Looking Back - Herald files

[brian f]

Kittywake, It was only given on (Request). I suspect the covid jab will be more painful

[Kittywake]

Strangely enough brian f, I'm due to get my first Covid jab next week and looking forward to it.

[bonzo]

He always had time for the local youths .. I can remember he would give us a little tap on the knee with his truncheon just to let us know what it was all about

brian f,
No' being pedantic here but a tap on the knee with a police truncheon to anyone, let alone a youth or minor, could easily cause pain and injury so should rightfully be classed as an assault.

Aw come on it was the 70s. It put you in your place like the belt did at school. Don't have a problem with it at all.

[Kittywake]

Aw come on it was the 70s. It put you in your place like the belt did at school. Don't have a problem with it at all.

Getting the belt never did me much harm either, plus at the time whether folk agreed with it or not it was a perfectly legal routine punishment in schools. There's even been calls by some to 'bring back the belt' etc.
Police using a truncheon to put wee boys in their place, well I'm afraid that's a different kettle of fish altogether for me, but each to their own and I respect your opinion.

[meekan]

I think the operative word there is “tap” I doubt if there would be any intent to injure or even to punish, sometimes I think we have been conditioned towards over reaction to minor incidences. Example compare a “tap” with the likes of the birch and then there would be reason to be concerned.

[Kittywake]

I agree that there may not have been any intent to injure or punish.

[Hughie]

From the Archives of the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald published on February 27, 2008


100 YEARS AGO on February 28, 1908
THE ceremony of the laying the memorial stone of the new Parish Church, Saltcoats, was performed by the Countess of Eglinton last Tuesday afternoon and wine and oil were poured on the stone by three children of the congregation - Misses Ella Robertson, Muriel Fulton and Effie Craig.

ERSKINE Church Choir and Musical Association presented the cantata, Ruth last night, the principal singers being Miss Weir, Mrs McGillivray, Miss Stirrat, Miss Jeffrey, Mr Hepburn and Mr John McLellan.

A MEETING of the ratepayers of Saltcoats was held on Wednesday to discuss a rumour that the postal authorities had been fixed upon a site for the new Post Office in Saltcoats - stated to be in Chapelwell Street, next to Erskine Church - an "out of the way place and not suited to the merchants of the town." A resolution that the Post Office be in a more central part of the town was carried and sent to the Postmaster General.

KILBIRNIE Co-operative Society have opened a new building for the sale of fruit and fish adjoining their central premises in Main Street.

AT the annual meeting of West Kilbride Public Institute on Thursday the following were elected to the Committee of Management: -Messrs McNee, Dugald Campbell, John Jack, John Balderston, Robert Marshall, Alex Gemmill and William Gray.

50 YEARS AGO on February 28, 1958
LAST weekend the snow came back to Scotland, and in this district, it lay to a depth of several inches, for the third time since the New Year. The snow began falling last Saturday forenoon, but it was not until late at night that the roadways were completely covered and traffic was slowed down.

Bus services were disrupted through the blocking of the Haylie Brae road near Largs and the Dalry-West Kilbride road, and the Glasgow-Largs buses travelled by the coast road. On Sunday night an SMT bus on the Kilmarnock=Greenock run was stuck on the West Kilbride-Highthorne road, and in other outlying districts the bus services were delayed.

On Sunday night, however, sleet fell and a slow thaw continued until Monday, when the snow tumed to slush. Snow fell again on Monday morning but did not lie; Monday evening was frosty, and the slush turned to ice and made walking very difficult. On Tuesday the sun shone and there was a slight further thaw, but frozen snow persisted on pavements and on roads were now clear and dry and traffic was no longer affected.

VOLUNTEERS are wanted for the repair of the stand at Abbey Park, home of Kilwinning Rangers FC. Work is expected to commence in a fortnight at the weekends. Supporters willing to assist should contact Buffs secretary, H Walker.

THE Girl Guides and Brownies of Ardrossan and Saltcoats paraded on Sunday morning last to Ardrossan Barony Church where the visiting preacher was the Rev Hamish McIntosh, MC, BD, minister of Scotstoun East Church, Glasgow. The parade was held in connection with the Girl Guides Thinking Day.

NELSON Bakers, Dockhead Street, Saltcoats, has been a family name in the town for over half a century. The brothers have now retired and the premises have been purchased by a well known furniture firm. Mr Nelson, the founder of the firm, is over 90 years of age, but still gets out and about. He retired from the firm some years ago, but the sons carried on successfully the name and the quality of their products.

OFTEN at night-time, double-decked buses belonging to a firm in the Paisley district are observed in Ardrossan. I learn they are used to convey workers to and from the Hunterston site, where the new plant is being built.

25 YEARS AGO on March 4, 1983
A NORTH Ayrshire lad's fight to become a Para is being tipped to turn him into one of television's most unlikely stars, Andy Cunningham, a former West Kilbride and Dalry resident, was one of the most promising of 41 hopefuls who reported for training with the Parachute Regiment last year. BBC film cameras were there to record 22 weeks of gruelling training exercises for their new seven-part series The Paras, which began yesterday (Thursday). Corporal Danny Lyden described Andy: "He takes everything In but his fitness, well, he just hasn't got any."

From the very beginning of the training officers considered Andy to be "not worth his rations". He was twice convicted of "negligent discharge," accidentally firing a rifle and later, a machine gun. But although the odds were stacked against him, he refused to accept defeat and was one of only a third of the new recruits to qualify for the coveted Red Beret of the Paras. His brother Jim, who lives at Dirrans Terrace, Kilwinning said: "Andy knew he was being filmed by the BBC but he did not realise that he could be picked out as a celebrity." Jim was at his brother's passing out parade last July.

TWO hundred and fifty essential and casual car users at Cunninghame District Council have refused to use their vehicles. The action follows an Instruction from their union - the National and Local Government Officers Association-over car allowances. NALGO ordered their members to stop using their cars from Tuesday because of what they call an attempt to cut car allowances by local government employers. At the beginning of this week it was impossible to say exactly what caused the action, according to NALGO chairman at CDC, Duncan Bryson. At a national level It's expected to cause problems in planning, environmental health, social work, engineering and trading standards departments.

NALGO say that an essential user with an 1100cc car doing 3,750 miles a year would have the allowance cut by £16.50 a month. Cunninghame District Council's Chief Executive, James Miller, said this week that there had been no disruption to normal working. National negotiations were underway this week.

Thanks to Tom McGrattan for the original