Down Memory Lane

Jan 21 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

Down Memory Lane

THE “veteran pedestrian” Mark All, who passed through Hamilton last summer on his task of walking 10,000 miles in 200 days, again passed through the town, having covered 5958 miles in 115 days. Aged 80, Mark was still going strong and looked likely to complete his task.

A CROSSFORD farm servant was jailed for three months at Hamilton. He stole £7 15s from his employer and used the cash to pay for lodgings at Stewarton, Ayrshire, where he stole a lurcher dog. Claiming to be acting as a trustee, he then alarmed a Fenwick farmer by claiming the man was bankrupt – and over two days illegally ‘seized’ a plough, a reaping machine, cart, paraffin barrel, pump and 86lbs of lead piping.

He also stole a collie dog from a Stewarton farm.

A COURT case involving a teacher and a pupil of a Hamilton school raised the question over whether there should be a recognised standard to which the strap used by schoolteachers in the administration of punishment must conform. It was suggested that the ‘tawse’ in question would have fallen into the “hand-blowing-before-and-after category!”

A BULLOCK caused excitement in Quarry Street, Hamilton, when it ran from a herd being driven through the New Cross. Pursued by the driver’s dog it ran down Quarry Street, skidded on the pavement and its nose struck the window of T. M. Kirkpatrick’s draper shop, smashing it. A year ago the same draper’s window was smashed when an elderly woman was knocked through it by a driverless van.

A 22-YEAR-OLD unemployed labourer from Craigneuk, Wishaw, found himself in a prison cell over the festive period after assaulting a police officer in defence of a friend who was being arrested on Christmas Eve.

“Leave my pal alone; we want none of these Gestapo methods here,” he cried, jumping on the constable’s back and striking him several times with his fists. The policeman had to deal with the man, and he was subsequently charged with assault and breach of the peace. At Hamilton Sheriff Court, Sheriff Wood imposed a fine of £5 or 30 days’ imprisonment on each charge.

A WEALTHY Lanark woman’s estate of £75,212 was reduced by £30,764 by the Exchequer for death duties, leaving her grieving relatives £44,948. The woman was a member of a well-known family connected to the fellmongering trade.

PUPILS from Hamilton Academy, one of Scotland’s leading schools, were accused of bad language and insolence by some Hamilton shopkeepers. A petition was sent to rector Alfred Dubber by shopkeepers in Cadzow Street and Townhead Street, complaining about Academy pupils’ behaviour while they were waiting at bus stops. Four shops near Cadzow Street and Townhead Street bus stops signed the petition and others were understood to be sympathetic. Mr Dubber promised it wouldn’t happen again, but gave shopkeepers his permission to call police if it did.

ALLEGATIONS in a letter from Bothwell SNP branch that a “colony of rats” were contaminating a school food store in the village backfired when the ‘author’ challenged its language, residents near the store denied the presence of rats and County Council investigations revealed no sign of the rodents.

A HAMILTON engineering firm accused striking steelmen of illegally picketing their premises. Parklea Ltd, light constructional engineers in Whistleberry Road, hit out as pickets turned their attentions to Hamilton firms. Parklea production manager Mr W. McSeveney said: “We are not against the principle of picketing but we are being illegally picketed. The strikers are stopping us getting fabricated materials that we bought from BSC many months before the strike. We are not bringing in any raw materials and our firm has nothing at all to do with the present dispute.” Hamilton firms Rom River Co (Scotland) Ltd and MEA were also being picketed.

A SILVER Roman coin found on an archaeological dig at Chatelherault Country Park was handed over to Hamilton District Council for display. Ed Archer, of Lanark Archaeological Society, found the coin during a dig at the ancient fort in the grounds of Chatelherault.

HAMILTON and East Kilbride Health Council said Hamilton’s new district general hospital for the 21st century should be built near Blantyre and named after missionary David Livingstone. They also said the hospital should feature paediatric and obstetric units, plus a helicopter landing pad for emergencies. The proposals were backed by local MPs George Robertson and Adam Ingram.

In November, Lanarkshire Health Board announced a £103m package for two new hospitals, to replace Law and Hairmyres.

ALMOST 3000 people signed letters and petitions against a controversial Bothwell planning application. Villagers protesting against the Bett Homes proposal for 49 flats and 11 detached homes on land in Main Street claimed the number of objectors was the highest for any planning application considered by South Lanarkshire Council in their four-year history.

Bett planned to build three three-storey and one two-storey block of flats on a site occupied by Edgecumbe Instruments, near the historic Bothwell Church.