The actual name "Troon" has nothing to do with Scotland's national game. Instead it comes from "Trwyn", Celtic for headland or point. Which is a fair name for the rocky nose on which much of the earlier part of the town is built, projecting from the broad sandy bays to the north and south. The name suggests the attractions of this obvious natural harbour had been realised by early seafarers along the west coast, but it was only with the coming of the 4th Duke of Portland in 1808 that Troon's fortunes really began to take off.
The Duke took the existing natural harbour on the north side of the headland and added docks. Later improvements included increasing the protection afforded by the headland with an artificial "ballast bank" made from the dumped ballast of incoming merchant ships. And from 1812 Troon was the terminus of a horse-drawn railway connecting it to the Duke of Portland's coal mines around Kilmarnock. This was not licensed for passengers, a minor technicality evaded by weighing those wishing to travel and charging them freight rates.
By the end of the 1800s Troon was among the top ten coal ports in Britain. A shipyard was opened in the town in 1860, and a lifeboat station arrived in 1871. The shipyard, known for most of its history as the Ailsa-Troon Yard, continues to feature prominently on the skyline of the town but it ceased to build ships in 2000. There are hopes it may be redeveloped as a ship repair facility.
One of the last ships completed at Ailsa-Troon was the MV Lochnevis, built for CalMac and in use as the Small Isles ferry from Mallaig. The yard's heyday was perhaps in the 1950s when many early car ferries for Scottish inter-island services were built here. Troon was also known for its ship-breaking business, which boomed in the 1950s and 1960s and diversified into cutting up ex-British Rail steam locos when they became redundant. Meanwhile the coal traffic declined with the Ayrshire coalfields, but the harbour remains an active one.
For seven months of the year Troon is linked to Larne in Northern Ireland by a fast catamaran service operated by P&O Ferries. The vessel currently in use, the P&O Express, which replaced the one shown in the header image, can carry 225 vehicles at a speed of 41 knots.
Troon also has other attractions. The harbour is now home to a vast marina reflecting its importance as a centre for leisure sailing in the Firth of Clyde. It also offers the North Sands and the South Sands, the wide beaches backed by promenades and the trappings of a fairly genteel seaside resort.
Troon offers a good selection of restaurants, wine bars and ice cream parlours along with many individually owned shops which offer something a little bit different.
The town has a busy port with freight and passenger ferry services to Larne, Northern Ireland, timber-link and other commercial services, restaurant and chip shop. Its marina, Troon Yacht Haven, is one of the Clyde's leading sailing centres.
