It's where Robert Burns was born, where he grew up, learned, loved, wrote, worked, married, parented, befriended, drank, loved some more, wrote some more and died.

A 70 mile long, 20 mile wide tract of SW Scotland, stretching from Irvine to Gretna.
Alloway, Kilmarnock, Irvine, Ayr, Mauchline, Mossgiel, Tarbolton, Auchincruive, New Cumnock, Sanquhar, Closeburn, Elisland, Dumfries, Gretna.

A corridor also filled with other iconic figures who effected the world.

There's a good piece on Burns in:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel ... tr=1491494

Cheers, Aulyin

When you visit Burns' Corridor, ask about:

John Loudon MacAdam (1756-1836), Born in Ayr.
John Paul Jones (1747-92) born on an estate near Kirkcudbright.
William Murdoch, (1754-1839) Born at Bello Mill, Lugar, Ayrshire.
William Symington (1763-1831) was born in Leadhills, Dumfriesshire.
Henry Eckford (1775-1832) Born in Irvine, Ayrshire.
Joseph Heughan (1837 - 1902) of Auchencairn, Kirkcudbrightshire.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) born in Edinburgh but moved to Glenlair, nr St John's Town of Dalry, Dumfries & Galloway when very young.
John Galt (1779-1839) born in Irvine, Ayrshire.
Thomas Morton (1783- 1862 ) Born in Mauchline, Ayrshire.
Betsy Miller ( 1790-1864) was born in Saltcoats, Ayrshire.
John Fulton (1800-1854) born in Fenwick in Ayrshire.
John (Johnnie) Walker (1805 – 1857) born in Fenwick, Ayrshire.
Jack McConnell A First Minister of Scotland
Dr Thomas Boyle Grierson (1818-1889) born in Dumfries.
Joseph Thompson ( 1858- 1895) Born in Penpont, Dumfriesshire.
Kirkpatrick MacMillan (1813–1878) Born in Keir Mill near Thornhill, Dumfriesshire.
John Boyd Dunlop, (1840-1921) born in Dreghorn, Ayrshire.
John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, CH, DSO, MC (1880-1971) born in Kilmaurs, Ayrshire.
Jane Haining (1897-1944) Born in Dunscore, Dumfriesshire.
Robert Waland (1908 - 1999) born in Dumfries.
Sir Gilbert Blane (1749 - 1834) born in Blanefield, near Kirkoswald in Ayrshire.
Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, Major-General, 1st Baronet, GCH, GCB (1773–1860), Largs, Ayrshire
William Fife III OBE(1857-1944) born in Fairlie, Ayrshire
William Cochrane, (1605 - 1686) Soldier.
William Wallace (12?? - 1305) born New Cumnock, (Kyle) Ayrshire
Andrew Fisher (1862 - 1921) born in Crosshouse, Ayrshire.
James George Smith Neill (1810 - 1857) born in Dalry, Ayrshire.
Andrew Barclay (1815 - 1900) born in Dalry, Ayrshire.
Sir James Shaw (1764 - 1843) born in Riccarton, Ayrshire.
James Dick (1823 - 1902) born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

Oh aye, and New Cumnock born (NCB) boy, Sir Tam Hunter

There is a bigger list, but you get the idea.
Must be something in the watter.

Cheers, Aulyin
Google the names you don't know.

Draw two lines, one from Largs, Ayrshire to Gretna, Dumfriesshire, the other from Kirkoswald, Ayrshire to Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfriesshire, and you have the sides of a 30 mile wide tract of land: BURNS CORRIDOR

The computor is very sluggish today and it took me ages to get any information at all. I wasn't pleased when I came across http://www.visitscotland.org/marketing_ ... paigns.htm simply because the page is still talking about 2009.
When do we start talking about 2010?

When I get my own computer mended I will try again.

Ken wrote
Then they won't get round to the "nudge a wee bit" petition for a while then Ken:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/33244.html

I have just this minute received my South Ayrshire Council Newsletter email:
Homecoming Scotland

What chance have we got
Cheers, Aulyin

Great idea, and I'm signer number 3 apparently. If the A1 (or is it the A19, I forget) in North East England can have signs showing you are traversing "Catherine Cookson Country", then why not do more to label appropriate bits of the south west for their association with Robert Burns? (Though, to be honest, the most poignant and immediate connection I've ever felt with Burns was when reading the poem he graffitti'd onto the wall of the bar in the Kenmore Hotel in Perthshire).

One problem with the idea is that it addresses an area which extends across two of the tourism area boards or whatever they are called these days: VisitScotland Ayrshire and Arran and VisitScotland Dumfries & Galloway. Something tells me that this bureaucratic inconvenience might cause problems even if the powers to be ever did get round to working out which decade they were in...

Another worthwhile idea Aulyin, but as Ken says the bureaucratic inconvenience of this covering different tourism areas might be problematic! Having said that, if Burns could bring the whole country together with the whole Homecoming (not quite a) Year idea then his name will hopefully solve any potential problems here!

Out of curiosity, is there a Robert Burns Way? If not that is something that could be used to link the various parts on Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire that have a connection to Burns in the same way that the John Buchan Way does for that author in the Scottish Borders! If different council/tourism areas can promote long distance routes that pass through them (as they do with the West Highland Way and Southern Upland Way for example) then I am sure the same could happen for a route connected to Burns! Maybe something else to consider as part of the petition... get the idea out there and hopefully the support will follow!

