Prestwick

Prestwick (Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small village of Monkton to the north. It had a population of 14,901 at the 2011 census. The town is served by Glasgow Prestwick Airport, which serves many European destinations as well as transatlantic and other international cargo flights. The town was the first home of the Open Golf Championship, which was played on the Prestwick Old Course from 1860 to 1872. Prestwick's name comes from the Old English for, priest's farm: preost meaning "priest" and wic meaning "farm". The town was originally an outlying farm of a religious house. George T. Flom suggested that the name was of Old Norse origin. In this case, it would mean "priest's bay". From Robert the Bruce to James VI, King of Scots, numerous Kings have traversed the coastal walks in and around Prestwick and Troon. Bruce is reputed to have been cured of leprosy by the waters of the well at St Ninians church. The well still exists behind the church. Although it has been a Burgh of Barony for over a thousand years, it was a village until the railway arrived in the 1840s and the middle class from Glasgow started to build large houses along the coast. Prestwick Burgh Hall was completed in around 1837. The Prestwick Bathing Lake, known as the Lido, was opened in 1931 by the Secretary of State for Scotland, William Adamson. It was the largest swimming pool north of the border. It could accommodate 1200 bathers and 3000 spectators. It hosted swimming galas, diving exhibitions, moonlight swimming sessions and regular fireworks displays and was the venue of some of the Miss Scotland competitions. It was closed in 1972 and subsequently demolished. On 28 August 1944, a Douglas C-54 Skymaster (42-72171) of the United States Army Air Forces, on approach into Glasgow Prestwick Airport in bad weather, crashed into a residential area of Prestwick, killing all 20 passengers and crew and five people on the ground.