There are three quite distinctive types of community surrounding this hill area, taking these in clockwise order we have; the essentially pastoral communities from Carron Bridge through Thornhill and Penpont to Moniaive, the isolated moorland community around Carsphairn and the coal mining towns from Dalmellington through New Cumnock, Kirkconnel and Kelloholm to Sanquhar.
Carronbridge to Moniaive Moniaive with the Cairn Valley beyond The economy of this area is very much dominated by the presence of the Duke of Buccleuch's Drumlanrig Estate which controls much of the area and is a major employer within the community. One of the great highways of medieval times was the pilgrimage route from
Edinburgh to
Whithorn in
Galloway, much of which is preserved to-day as a hard-beaten track alongside or parallel to the present road. This route came by
Durisdeer to Penpont, Tynron, Moniaive, and on to St John's Town of Dalry) •
Carronbridge is a small hamlet at the junction of the A76 and the A702 where the estate built its sawmill in 1850s. • Thornhill (population roughly 2600) was created a
burgh of barony in 1664 (though its existence pre-dates that considerably) and in the 18th century it was developed as an estate village for Drumlanrig Castle.The town was planned with a basic rectilinear design allowing wide tree-lined streets. • Penpont is a small rural village with a population of roughly 400 people. It was the birthplace of
Joseph Thomson, the geologist and explorer after whom
Thomson's Gazelle is named. The sculptor
Andy Goldsworthy has lived in the village for many years and retains a workshop there. Many of his works can be found in the surrounding countryside. The birthplace of
Kirkpatrick Macmillan, the inventor of the bicycle is just over a kilometre south of Penpont and between Penpont and Moniaive at Maxwelton House was the birthplace of
Annie Laurie made famous in the song of that name and the subject of the 1927 movie also of that name. • Moniaive is the last community on the A702 before a drive over moorland to St John's Town Dalry in the Glenkens or a one over mostly single track road to Carsphairn on the B729. So in many ways it feels like the terminus of the lively Nithsdale communities. Yet it is far from being an end of the road village. Because it is in itself picturesque and in a picturesque setting it has of recent years become something of a Mecca for people who want to get away from city life. This could be said for most of this part of Nithsdale but Moniaive has to be the epicentre for the community of artists, crafts people and musicians (some of international standing) to be found in the area carrying on a tradition which goes back to James Paterson the landscape artist and one of the
Glasgow Boys who was likewise drawn here in 1884. In the 17th century Moniaive became the refuge for the
Covenanters, a group of
Presbyterian nonconformists who rebelled at having the
Episcopalian form of religion forced on them by the last three
Stuart kings,
Charles I,
Charles II and
James II of England (James VII of Scotland). There is a monument off the Ayr Road to
James Renwick, a Covenanter leader born here who was executed in Edinburgh.
Carsphairn Carsphairn is the only village between Moniaive and Dalmellington - from the former and from the latter (over high moorland lightly populated road). It is a parish of with a population of less than 200 set in a bowl between the Rhinns of Kells and the imposing mass of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn. Farming was the main use of land here but now a greater part is afforested with only a few farms left. There are 38 houses, a school, a church, a pub, a shop and post office in Carsphairn village. The village also has its own Heritage Centre, although opening hours are seasonal. Even though it sits on the A713 it is a remote, isolated and largely scattered community quite different in character from the small but active towns and villages along the River Nith or the Moniaive, Penpont area.
Dalmellington to Sanquhar • Dalmellington is the last outpost Ayrshire town before the A713 road climbs towards the Glenkens and ultimately
Castle Douglas. In the 2001 census it had a population of 1407.
River Doon issues from the northern end of Loch Doon and passes close to the town, while the Loch Doon itself receives waters from
Loch Enoch via Eglin Lane. River Doon flows through Alloway where the
Robert Burns cottage is and the river features strongly in his songs and poetry. At one time the mills of Dalmellington produced yarn for the carpet making industry in
Kilmarnock and there were also about 40 weavers working from home there. By the 20th century mining was the dominant industry, though workers had to travel to outlying areas. Eight pits producing around 124,000 tons a year were operating in the 1940s. With the decline of the labour-intensive deep mining, the area is now dependent on its replacement, opencast mining. • New Cumnock is mentioned in the
Ragman Roll of 1296 and Cumnock Castle comes into the story of the First War of Scottish Independence in the time of
William Wallace and
Robert the Bruce both of whom were active in the area. Wallace may even have been born close by. In 1509 it was made a burgh of barony and in more recent times coal mining dominated the economy. In 1950 13 miners lost their lives here in the
Knockshinnoch Disaster though 116 men were rescued. • Kirkconnel had been primarily a farming community until the 1890s when a coal pit was opened at Fauldhead. Coal had always been mined in the district before that, but never in large quantities. From then on coal dominated the life of the little town. The coal industry moved away in recent decades, and with it much of the population. • Kelloholm was created in 1921 as a model village to house miners and expanded after the Second World War. Its main industry since the collapse of deep mining is now meat-processing. • Sanquhar's economy had been connected with the wool trade and the production of carpets before the coal mining industry came to dominate it. A distinctive two-coloured pattern of knitting is still widely known as 'Sanquhar knitting'. It was also the place where the Covenanters signed the
Sanquhar Declaration renouncing their allegiance to the King, an event commemorated by a monument in the main street. The church of
St. Brides contains a memorial to
James Crichton, 'The Admirable Crichton', a sixteenth-century polymath. Sanquhar is notable also for its tiny post office (established in 1712), claimed to be the oldest working post office in the world. ==Cormilligan==