FOCUS ON Ayrshire

Head "doon the watter" for the region's top spots - including beautiful beaches, a fun farm and a special stately home

- MORAG LINDSAY

The Big Break

Ayrshire's seaside towns still prove a magnet for fun-loving families heading "doon the watter"

LONG before "staycations" became a thing, the seaside resorts along the Clyde coast gave rise to another phenomenon.

Going "doon the watter" was the name given to the annual exodus of Glaswegians and central-belters, who swelled the populations of towns such as Helensburgh, Gourock, Largs, Rothesay, Dunoon and Millport on summer holidays and day trips.

This was the era of buckets and spades, ice creams, fish and chips and talent contests on the prom. Every other house was a B&B, and the queues for buses, trains, or steamboats taking thrill-seekers doon the watter were the stuff of legend.

The advent of cheap package holidays and budget airlines in the 1970s and '80s may have led to a decline in numbers, but these destinations still have much to recommend them today.

Waverly, the world's last ocean-going paddle steamer, still plies its trade between Glasgow and the Clyde coast, while ScotRail offers rail and sail tickets that allow visitors to hop between resorts.

Sheila McGill has been journeying doon the watter to Dunoon since she was a girl.