Law AAC stalwarts relive 1970 Games Baton duties

WITH the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow now just eight months away, Games fever is hitting the country with a high percentage of tickets already sold.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Nov 2013, 07:00 BST
Memories are made of this... Jim Thomson (58) and Bob Benyon (68) recall their Baton duties for the 1970 Games (Pic Lindsay Addison)Memories are made of this... Jim Thomson (58) and Bob Benyon (68) recall their Baton duties for the 1970 Games (Pic Lindsay Addison)
Memories are made of this... Jim Thomson (58) and Bob Benyon (68) recall their Baton duties for the 1970 Games (Pic Lindsay Addison)

There were similar levels of excitement 43 years ago among Law and District Amateur Athletics Club members who carried the silver baton containing the Queen’s message for part of its long journey to the 1970 Games in Edinburgh.

Law and District AAC stalwarts Jim Thomson, a 58-year-old ex-Scotland international athlete, and Bob Benyon (68), a founder member who is now membership secretary, each carried the baton for a two-mile stretch.

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Jim, of West Avenue, Carluke, said: “I remember that my adrenaline was flowing as I collected the baton from Provost William Niven at East Kilbride.

“I got an escort from a guy on a motorbike.”

The baton was subsequently passed to fellow Law and District members Alastair Murdoch, Bob Benyon, David Simpson and Campbell Crawford.

“The year 1970 was the first time the Commonwealth Games had ever been in Scotland,” said Bob, of Tayinloan Drive, Carluke.

“So being picked to carry the baton was a great honour for Law and District athletes.”

To find out more about Jim and Bob’s Commonwealth Games memories, don’t miss our special feature in the Carluke and Lanark Gazette.

Related topics:GlasgowQueen