As my charity now owns the Barony St. John’s church and hall buildings in Ardrossan, a few weeks ago I asked if anyone knew of the whereabouts and history of a model of the church building which the Design Team I've employed to compile a feasibility report for the buildings came across.

All I knew was that it was an exact replica of the Barony St. John’s church made by a Jim Miller and that it was put on display in the Parish Centre of the Church of Saint Peter in Chains as part of their Doors Open Day on September 2, 2007.

Well, you know me by now, I love a good mystery, so I had to set to work finding out "Who is Jim Miller?", "What was the model made of?" and "Where was it now?"

Luckily, The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald came to my aid, running an article asking for help from their readership and I soon got an email address for Jim.

After a few unsuccessful bids to meet up, Jim popped into the Barony St. John on his way past one day and I managed to interview him about his model;

The model itself is made of matches – amazingly, about 15-20,000 matches in all!

And this was not the only model Jim has made. In fact, Jim has made a matchstick replica of almost every church in Ayrshire!

So, some background details on Jim - he currently resides in Kilwinning but originally hailed from Dalry. He took up the hobby of matchstick model making around 1994/5 when he became a volunteer in the Abbey Tower Heritage Centre in Kilwinning.

Before then, he had been making a number of small matchstick model kits when he was the Crafts Class Officer with 1st Dalry Boys’ Brigade in the 1970s - 1990s.

However, his first serious model was of the stunningly beautiful Eglinton Castle.

By 1995, Jim had developed an interest in making models of churches and when the Church of Scotland told the congregation of Mansefield Church in Kilwinning that they would be moving to another location, Jim decided he would build a matchstick model of the church as a memento (in case it was to be sold or demolished).

Once complete, Jim gifted the model to the church congregation, as he has done with every church model since. The Barony St. John’s church model was Jim's 13th church model (my lucky number) and was built around 1998/99, taking three-four months to complete.

If you look closely, you will see a little white dove on the parapet. A white dove has become Jim’s hallmark and can be seen on most of his models.

Luckily, I then got a call from former Barony St. John’s church organist Stuart McMahon who informed me that the matchstick model of the church now resides in the Kirkgate Parish Church in Saltcoats alongside the model of Kirkgate that Jim made (the congregation having moved to Kirkgate when the Barony St. John closed).

To date, Jim has completed 83 church models - all of which have been gifted to the congregation of the particular church he has made.

The congregations of churches all over Ayrshire, Pennal in Wales and even Berlin in Germany have been fortunate enough to receive a replica of their church made by Jim Miller. And he has also made 19 other non-church models including a couple of schools, three castles, two Masonic lodges and a Community Centre.

It's no wonder he is known locally as The Matchstick Man.

I really enjoyed investigating this article and if you enjoyed reading it, perhaps you would be interested in reading more about our discoveries, the connections and the renovation work in the Barony St. John buildings. Check out my blog at www.ardrossman.wordpress.com or if you would like to volunteer to help us, help us fundraise to save the church buildings or if you would simply like to know more about our charity, please contact us via our website www.ScotCPS.org.uk or look us up (ScotCPS) on Facebook or Twitter.

Goodbye for now.