When we were children growing up in Ardrossan in Ayrshire we'd gather coal that had been washed up on the town's north shore. I remember going there to collect whelks and being told to keep my eyes open for *sea coal*. I'd often thought that the coal might have come from a reef near the shoreline. Read a book recently about wrecks on nearby Horse Island. The author said he'd seen coal washed up on the Island. So it would appear the coal we had collected was lost cargo from some stricken vessels that had foundered on leaving Ardrossan - there were a few. Coal was exported through Ardrossan to Ireland from the Stevenston Coal fields. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _--_|\ http://www.threetowners.com "Ayrshire Folk" / \ email: [email protected] \_.--._/ __ Hugh McCallum in o Melbourne Australia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~