Ayr, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Ayr is a town in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 near the delta of the Burdekin River
Burdekin River
The Burdekin River in Queensland, Australia rises on the western slope of the Seaview Range and flows into the Pacific Ocean at Upstart Bay over 200 km to the southeast of the source. The river was first encountered by Europeans during the expedition led by Ludwig Leichhardt in 1845 and named...

, named after the Scottish town of Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...

 by the settlers from the United Kingdom. It is within the Burdekin Shire, which produces the most sugar cane per square kilometre in Australia utilising underground water supplies and water from the Burdekin Dam
Burdekin Dam
Burdekin Dam is located on the Burdekin River in Queensland, Australia south west of Ayr, and Home Hill. The body of water held by the dam is also known as Lake Dalrymple. Burdekin Dam is managed by SunWater. The dam provides drinking water for twin cities of Thuringowa and Townsville and a large...

 to irrigate crops when rains fail.

Ayr is located 88 km south of Townsville
Townsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...

 on the Bruce Highway
Bruce Highway
The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is a part of the Australian National Highway and also part of Highway 1...

 and 12km away from the (smaller) town of Home Hill
Home Hill, Queensland
Home Hill, Queensland is a town in Queensland, Australia at the delta of the Burdekin River. It is a sugarcane growing area with underground water supplies to irrigate crops. At the 2006 census, Home Hill had a population of 2,907.- Geography :...

. It is 112km north of Bowen
Bowen, Queensland
Bowen is a town on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bowen had a population of 7,484.-Geography:Bowen is located on the north-east coast of Australia, at exactly twenty degrees south of the equator. In fact, the twentieth parallel crosses the main street...

 and 290km north of Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....

. Ayr has a population of approximately 8,000. It has the usual chain stores, ten pin bowling, a toyshop, drive in movie, cinema, 6 pubs as well as a range of sports, electrical and fashion stores. Ayr has several banks including the Commonwealth, ANZ, Suncorp, National
National bank
In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings:* especially in developing countries, a bank owned by the state* an ordinary private bank which operates nationally...

 and Bendigo Bank
Bendigo Bank
Bendigo Bank is an Australian financial institution, operating primarily in retail banking. The company merged with Adelaide Bank in November 2007, with shareholders voting in March 2008 to change the merged company’s name to Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited.Before the merger, Bendigo Bank...

. Alva beach, a popular area for fishing and swimming, is located 16km east of Ayr.

Ayr has several state primary schools (Ayr, East Ayr, Kalamia and several others in surrounding areas) and two non-government primary schools, St Francis School (Catholic) and Burdekin Christian College. Ayr has one state high school and one non-government high school. Ayr State High School
Ayr State High School
Ayr State High School is the only state high school in Ayr, Queensland, Australia. The school has eleven buildings, including a fifty seat auditorium and a multi-purpose shelter with a capacity of well over seven hundred for the school's 600 students.There are 67 full time staff...

 was the 8th public secondary high school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 in Queensland. The non-government high school is called the Burdekin Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 High School.

A wide variety of sports are played in Ayr, including Touch football
Touch football (rugby league)
Touch is a field sport also known as Touch Football, or in some countries as Touch Rugby. Touch is overseen worldwide by the Federation of International Touch . Touch has traditionally been played in Australia and New Zealand but the sport has expanded internationally and features many regional and...

, which is competitive and draws an increasing number of participants each year, Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

, Rugby Union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

, Soccer, tennis and golf. Netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

 and Table Tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...

 (ping pong) are also popular. The Ayr Surf Life Saving club is a small yet highly established club boasting a number of past and present skilled members and competitors.

Notable persons from Ayr

  • Matthew Ham
    Matthew Ham
    Matthew Ham is an injury prone Australian football goalkeeper, who last played for North Queensland Fury FC in the Hyundai A-League.-Club career:...

    : Professional Football Player - North Queensland Fury
  • Zachary Anderson
    Zachary Anderson
    Zachary Anderson is an Australian football player who currently plays for Gold Coast United.-Club career:On November 20, 2009 he made his senior debut for United in the starting 11, in a 1-1 draw against Adelaide United.-Honours:...

    : Professional Football Player - Gold Coast United
  • Shane Muspratt
    Shane Muspratt
    Shane Muspratt is a professional rugby league player who currently plays for the Mackay Cutters in the Queensland Cup.-Playing career:...

    : Professional Rugby League Player
  • Ryan Phelan
    Ryan Phelan
    Ryan Phelan is an Australian television presenter best known as the main host of Network Ten's Sports Tonight.-Career:He was born in Ayr, Queensland and moved to Brisbane when he was 6 years old. He always had an interest in English and Drama while growing up but it was not until he was 15 that...

    : Journalist and Television presenter
  • Don Walker
    Don Walker (musician)
    Don Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter known for writing many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo and with Tex, Don and Charlie,...

    : Musician/song writer - Cold Chisel
    Cold Chisel
    Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...

  • Karrie Webb
    Karrie Webb
    Karrie Ann Webb AM is Australia's most successful female professional golfer, and one of the top players in the history of global women's golf. She currently plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and also turns out once or twice a year on the ALPG Tour in her home country. She is a member of...

    : LPGA
    LPGA
    The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...

     Golfer
    Professional golfer
    In golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained. An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose his or her amateur status. A golfer who has lost his or her amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated;...

    , member of LPGA
    LPGA
    The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...

     Hall of Fame.
  • Kel O'Shea
    Kel O'Shea
    Kel O'Shea is an Australian former representative rugby league footballer, a second-rower from Queensland whose club career was played with the Western Suburbs Magpies in Sydney...

    : Australian representative rugby league player

Mars

The name Ayr is used as a name for a crater on the planet Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

, without specifically commemorating the town.

External links

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