Curling stones are traditionally fashioned of Ailsa Craig granite.

The first stones were made in the 1750s, the original source being Ailsa Craig in Scotland.

Between 60 – 70 percent of the stones used today are made from Ailsa Craig granite, although the island is now a wildlife reserve and is no longer used for quarrying.

The islands are all exposed to wind and tide and various lighthouses, such as those on Ailsa Craig, Pladda and Davaar act as an aid to navigation.

Today the islands are split more or less equally between the modern unitary authorities of Argyll and Bute and North Ayrshire with only Ailsa Craig and Lady Isle in South Ayrshire falling outwith these two council areas.

Looking south, Ailsa Craig is visible, around distant beyond Little Cumbrae.

Ailsa Craig roughly marks the halfway point to Northern Ireland, which itself may be glimpsed if visibility is good.

* Ailsa Craig

The West Kilbride | Seamill beach looks south down the outer firth towards southern Isle of Arran | Arran and Ailsa Craig

** Communities: Ailsa Craig, Beechwood, Bornish, Bowood, Brinsley, Carlisle, Corbett, Greenway, Hungry Hollow, Lieury, Moray, Mount Carmel, Nairn, Parkhill, Sable, Springbank, Sylvan and West McGillivray.

With Godwin she had a daughter, Edith Ailsa Geraldine Craig, in 1869 and a son, Edward Gordon Craig, in 1872.

On May 13, 2009 it was announced after the completion of a third selection process that two new astronauts, Jeremy Hansen of Ailsa Craig, Ontario and David Saint-Jacques, of Quebec City had been chosen.

Culzean Castle is about 8 miles ( 13 km ) north of the town, and the volcanic island of Ailsa Craig is visible about 10 miles ( 16 km ) offshore.

The name of the title was taken from the Island of Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde.

Ailsa Craig and the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland and Rathlin Island are all clearly visible from the Mull.

On clearer days it is also possible to make out Malin Head in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, and the Ayrshire coast on the other side of Ailsa Craig.

Ailsa Craig (; ) is an island of 219. 69 acres in the outer Firth of Clyde, Scotland where blue hone granite was quarried to make curling stones.

Map of Ailsa Craig

Ailsa Craig photographed from HMS Campbeltown

Ailsa Craig in the 1840s

Ailsa Craig in the background with Dunure in 1840

Ailsa Craig was a haven for Roman Catholics during the Scottish Reformation.

In 1597 the Catholic supporter Hugh Barclay of Ladyland took possession of Ailsa Craig, which he was intent on using as a provisioning and stopping off point for a Spanish invasion which would re-establish the Catholic faith in Scotland.

* The Turnberry Resort, Ailsa Course: A course on the southwest coast of Scotland which hosted The Open in 1977, 1986, 1994, and 2009.

He is best known for the Ailsa Course at Turnberry, which is generally ranked in the top 20 golf courses in the world.

There is also a bilingual Spanish-English edition, which was available in Chile at the end of 2006. The English translation was made by Lina Craddock, Ailsa Shaw and Jean Paul Beuchat,

It was home to the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, which constructed many vessels for worldwide customers but mainly small passenger and various merchant vessels.

Aungier states it is said to have been in the meadows which at the time of his publication in 1840 were the property of the Marquis of Ailsa, “ formerly called Isleworth Park or Twickenham Park ”.

In 1831, the Twelfth Earl of Cassilis became first Marquess of Ailsa, taking the title from the Craig, which was his property.

In April 2009, Northern Irish singer / songwriter, Foy Vance, released the EP ' Portraits Of The Artist ', which contained a song titled ' Portraits of Ailsa Craig '.

An outstanding example is Ailsa, which was designed by Waterhouse for Capt.

It was designed by Donald Steel and built on the foundations of the old Arran layout, which had been rebuilt along with the Ailsa Course following World War II.

The SYPTE Dominators were delivered in phases to replace ageing Fleetlines, Atlantean, Ailsa and others which were all on service from the early 1970s.

The latter year he was created Baron Ailsa, of Ailsa in the County of Ayr, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which entitled him to an automatic seat in the House of Lords.

He argued that " some zealots " were " using our important tax dollars " for dubious ends via the program, and singled out an effort by Saskatoon resident Ailsa Watkinson to prohibit corporal punishment against children.

Innellan boasts very impressive views across the Firth of Clyde ; stretching from Kilcreggan and Loch Long ( looking north ) to Cumbrae Head and Ailsa Craig ( looking south ).

( b ) in the County of Middlesex, the Townships of Adelaide, Caradoc, Delaware, Ekfrid, Lobo, Metcalfe, Mosa, West Nissouri and West Williams, Westminster, North Dorchester ( excluding the Village of Belmont ), East Williams ( excluding the Village of Ailsa Craig ), and the Township of London ( excluding the part of the Township lying south of the Fanshawe Road and bounded on the east by Crumlin Road and on the west by Clarke Side Road ); and

After the war, courses 1 and 2 were rebuilt and renamed " Ailsa " and " Arran ".

Designer Mackenzie Ross is credited with restoring the courses to their high quality, and the Ailsa course was re-opened in 1951, a seaside links with stunning views of Ailsa Craig and the Isle of Arran.

For instance, a 12th century piece of marginalia located the island of Ailsa Craig " lying between Gallgaedelu and Cend Tiri ", while a charter of Máel Coluim IV (" Malcolm IV ") describes Strathgryfe, Cunningham, Kyle and Carrick as the four cadrez ( probably from ceathramh, " quarter " s ) of Galloway ; an Irish annal entry for the year 1154 designated galleys from Arran, Kintyre, the Isle of Man as Gallghaoidhel, " Galwegian ".

The Ailsa Course, redesigned by Mackenzie Ross between 1949 and 1951, has staged The Open Championship on four occasions ( 1977, 1986, 1994, and 2009 ).

The region now only has four currently producing distilleries: Ailsa Bay, in Girvan owned by William Grant & Sons, Glenkinchie, near Edinburgh ; Auchentoshan, near Clydebank ; and Bladnoch in Galloway.