A WRITER and Irvine Royal Academy teacher’s latest book is the perfect stocking filler for history buffs.

‘A Look Back at Irvine’, by Dane Love, is a pictorial reflection of old Irvine, complete with forty old photographs, each complete with detailed historical captions.

Many of the pictures have not appeared in print before, and will be of interest to those residents and exiles of the ancient burgh.

‘A Look Back at Irvine’ is the author’s 34th book, and reflects his interest in all-things Ayrshire. He has taught at Irvine Royal for 27 years, where he has enjoyed discovering more about the town’s history.

Dane Love enjoys finding out the ‘wee stories’ that don’t always find their way into everyday history books, bringing them back to the attention of current townsfolk.

This book is no exception, and some historical characters from Irvine’s past have been unearthed once more. Here the reader will find out more about many of the older shops in the streets that have changed over the years and been obliterated completely.

There are accounts of many individuals, events and buildings, and the author hopes that the book will make Irvine folk wish to start digging more into their local history. Here one can read about the well incident in Cochrane Street, the town’s hymn-writers, the butts at the Low Green, the ropeworks, the Queen’s visit, the Covenanters, Mary Queen of Scots, and more.

Dane Love has written many books on Ayrshire including ‘Ayrshire’s Lost Villages’, ‘Legendary Ayrshire’ and ‘Lost Ayrshire’.

It can be purchased at Kaleidoscope Gifts, Small Talk Gifts or on www.carnpublishing.com or usual book outlets. It retails at £9 and the ISBN is 978 1 911043 07 2