Lanark Grammar pupils settling into new school

Pretty is not a word that will ever be applied to the huge new building off Dead Man's Lane, overlooking the half demolished jumble of Edwardian and later extensions that were 'The Grammar' for several generations of past pupils.

While they had a certain shabby charm, the new Grammar – some say the eleventh building to house the school in its 827 year history – looks almost industrial from the outside.

It is only when you pass through the security entrance to the building that you suddenly get hit with the old `buzz' you always get entering a place packed with young people setting out in life and the adults charged with giving them the knowledge and skills to make that journey.

Actually, the very first sensation you get on reaching the almost dazzlingly bright, airy and spacious interior is one of sheer relief – and it's etched all over the face of Mark Sherry (above left), the man with Head Teacher on his office door now that the non-PC title of Rector has been consigned to history.