Publisher's Synopsis
This North Ayrshire seaport was for centuries the most important town in Ayrshire. It was made a burgh as early as the 12th century, but the tendency of its harbour to silt up ultimately caused it to lose importance as Ayr, Ardrossan, Troon, and Port Glasgow took its trade away in Victorian times. Irvine was still a bustling town with plenty of fine old buildings and lots of work when the first of the old photos in this book were taken in the early 1900s. Thanks to the infusion of people and industry resulting from New Town status, Irvine has mostly been spared from post-industrial desolation. As the title of the book suggests, photos of long ago and not so long ago are compared with images of how it looks today, and the reader can judge which is better.
