Down Memory Lane

See what was making the headlines in past years
Golden kids...Libberton Primary pupils proved they were entrepreneursGolden kids...Libberton Primary pupils proved they were entrepreneurs
Golden kids...Libberton Primary pupils proved they were entrepreneurs

TEN YEARS AGO

* carluke Community Council members gathered to establish an interim Carluke Gala Day committee, following January’s resignation of gala chairperson Barbara Murray due to ill health. Members of Barbara’s committee had not been prepared to carry on without her. Community Council chairman Bill Kirkhope said: “I think we should have the gala day on a much smaller scale and forget about events for the adults. After all, it’s a day for the kids and we should concentrate on the kids.”

* IT was revealed that a new care complex for older people – due to open in Carluke’s Cairneymount Road that summer – would have its own special cinema.

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* budding entrepreneurs from Libberton Primary were delighted to receive a gold award from Scottish Enterprise after creating and running a very successful Easter Fayre in the school.

* COUNCILLORS approved plans for the first phase of a £400 million modernisation project, which would see 124 new South Lanarkshire Schools built in the next 15 years.

* monteith amateur football club had won the Lanarkshire, South of Scotland and Hannigan Cups during the past two seasons, just a decade after the club faced extinction before the much needed intervention of chairman John Forrest.

* lanark golf Club was the venue for a hugely successful Motorway Cars pro-am tournament. The event was won by Dalmuir pro Stewart Savage and a trio from Chapman Butchers.

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* carluke hearts Amateur Football Club lost 2-1 to Wishaw HSFP in the JC Wilson Final. Hearts’ goal was scored by Howieson.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

* the bunting was up, the houses were decorated and all the town needed now was brilliant sunshine for the following day’s Carluke Gala celebrations. Gala Queen Hazel Feely from Kirkton Primary School would be joined by her champion, Stuart Merry, and the rest of the court on their big day.

* many people in Clydesdale who were going on holiday at the beginning of the following month, or who were working away from home, faced being deprived of their voting rights in the European Parliament elections to be held on June 15. The problem arose because of a shortfall in the supply of “official documentation” – printed by HMSO – essential for the issue of postal votes. As a result, the postal voting ballot papers would not be sent out in some Scottish constituencies until only a week before the election.

* the dresses to be worn by the new Lanimer Queen and her court were displayed in shop windows; the flags would soon be going up; and in homes throughout Lanark the needles were flying as mothers and sponsors created the costumes which would transform hundreds of children into enchanted beings for a magical morning the following Thursday.

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* the main road out of Scotland, the A74, was to be upgraded by the Government. The A74 had been the scene of many accidents over the years, with critics claiming that its dual carriageway was unsuitable for carrying the amount of traffic which used the road. But plans were in place to upgrade the road to make it all motorway, eventually going all the way south to Gretna to link up with the M6. The first phase of the work – starting at the end of 1989 – would take in the stretch of road from Millbank to Netherabington.

* the drop in the value of the pound against the dollar was good news for Lanarkshire companies exporting to America. That was the view of Peter Agnew, chief executive of LIFE, Lanarkshire’s trade and export agency.

* forth wanderers were set to pin up the summer sale notices at Kingshill Park during the close season. But manager Derek Brown warned rival junior bosses that they would not get any bargain buys – despite his side’s likely relegation to the second division. “All my professional players are up for sale,” said Brown. “But at a price.” Brown hoped that the cash generated from a close season clear-out would enable the club to embark on a signing spree.