Loudoun Castle

Loudoun Castle was a theme park set around the ruins of the 19th century Loudoun Castle near Galston, in the Loudoun area of Ayrshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. The park opened in 1995, and closed at the end of the 2010 season. The park's mascot was Rory the Lion.

Twist n' Shout is a steel looping roller coaster located at Loudoun Castle Theme Park in Galston, south-west Scotland. It opened in 2003 as a part of the new rides line-up brought in by new owner Henk Bembom. Twist n' Shout remained one of the most popular rides in the park until its closure in 2010. For the 2007 season, the trains were given a "mine train" theme. The ride was previously located at Camelot Theme Park and Dreamland Margate, both of whom rented it from Loudoun Castle's owner. The ride was designed by Anton Schwarzkopf as one of his Silverarrow model looping coasters. Only three of these were ever built: Twist n' Shout, Scorpion at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay in America, and the other is said to be in a travelling funfair in Africa. After the 2010 season, Twist n' Shout closed with the park. It is currently standing but not operating, and is listed for sale through amusement ride reseller Ital International.

Loudoun Academy is a secondary school in the outskirts of Galston, East Ayrshire, in Scotland serving the Loudoun district which includes the Irvine Valley, Kilmarnock, and surrounding rural areas of East Ayrshire. The school was built in 1971. The current enrolment as of July 2022 was 926.In 2022, Loudoun Academy was ranked as the 201st best performing state school in Scotland, an increase from its 2021 ranking where it was placed at 216th.

Galston (Lowland Scots: Gauston, Scottish Gaelic: Baile nan Gall) is a municipality in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which has a population of 5,001 (2001) and is at the heart of the civil parish of the same name. It is situated in wooded countryside four miles (six kilometres) upriver from Kilmarnock and is one a group of the small towns located in the Irvine Valley between the towns of Hurlford and Newmilns. To the north of the town is the ruin of Loudoun Castle, the site of Loudoun Castle theme park from 1995 to 2010. In 1874 the population was 4,727.

Galston Parish is situated in East Ayrshire, Scotland, some five to ten miles east of Kilmarnock and roughly encompasses the southern half of the Upper Irvine Valley (locally known as The Valley). The parish shares strong links with the parish of Loudoun, with which it shares a border along the River Irvine.

Portland Park was a football ground in Galston, Scotland. It was the home ground of Galston F.C.

Loudoun Kirk is a disused church located about one mile west of Loudoun Castle, East Ayrshire. It served as Loudoun's parish church until some point after 1600, when this function moved to the church in nearby Newmilns. It subsequently fell into a state of disrepair, however since 1994 has been preserved by a local charity, Friends Of Loudoun Kirk.

Cessnock Castle is a 15th-century keep greatly enlarged into a baronial mansion, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south east of Galston, East Ayrshire, Scotland, and 0.75 miles (1.21 km) south of the River Irvine.

Moscow is a hamlet in East Ayrshire in Scotland. It is on the A719 road some 4 miles (6 kilometres) east of Kilmarnock. In 2006 its population was reported as 118. It is represented in the "Galston West and Hurlford North" ward of East Ayrshire Council.

Whitehill Loch (NS 49240 33240), previously known as Hillhouse Loch was a freshwater loch in the East Ayrshire Council Area, now drained, near Galston, in the Parish of Riccarton, lying in a glacial Kettle Hole.

Newmilns is a village in the burgh of Newmilns and Greenholm, in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 3,057 people (2001 census) and lies on the A71, around seven miles east of Kilmarnock and twenty-five miles southwest of Glasgow. It is situated in a valley through which the River Irvine runs and, with the neighbouring towns of Darvel and Galston, forms an area known as the Upper Irvine Valley (locally referred to as The Valley). As the name suggests, the burgh exists in two parts – Newmilns to the north of the river and Greenholm to the south. The river also divides the parishes of Loudoun and Galston, which is why the burgh, although generally referred to as Newmilns, has retained both names.

Loudoun (Scottish Gaelic: Lughdan) is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston Parish (which encompasses the remainder of The Valley) at the River Irvine. Loudoun is a parish, which shares borders with six other parishes. To the south lies the parish of Galston, which of all the surrounding parishes, has the strongest local links to Loudoun, being as the two parishes share strong historical and social links, as well as sharing public services. Otherwise, Loudoun shares borders with the parishes of Avondale (east), Eaglesham (north), East Kilbride (north-east), Fenwick (north-west) and Kilmarnock (west).Within Loudoun can be found the towns of Darvel and Newmilns, alongside Loudoun Hill, Loudoun Castle, Loudoun Kirk and Loudoun Academy. Notably, claims that Greenholm, Priestland and the town of Galston itself lie within Loudoun are erroneous, as all three lie south of the River Irvine, in the parish of Galston. This may in some part be because Loudoun Academy and surrounding housing hold Galston postcodes. Loudoun also contained two villages abandoned during the last century, Alton and Loudoun Village.