I see that the rear of the Dumfries Arms Hotel has been boarded up after being vandalised. This still is one of the best buildings in Cumnock and it will be a great shame to let it fall into the carbuncle catagory. Cumnock Living Memory Group tells us "Dumfries Arms - Dating from 25th March 1717 and originally known as the New Inn or Heid Inn the Dumfries Arms was an important coaching Inn. Residents have included Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns". It is one of the few places in Cumnock which is on the 18th century Armstrong Map and should not be ignored especially during the year of the Homecoming, when we have come to realise that we need tourists and places for them to stay.

How many Burns Inns have we lost and how many are we going to lose. How can Costley make money out of a Burns inn at Kirkoswald but others can't on the route to Dumfries, in the heart of the Burns Corridor?