world. It was McRoberts and a partner John Downie who raised the £24,000 to build the factory rather than Nobel himself, who was yet to become rich from his invention. The company had it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FT 30 and later the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100 indices. ICI was formed in 1926 as a result of the merger of four of Britain's leading chemical companies. From the onset, it was involved in the production of various chemicals, explosives, fertilisers, insecticides, dyestuffs, non-ferrous metals, and paints; the firm soon become involved in plastics and a variety of speciality products, including food ingredients, polymers, electronic materials, fragrances and flavourings. During the Second World War, ICI's subsidiary Nobel Enterprises, ICI Nobel produced munitions for Britain's war effort; the wider company was also involved with Britain's nuclear weapons programme codenamed Tube Alloys. Throughout the 1940s and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irvine Harbour
The harbours serving Irvine at Seagatefoot and Fullarton in North Ayrshire have had a long and complex history. Irvine's harbour was one of the most important ports in Scotland in the 16th century. Across from the main harbour at Fullarton on the River Irvine there was also terminal for the ICI-Nobel Explosives plant on the River Garnock. Much of the harbour went into decline in the 19th century when Glasgow, Greenock and Port Glasgow achieved higher prominence as sea ports. There was still some commercial sea traffic linked to local needs, though the harbour went into further terminal decline in the 20th century. The weir on the River Irvine forms the formal upper limit of the harbour. Formerly owned by ICI, Irvine Harbour is now the property of North Ayrshire Council. NPL Estates pay an annual rental and act as the harbourmaster. NPL who also own the Big Idea site, the Bridge of Scottish Invention, locally known as the 'Sliding bridge', and other land on the Ardeer peninsular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Bernhard Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( ; ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He also made several other important contributions to science, holding 355 patents during his life. Born into the prominent Nobel family in Stockholm, Nobel displayed an early aptitude for science and learning, particularly in chemistry and languages; he became fluent in six languages and filed his first patent at the age of 24. He embarked on many business ventures with his family, most notably owning the company Bofors, which was an iron and steel producer that he had developed into a major manufacturer of cannons and other armaments. Nobel's most famous invention, dynamite, was an explosive made using nitroglycerin, which was patented in 1867. He further invented gelignite in 1875 and ballistite in 1887. Upon his death, Nobel donated his fortun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional gun powder, black powder explosives. It allows the use of nitroglycerine's favorable explosive properties while greatly reducing its risk of accidental detonation. History Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel in 1866 and was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than black powder. Alfred Nobel's father, Immanuel Nobel, was an industrialist, engineer, and inventor. He built bridges and buildings in Stockholm and founded Sweden's first rubber factory. His construction work inspired him to research new methods of blasting rock that were more effective than black powder. After some bad business deals in S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stevenston Canal
The Stevenston Canal was a waterway in North Ayrshire, Scotland, built for Robert Reid Cunningham of Seabank (now Auchenharvie) and Patrick Warner of the Ardeer Estate,Clements, Page 27 which ran to the port of Saltcoats from Ardeer, and Stevenston with a number of short branches to coal pits along the length of the cut. The canal opened on 19 September 1772, the first commercial canal in Scotland.Love, Page 46 It closed in the 1830s, when it was abandoned following the exhaustion of the coal mines and the rise of importance of Ardrossan as a harbour.Wallace, Page 35 At the time of its construction it was said to be the ''"most complete water system of colliery transport ever devised in Britain."'' History The canal was built by the coal owners to avoid the tolls charged on the road leading to Saltcoats harbour and also because the soft sandy ground made it difficult for horses to haul heavy coal waggons. Part of the canal in the Ardeer area was built along the line of the bogs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Bothwell Bridge
The Battle of Bothwell Bridge, or Bothwell Brig' took place on 22 June 1679. It was fought between government troops and militant Presbyterian Covenanters, and signalled the end of their brief rebellion. The battle took place at the bridge over the River Clyde between Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton and Bothwell in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Historic Environment (Amendment) Act 2011. Background Following the Restoration (England), Restoration of Charles II of England, King Charles II, the Presbyterians in Scotland were increasingly persecuted for their beliefs, and a small armed rising had been put down in 1666. Although some Presbyterian ministers were "Indulged" by the government from 1669, allowing them to retain their churches without having to accept Episcopacy, the more hard-line elements continued to hold illegal outdoor meetings, known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th century, Holland proper was a unified political region within the Holy Roman Empire as a county ruled by the counts of Holland. By the 17th century, the province of Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, dominating the other provinces of the newly independent Dutch Republic. The area of the former County of Holland roughly coincides with the two current Provinces of the Netherlands, Dutch provinces of North Holland and South Holland into which it was divided, and which together include the Netherlands' three largest cities: the Capital of the Netherlands, capital city (Amsterdam), the home of Port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest port (Rotterdam), and the seat of government (The Hague). Hollan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covenanter
Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son Charles I over church organisation and doctrine, but expanded into political conflict over the limits of royal authority. In 1638, thousands of Scots signed the National Covenant, pledging to resist changes in religious practice imposed by Charles. This led to the 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars, which ended with the Covenanters in control of the Scottish government. In response to the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Covenanter troops were sent to Ireland, and the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant brought them into the First English Civil War on the side of Parliament. As the Wars of the Three Kingdoms progressed, many Covenanters came to view English religious Independents like Oliver Cromwell as a greater threat than the Royalists, particularl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piperheugh
Piperheugh, Piper's-Heugh,Paterson, Page 558 or even PiperhaughRCAHMS Retrieved : 2012-08-04 was a hamlet in , Parish of , Scotland. The inhabitants were recorded as famous manufacturers of , or s.Smith, Page 55 The village only survived as ruins by 1837 and no remnants are now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
