Business is booming for UK tradesmen due to Britain’s do-it-yourself attitude, according to a new survey.

Anybody who was watching the British Soap Awards last Sunday evening will have noticed that Coronation Street did extremely well – due in part to the harrowing Tyronne and Kirsty storyline.

On Saturday night from 8pm on BBC-1 there will be the annual Eurovision Song Contest – a television event which was first screened in 1956.

The new-look Burns an’a’that! Festival is creating quite a stir and promises more than before, with live music very much to the fore and most of it is free of charge.

HE’S hogged the limelight for decades – but now bard Robert Burns finally has competition in the celebrity stakes.

Well, last week we covered the history of Girvan’s Stumpy, a building worthy of note despite there being little action from South Ayrshire Council in repairing the clock.

Over the years there have been a large number of television series featuring the work of the police. As more of them are becoming available on DVD, it is interesting to compare and contrast them.

Unfortunately with the notable exceptions of Doctor Who and the Forsyte Saga, not many monochrome BBC drama programmes of the sixties have been released on DVD.

South Ayrshire Cats Protection are seeking a home for a special pair of friends!

If you visit the award winning Robert Burns Birthplace Museum this summer you will have the opportunity to see “Burnsiana”, a solo exhibition of work by Calum Colvin, one of Scotland’s leading contemporary artists.

Homeowners attempting to have a go at DIY are being urged to think again after an over-enthusiastic householder botched a job which knocked £20,000 off the value of his neighbours’ homes and left his own property derelict.

With the new Star Trek film – Into Darkness – arriving in cinemas it is appropriate that television - which was the franchise’s original home - should examine this phenomenon.

]]> 1.2923024 Wed, 8 May 2013 10:15:07 +0100 http://www.carricktoday.co.uk/the-wayfarer-return-to-stumpy-tower-one-of-girvan-s-most-iconic-buildings-1-2923013

I did mention in one of my previous articles that I would return to the most iconic building in Girvan which is, of course, ‘Stumpy Tower’. I must be brief as the space allotted to me seems to get smaller every week.

Bookbug is planning an exciting day out with lots of young reading fans when he takes part in a Pram Push and Baby Bounce from 10.30am to noon on Tuesday May 21. The adventure will start at South Ayrshire Council’s Carnegie Library in Ayr and finish at the Citadel in Ayr.

Gardenrose Primary School in Maybole is holding its summer fun day on Saturday May 18 from 1pm until 4pm.

First-time buyers applying for a mortgage with Bank of Scotland can benefit from up to £2500 cash back, with the lender covering the cost of stamp duty.

South Ayrshire Cats Protection are looking for a home for Biba - a beautiful three-year-old old female tabby.

Scotland’s best loved variety show is “Whirling” back this summer to the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr.

Local rock group Attic will play at the Anchor Bar on Saturday, starting at 9pm.