Woodside has been in the family since 1957. The walls, the garden, the lane to the sea — each corner holds a story.
Our Story
A home since 1957
Woodside has been our family home since 1957, purchased from the Duchess of Hamilton by our late grandfather — Air Vice Marshal Ronald Graham — upon his retirement as first Commandant of the Scottish Police at Tulliallan Castle, a position that afforded him great sway in shaping the training that Scottish police experience today. He even designed their insignia himself.
Family photographClick to add historic photo
A Timeline
The story of Woodside
Early 1800s
The crofter's cottage
Not long after the completion of Sannox Church in 1828, it is thought the cottage (or at least one part of it) may have been built by a crofter and local boat builder by the name of John McKillop. He was great uncle to Alasdair McKillop, who later came to Woodside to celebrate his 100th birthday in 2004.
Early 1900s
The butler's cottage & Mr. Coates
In the early part of the last century the cottage served as the home for the butler — and his family — who served in Sannox House, the large property on the hill behind. The cottage was leased by a Mr. Coates of Paisley thread-making fame, who also rented Sannox House itself. To this day, some folk can just recall Woodside being renamed "The Butler's Cottage" during this time.
Mr. Coates was extremely rich and owned perhaps the very first private steam pleasure yacht on the Clyde. He was also responsible for sponsoring the steamship Scotia on its earliest scientific expeditions to the Antarctic. We believe he was responsible for the stone steps leading from the beach at the bottom of the garden — constructed so that his well-to-do retinue could be welcomed ashore before making their way up to Sannox House.
Woodside when thatchedHistoric black & white — click to add
Early 1900s
The thatched cottage
At this time Woodside was thatched and sat in an open field backed by the then mighty Sannox Wood — cultivated oaks and Scots pine interspersed with glades of self-seeded hazel, alder and birch, teeming with wildlife. The still significant remnants of this woodland provide the backdrop for the cottage today.
c. 1920s–1950s
The estate gamekeeper
Prior to 1956 the cottage was home to the estate gamekeeper Mr. Fraser, whose love of the countryside resulted in some notable contributions to local natural history records.
Air Vice Marshal Ronald GrahamClick to add photo
1957
The Graham family arrives
Woodside was purchased from the Duchess of Hamilton by our late grandfather, Air Vice Marshal Ronald Graham. Upon taking residence he was appointed Lord Lieutenant for the County of Bute (of which Arran was a part) by the Queen — a position he held until his death in 1967.
His gravestone is situated in the nearby Sannox Graveyard — a huge engraved granite boulder facing the sea rather than the hills. A trend-setter even in these matters.
1957 onwards
Ronald & Nancy — the garden makers
It was Ronald and his devoted wife Nancy — known to us as "Grancy" — who were responsible for laying out the informal gardens that survive beautifully to this day. You will find many items in the cottage from their time stationed abroad during his long and distinguished military career, alongside those gifted by our own parents who also travelled widely.
Sannox church windowClick to add photo
Later years
Jane Williams & the church window
You will pass Sannox Christian Centre on the way up the drive. Please do visit — there you'll find a window commissioned by our late mother Jane (Graham) Williams in memory of our father John Heathcote Williams, whose own father had been a Congregational Minister.
In your conversations with local people, you will discover just how warmly they were both regarded.
"Do please have a look round. I'm only resting!"
— The note our mother used to leave on the front door
Ancient history
The very first human visitors to these parts would probably have been Stone Age hunter-gatherers foraging the coastline and woods. The first true settlers were Bronze Age people some 4,000 years ago — the magnificent collection of standing stones at Machrie on the west of the island are a testament to that.
For a more local glimpse of this ancient past, walk back down the drive a few hundred yards — nestled against the back of the building immediately right of the church is a tall, silent ten-foot tilted sandstone monolith that speaks volumes about the mysteries of long ago. There is also another — possibly a companion stone — just 150 yards inland, standing in the field below Sannox House.