Tribute to Clydesdale champion Adam Lawson

The veteran former councillor died after a long illness at the age of 74. His funeral was held on Friday in Douglas.

He had what was once the classic upbringing for a lifelong socialist and Labour man of the `old school’.

He was born to a mining family in Douglas West and followed his father down the pit there and later at Ponfeigh, Douglas Water. He was a very promising footballer, playing with the old Douglas Water Primrose and Clyde.

The gradual closure of the Lanarkshire pits saw him take employment in the Prison Service and the railways before joining the Strathclyde Regional Council workforce, a post he had to give up when he was elected to serve on that very body for the Tinto Ward.

It was a seat he was to hold for almost 20 years, nearly spanning the Regional Council’s entire existence and he rose to be the council’s deputy leader; politically, he could have gone further if it had not been for his principled stand on certain local issues and his refusal to budge from his determination to put the interests of ordinary people first before all. His many achievements included the widespread introduction of wheelchair access.

His companion for over half a century, his wife Bunty, died just over a year ago but he is survived by four daughters and a son.