From the archives of the Ayrshire Post

25 YEARS AGO

It’s the end of an era as Charles and Margaret Hall retire. For it means the closure of one of Ayr’s oldest businesses - seed merchants Thomas Imrie and Sons. Established in 1820, the business was handed down through the years to the senior partner. But the name has remained the same, and to many people Mr Hall IS Mr Imrie.

There is now no senior partner to continue the tradition, and the Newmarket Street shop is to become a delicatessen. A Mrs Elizabeth Imrie was the last Imrie involved in the business, selling in 1886.

50 YEARS AGO

The crew of the Ayr fishing boat Excelsior send up distress signal flares and put out a Mayday call when their vessel gets into difficulties while fishing north of Dunure.

A mishap to the engine causes damage to the hull of Excelsior, which is assisted by two other fishing boats to safely reach Ayr harbour.

Skipper Thomas Lawrence, Thorneyflat Drive, Ayr, and his four- man crew are uninjured. Firemen pump out water from the vessel, as divers go down to seal the hull.

100 YEARS AGO

An Ayr master plumber requests further exemption from war service for his son, a plumber and slater, who is married and aged 35. A tribunal hears the applicant formerly employed four men and several apprentices, and now his son is the only man left.

It is futher pointed out that Ayr, with a population of 33,000, only has 14 plumbers, and the master plumber says he has not yet got around to repairing all the burst pipes from winter time.

The case is continued to see if a substitute can be found for the plumber’s son.