Down Memory Lane

TEN YEARS AGO

* Law tap dancing sensation Christopher Quinn was making all the right moves towards becoming a dance teacher – by the age of 12. Christopher, the only male in a class of 60, was the star performer; he passed four teaching exams with top marks.

* Carluke couple Tom and Margaret Harris celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. They had been married in Carluke’s EU Church and celebrated their anniversary with their family, including three grandchildren.

* Douglasdale Players presented their 25th annual show entitled I’m Cinders Get Me Outta Here. The show, which ran from March 17 to March 20, was a bright and colourful display of acting and dancing talent and was a fitting silver anniversary performance.

* Pupils from Carstairs and Carstairs Junction Primary enjoyed a visit from Scottish Opera. The children took part in a workshop which culminated in a performance of The Minotaur.

* MEMBERS of Coalburn Silver Band were gearing up to play a concert in memory of band member George Blackwood who had died in August 2003. The concert would not only feature the Silver Band but also Coalburn IOR Pipe Band, the Lesmahagow Male Voice Choir and soloist Lawrie Baxter.

* A Carluke shop manager swapped Ladbrokes for a fact-finding mission in Africa. Bob McKee spent two weeks in Sierra Leone to find out how he could help raise vital funds.

* Liverpool FC legend Alan Kennedy was the guest of honour at Balmore Amateurs Sportsman’s Dinner. Kennedy scored the winning goal in both the 1981 and 1984 European Cup Finals.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO

* Carluke engineering firm Hugh Martin & Sons confirmed that it was buying over Lanark-based Bardrec. Initially, 15 people worked at what became known as Hugh Martin & Sons Bardrec Division at Caldwellside Industrial Estate but the company hoped it would be able to build up the workforce quickly.

* A very flashy Judas, played by Stephen Crawford, provided a contrast to Jesus (David Black) in performing the song All For The Best as part of Carluke Opera’s production of Godspell. The musical, based on the Gospel according to Matthew, was staged at Carluke District Hall.

* Congregations in the Presbytery of Lanark had given more than £73,000 to the wider work of the Church of Scotland over the past 12 months. Presenting the figures, Rev Andrew Lambie congratulated the congregations within the Presbytery for their continued support.

* The owner of a Dolphinton farmhouse blasted plans to extend a sand and gravel quarry only a stone’s throw away from his land. William Gilchrist said that he hoped local councillors would back his case by rejecting the proposal from Carstairs company Wm Stokes and Son Ltd.

* The latest figures produced by the Department of Employment revealed a drop of more than 20 per cent in Clydesdale’s unemployment figures over the past year. The unemployment rate in Clydesdale stood at 8.4 per cent, considerably lower than the 14.4 per cent Lanarkshire average.

* Residents at Lanark’s Glebe Court celebrated the 10th anniversary of the opening of the sheltered housing complex with a concert. The highlight of the evening was the cutting of a birthday cake by the two most senior residents John Whitefield (92) and 93-year-old Helen Imrie.

* A four year plan to extract coal and fireclay from a 130-acre site on the outskirts of Forth was given the green light by Clydesdale councillors. Whitburn company HJ Banks & Co said that it intended to make an immediate start to the project earmarked for Birniehall Estates in Climpy.

* Crossford Raft Race chairman Robert Johnstone handed over a cheque for £4,000 to representatives from Yorkhill Children’s Hospital Intensive Care Unit. Cheques of £500 were also presented to Braidwood House and the HeartStart Appeal.

* Lesmahagow trounced Maryhill 5-1 in their Central League Division 1 match.