According to the 1911 census, the population of Ayrshire was around 268,000. Mining communities accounted for a significant proportion of this figure – the coal and iron ore deposits of Scotland’s industrial central belt extended south-westward into the north and centre of the county. Iron mining and smelting was in decline as local ore deposits were being worked out, but the war would bring a temporary reprieve. Some of Clydeside’s prosperity spilled over into the small shipyards in Ayrshire’s coastal towns.
