Tradespeople in Alloway, South Ayrshire

Alloway is a village - now effectively a southern suburb of Ayr - on the banks of the River Doon, two miles from Ayr town centre. It is best known as the birthplace of Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, who was born here on 25 January 1759 in a thatched clay cottage built by his father William Burnes two years earlier.

The village is home to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, managed by the National Trust for Scotland. The museum complex encompasses Burns Cottage, a modern museum building housing the world's largest collection of Burns manuscripts and artefacts, the ruins of Alloway Auld Kirk where Burns set the climactic scene of 'Tam o' Shanter', the Brig o' Doon - the 15th-century bridge over which Tam made his famous escape - and the Burns Monument of 1823. Together these sites form one of Scotland's most visited heritage destinations.

Alloway was an independent village until 1935, when it was incorporated into the Royal Burgh of Ayr. Despite its suburban position, it has retained a distinct character - a quiet, leafy settlement of stone-built villas and older cottages set in attractive gardens along the Doon. The surrounding area has good schools and is popular with families and it draws visitors year-round who come for the Burns connection.

The village has no railway station but is well served by bus from Ayr and the town centre is easily reached by bicycle or on foot along the riverside path.

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South Ayrshire is a council area in south-west Scotland, stretching from the coast at Troon south along the Firth of Clyde to Girvan and Ballantrae and inland across the hills of Carrick to the fringes of Galloway.

Ayr is the administrative centre and largest town, a traditional county town on the River Ayr with a long sandy beach, a racecourse and a busy high street. Prestwick, immediately to the north, is home to Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon is known for its championship golf links and harbour, while Girvan and Maybole serve the quieter southern half of the area.

The area is closely associated with Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, who was born at Alloway on the outskirts of Ayr in 1759. Burns Cottage, the Burns Monument and the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum make Alloway one of Scotland's most visited literary landmarks. The Burns connection extends across the wider area through the villages and farms he knew and wrote about.

South Ayrshire's coastline is one of its greatest assets. Long sandy beaches stretch from Troon to Ayr, the views across the Firth of Clyde take in Arran, Ailsa Craig and the Kintyre peninsula and the Carrick coast south of Girvan is rugged and dramatic. Inland, the landscape rises to rolling farmland and the moorland hills that border Dumfries and Galloway.

Transport links are strong along the coast. The A77 connects Ayr and Prestwick to Glasgow, the Ayrshire Coast railway line runs regular services to Glasgow Central and Glasgow Prestwick Airport provides flights to European destinations. The A77 continues south through Girvan toward Stranraer and the ferry port for Northern Ireland.