All that aside, I think this deserved to be treated separately to the Prestwick Airport issue so I have split it off from that topic! Maybe you should add this petition to your signature as well Aulyin... and yes, it has already been mentioned on twitter!

Thanks again for the advice and help lads.
I think that Visit Scotland did improve during the Homecoming and may now be open to ideas such as this.

As Ken pointed out if "North East England can have signs showing you are traversing "Catherine Cookson Country", then why not do more to label appropriate bits of the south west for their association with Robert Burns?"
There are "A" roads within the Burns Corridor: A76, A77, A711, A713 and A75.
I have an old Burns Map which shows the "Burns Heritage Trail" which leaves Dumfries, along the A76 to Kilmarnock then on to Irvine and Kilwinning. From there it turns back on itself and then goes to Ayr, Alloway, Mount Olifant, Maybole, Kirkoswald. The Trail keeps going on to Girvan then taking the A714, B7027 and A75 back to Dumfries via Newton Stewart, Gatehouse of Fleet and Kirkcudbright but I don't see any Burns connections with Girvan, Barmill or Newton Stewart and would prefer to use the A713 from Castle Douglas (after a wee visit to Kirkcudbright and Newton Stewart) to Ayr.

Burns Heritage Trail:
http://www.worldburnsclub.com/schools/l ... _trail.htm

http://users.ecosse.net/theartbase/ROBE ... agemap.htm

http://www.alamoburnsclub.org.uk/index_ ... e20805.htm

http://www.visitscotland.com/guide/insp ... -pilgrims/

Marks out of 10

I just found MY Burns map on Ebay. It was a steal but no bids.
Burns Country: Ayrshire, Dumfries & Galloway
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Burns-Country:-Ay ... 12003r2811

my home town is in the burns corrider then

http://www.tourride.co.uk/rides.asp

What a race it would be if the Dumfriesshire invention tour were: From Glasgow to Drumlanrig where the pedal bike was invented and on the route MacMillan took all those years ago. An annual event perhaps.

Well so here is an introduction to Burns Corridor:
http://burnscorridor.proboards.com/index.cgi

WHERE IS BURNS CORRIDOR?
If you take a look at
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/u ... hwest.html imagine the A76 & A713 enveloped inside a rectangle. How many places can you see, connected with Robert Burns inside this tract of land?

The A76 trunk road stretches 60 miles from Kilmarnock to Dumfries and it is surprising the number of places there are near or on this highway associated with Robert Burns; from his First Edition, printed in Kilmarnock, to his Last Poem in Dumfries. Auchincruive, Tarbolton, Mossgeil, Failford, Mauchline, Catrine, New Cumnock, Sanquhar, Thornhill, Ellisland, Auldgirth; all lovely places and all well worth a visit.

Homes of some of Scotland's most iconic historic figures are inside or within easy reach of the A76. (see BURNS CORRIDOR ICONS page: http://burnscorridor.proboards.com/inde ... &thread=12)

THE BURNS CORRIDOR NETWORK
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2 ... 3383776796

http://www.gopetition.com/online/33244.html

I've merged all the "Burns Corridor" topics in to one to make it easier for everyone to find the relevant information!

Thanks Bruce.

I have began to take more and more notice of plaques and memorials for some reason. On Wednesday I came across one which I must have passed quite a few times while in Kilmarnock. For once I stopped and read it - all about the Tannock brothers. Two ladies stopped and we hade a wee conversation about them, then one pointed up to the bas-relief above. Never noticed it before either - nice piece of art. LOOK UP FOLKS.

I will begin to take more notice of our heritage, especially that which is in the Burns Corridor.
http://www.heritageandhistory.com/conte ... 8_pic4.jpg

I asked for a vote on this a while back:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12651714
The true bicycle is reputed to have been invented in 1842 by Kirkpatrick McMillan at Keir Mill, next to the A76, in Dumfriesshire. The A76 passes Drumlanrig Estate, which holds the bicycle museum.

In 2009, on the 170th anniversary of his invention, the A76 was not included in Stage 3 of the Tour of Britain. I found that surprising.

Can we at some time celebrate this A76 invention?

Here's hoping that in 2012 we can celebrate the
FIRST EVER CYCLE TOUR
which Kirkpatrick McMillan made in SW Scotland 170 years ago, from Keir Mill to Glasgow along the A76.

It took him two days to travel the 68 miles (109.5KM).
(John Boyd Dunlop, up the road at Darvel, had still not produced the FIRST PNEUMATIC TYRE so it was a rough ride.)

Surely we must commemorate the anniversary of this event?

The Burns Corridor (A76) has numerous connections with Robert Burns who: died in Dumfries, had built and farmed Ellisland. Along this road which; follows the Nith river (Burns Poem; Banks of Nith) and crosses the Afton water (Burns Song; Flow Gently Sweet Afton), goes through Mauchline (Burns House), and Kilmarnock (Burns First Edition of Poetry in the Scottish Dialect published).

http://wetalkhablamos.wordpress.com/200 ... rig-castle

I've added my village of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, to the UK Villages site as "New Cumnock>A Gateway to Ayrshire".
Hopefully other ">A Gateway" villages and towns will do the same.
http://www.ukvillages.co.uk/UserNews/37 ... o+Ayrshire

East Ayrshire Council threatens to quit tourism agency.
To read more see: http://www.kilmarnockstandard.co.uk/ayr ... -26054155/ Mar 17 2010.

Do you agree?