From the archives of the Ayrshire Post

25 YEARS AGO

An elderly disabled woman and her husband parked their car outside the Sidewalk Restaurant in Newmarket Street and went in for an afternoon coffee – as they had been in the habit of doing for years.

But despite having a disabled sticker on their car, they were booked for illegal parking and given a £ 20 fixed penalty.

A furious Jessie Little said this week: “Strathclyde is getting more like a Communist state every day.”

Mrs Little suffers from Rheumatoid Arthritis and has difficulty walking.

50 YEARS AGO

A 42- year- old woman, Miss Margaret Davidson Henderson, appeared in private before Sheriff G S Reid at Ayr charged with the murder of Miss Margaret Cassels, retired infant school mistress, 46 St Leonard’s Road, Ayr.

Miss Cassels, who was over 70, was found dead in her home.

She had retired from teaching at Newton Academy about eight years ago and had lived most of her life in the semi detached cottage villa. Recently she had been a patient in Heathfield Hospital and last weekend sustained an arm fracture.

100 YEARS AGO

Six children from Monkton, for trampling down a quantity of growing corn in a field adjacent to the village, were each fined three shillings.

It appeared they had been playing a game of hide and seek among the corn, causing considerable damage.

The Justices at Ayr JP Court pointed out the seriousness of destroying foodstuffs in this fashion.

Margaret Cassidy of Craigmark was fined 25s for assaulting Agnes Neil by throwing a pail of dirty water over her.