New Cumnock
| New Cumnock | |
|---|---|
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 New Cumnock
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| New Cumnock shown within East Ayrshire | |
| Population | 2,884 |
| Language |
English Scots |
| OS grid reference | NS6113 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Cumnock |
| Postcode district | KA18 |
| Police | Scottish |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
New Cumnock (Scottish Gaelic: Cumnag Nuadh) is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It expanded during the coal-mining era from the late 18th century, and mining remained its key industry until its pits were shut in the 1960s. The town is 5.7 miles (9.2 km) south-east of Cumnock, and 21 miles (34 km) east of Ayr.
Public transport links include the New Cumnock railway station on the Glasgow South Western Line and the A76 Kilmarnock to Dumfries trunk road.
Opencast coal mining was one of the main employers in the village, before the closure of the opencast works was announced in May 2013, resulting in the loss of a number of jobs. In 1950, thirteen people were killed in a mining disaster at the Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery; a film was made about the disaster called The Brave Don't Cry and there is a memorial at the site of the disaster. The Scottish Wildlife Trust took over the Knockshinnoch Bing, turning into a wetland reserve with paths.
One of the first mentions of the village was when Patrick Dunbar of Comenagh signed the Ragman Roll of 1296. Blind Harry's poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace placed William Wallace in and around the village four times in his heroic tales of the patriot, calling it Cumno and Dunbars' castle, which sat on Castlehill in the midst of a vast loch, as "Black Bog Castle".
Both William Wallace and Robert Bruce were hunted within the Afton's glen, where Robert Burns' "Sweet Afton" still flows gently, until it merges into the River Nith. Wallace seems to have known the surrounding area very well indeed; in fact many believe he may have spent much of his youth there. There is even a Castle William "up the glen" said to have been used as a fortress by him.
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Wikipedia