A Walk Along Stevenson Beach

A walk along Stevenson beach to the The Big Idea at Irvine, Scotland
"Today’s video is a walk along the beach from Stevenson to the mouth of the River Irvine and the old site of the Big Idea.
Setting off from Stevenson Point the round trip is around 6 miles. At low tide the walk is an easy one on the hard sand below the high tide. The walk runs alongside the site of the old Nobel explosive factory of which there is little left although the old testing area can be seen.
Once the mouth of the River Irvine is reached it is possible to climb the cliff and the building which was the Big Idea comes into view.
The ‘Big Idea’ was a science museum built in Irvine at the time of the Millenium. It was located on the site of the original Nobel explosives factory. There is now no access to the site as it is fenced off.
The original access was via a bridge across the river Irvine but the sun has long gone down on that. The skeleton of the controls is still there, although not operational, the bridge is now constantly open to river traffic so cannot be crossed.
Plans were announced in 2019 for the development of the harbour area with outline plans for the Ardeer peninsula. The development at the harbour has made progress, perhaps not quite looking like the artist’s impression.
The plans for the Ardeer Peninsula are significant, including housing and a marina as well as upgrading the Big Idea building.
The bridge was decorated with the names of many of the famous Scottish scientists and inventors.
At the moment there is still access to the inner fence as the outer fence is still in construction. The paved walkway appears to have been maintained to some extent. Looking inside the museum, now over 20 years since it closed its doors, it appears much as it was when operational with exhibits still in position very much as they appeared in 2014 when I visited 10 years after closure when there was still access to the site.
The sad history of the museum is better documented in elsewhere, see references in the text.
It was a built at a cost of £14m, with additional funding following, as a celebration of science and invention in Scotland and had interesting interactive displays together with an auditorium with the history of explosives, manufactured on the original Nobel site, where the seats moved to simulate the on screen explosions - very effective. However, the museum closed after only 3 years, the opening of the Glasgow Science Centre being cited as a possible contributary factor to the drop in visitor numbers.
As I return, I can only hope that a development will succeed."
References
Other videos:
“The Big Idea | Hidden Ayrshire #14” by TVAyrshire
• The Big Idea | Hidden ...
“Abandoned Science Centre (Alarm Triggered)” Explororing with Alec • Abandoned Science Cent...
Articles:
Irvine Times 2nd September 2023: www.irvinetime...
BBC Scotland 28 June 2017: www.bbc.co.uk/...
Agreement on Irvine Harbour regeneration: www.bbc.co.uk/...
NPL Group Proposals: nplgroup.co.uk...
Background music:
Take It Easy by Luke Bergs
/ bergscloud
Music promoted by www.chosic.com...
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