THE COVENANTER
I left the Army to set up a small business in of mostly derelict buildings with only the
Edinburgh which my wife Rose and I ran for main block looking not too bad. All the
thirty years and am now happily retired to married quarters, Officers and Sgts messes,
my little cottage in Lanarkshire; not many Gymnasium, NAAFI, medical centre and so
miles from the barracks. on were only fit to be knocked down. I
suppose some bean counting civil servant
Of the PT Staff, Guy Brown emigrated to got an MBE for savingthe MOD maintenance
New Zealand and Bill Moyes was last seen money by allowing a prime property to go
many years ago as a Detective Sgt in the to fall into ruin.
Glasgow Police Over the years I believe a number of
developers tried to get hold of the site but
My best friend Terry Macaree went on the South Lanarkshire Council didn’t want or
Assistant PTI course at Aldershot and so need to have a very large housing estate
impressed the APTC that he was invited back on the outskirts of Lanark and they kept
to do the year long probationers course at refusing planning permission but the
the end of which he transferred to the Corps place was sold to a company who put in
and went out to Malaya for a very pleasant plans for a development of four hundred
posting in a Bde HQ. On his return to the houses. When it was knocked back they
UK he got himself in among the Para’s ; first appealed to the Scottish Executive who
doing the infamous P Coy and qualifying overruled the Council and allowed it to
as a jumper before returning to actually go ahead. The Council then slapped a
run P Coy. Then a series of postings and historic grading on the main block and
a rise through the ranks until he reached some other buildings to prevent their being
WO1 when he was offered a commision in demolished but the builders were quickly
the rank of Captain and an appointment on site and it was amazing just how fast
as instructor at Sandhurst. Terry finally the place was destroyed. In about ten days
retired after forty odd years service when he everything except the Main block and the
was Director of Physical Training and Sport, two messes had disappeared, the square was
London District in the rank of Lt Colonel. ripped up and covered in huge mountains
By that time his job was to be privatised of rubble and even the large trees fronting
so to speak and he left his office in Horse the main road were ripped out ( what is a
Guards only to return the next week as a small mature woodland to a builder when
civil servant (retired officer) and doing the he might squeeze an extra house into the
same job. Since he spent a lot of time in and space). However once work was started the
around the South of England his charming building company began to seem a bit more
wife Deirdre could continue her own very sensitive to the history of the place and I
succesful career as personal assistant and believe it’s to be called Cameronian Green
secretary to some of the biggest international and the streets and avenues will have names
bankers in the City of London. On final assosciated with the regiment like Douglas
retirement they went of to New Zealand to Drive, Graham Court and so on.
be near their daughter and grandchildren
and Rose and I spent a month with them I suppose it is much better for our old home
in their wonderful big house overlooking to be turned into a pleasant estate where
Auckland Bay. It’s a hard life being retired in families can live and bring up children in
NZ what with playing golf, walking on the what is a beautiful part of the countryside
beach and checking out all those restaurants rather than fall into a ruined pile of
and vineyards but somebody has to do it brickworks which no doubt would become
and Terry is making a fine job of it. the haunt of vandals and junkies.
Finally poor old Winston Bks. After One day before the demolition started
Glencourse Bks was designated the training I was passing and on a whim I decided to
centre for all Lowland Bde recruits the have a little memento so I jumped over
barracks was practically abandoned by the the fence at my old quarter and started to
MOD and slowly fell into disrepair. The unscrew the house number from the wall.
excellent REME workshop across the road I could barely reach it and I had no tools
was demolished and the old Lanarkshire so I was struggling to do it with my car key
Yeomanry building near the front gate went when a voice behind me says “ Whit the
the same way. Over the next thirty years F*** dae Ye think Yer daeing Pal ?” It was
the place deteriorated into a collection the biggest security guard I’d seen in a long
40
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