Down Memory Lane

Ten Years Ago:

OVER 70 Carluke families were shivering in the run up to Christmas after being left without heating during the coldest days of 2003. Locals living in Glencoe Road had lost heating into their homes the previous Saturday evening when their gas supply failed just before the first snowflakes of the winter months began to fall.

* PUPILS at Lanark’s Robert Owen Memorial Primary School were pictured during their end-of-term nativity show.

* THE Meiklejon’s baby goods shop in Broomgate, Lanark, was closed for the last time. The shop was the final one bearing the Meiklejon’s name, which had been founded back in 1828 and started off manufacturing its own furniture.

* IT was reported that South Lanarkshire Council’s ‘hit squads’ had removed almost 100 unauthorised bonfires across the authority in the weeks running up to November 5. Eleven of the 98 had been in Clydesdale.

* Over 700 residents of the Douglas and Nethan Valleys had signed a petition, calling for a halt to a plan to deposit human waste in the former Dalquhandy opencast pit.

* CARLUKE Rovers secretary Clara Kay said that she’d seen something the previous Saturday which she’d never witnessed before in her 63 years with the club. Incredibly, Loch Park was the scene of a 12-goal thriller for the second league game running, as Carluke beat Stonehouse 7-5! Clara said: “I never remember there being 12 goals in two successive games before.”

* BIGGAR Rugby Club ran in six tries to record a highest-ever winning margin over Peebles in a friendly at Hartreemill. Biggar won by a thumping scoreline of 46-7.

Twenty-Five years ago:

* A LANARK family were among the victims of the Lockerbie disaster. Tom Flannigan, his wife Kathleen – whose parents Laurence and Angela Doolan still lived in Albany Drive – and their 10-year-old daughter Joanne had been in their home the previous Wednesday when part of the PanAm jet crashed on Sherwood Crescent. “They got the very worst of it,” Mrs Doolan told the Gazette. “The wing came down on their house.”

* TODDLER Christine Cunningham’s pyjamas were set on fire following an electric fault which caused a serious blaze at 6 Sommerville Place, Carstairs Junction. Her mother Claire rescued the 17-month-old girl after hearing screams in her bedroom. The upstairs of the house was completely gutted by the fire, with repair costs estimated at £2500. Remarkably, Christine suffered no injuries and was released after being checked over by doctors at Law Hospital.

* LANARK Community Council was again inviting everyone to join in a toast to the New Year at the Het Pint, which was due to be staged at a different venue. It was taking place at the reception area of the District Council offices in the South Vennel as the County Buildings were at that time being used for offices.

* LANARK people rallied round to provide help for stunned survivors of the Lockerbie disaster. Jim O’Connor of the Wallace Cave had decided to pass a bag around his pub after a Christmas draw the previous Thursday, asking for any donations. Over £130 was collected, a total which had been boosted to £222 by the Friday.

* PUPILS from Coalburn Primary School brought Christmas presents bought with individual class collections to Carluke Health Centre. School nurse Anne McColgan distributed gifts to under-privileged kids.

* SCOTTISH rally champion Colin McRae, who had burst onto the scene in dramatic fashion in 1988, was gearing up for an early start to his 1989 campaign. Colin was to join a host of international stars the following month in his first competitive outing of the New Year – in the opening round of the 1989 World Championship series. The 20-year-old from Lanark was to drive a Ford Sierra 4 X 4 in the Swedish Rally as he kicked off a year in which he and father Jimmy would form the backbone of the Ford works team in Britain.

* LESMAHAGOW Juniors continued their Trophy Centre League Division One championship push with a 1-0 win at Bellshill Athletic thanks to Sandy Ross’s penalty goal.