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Troon

This seaside resort is synonymous with golf since the British Open has been held here many times. It is a young town, having been laid out in the early 1800s by the 4th Duke of Portland who wished to create a harbour from which to export the coal mined in his Ayrshire coalfields. It formed the western terminus of Scotland’s earliest rail line, the Troon/Kilmarnock Railway, which was opened in 1812. In 1816 the Duke introduced a steam locomotive onto the line, and it started pulling passenger trains. The town is now the Scottish terminal for the Scotland/Ireland P&O express ferry service to Larne near Belfast.

On the shoreline is the Ballast Bank, created over the years by ships which discharged their ballast before taking on coal for Ireland.