1972(Part 1)

Away from Castlemilk on the Magnus Magnusson programme, Sir Alec Douglas-Hume was asked by a young person from a Scottish school why the Scottish people had been so highly thought of and held such important posts in so many lands. In his reply Sir Alec stated that he believed that there were two reasons: “first, the religious foundation on which our lives had been built; and second, the education we had received.”


After four years in the job, Mr Frank Kean tendered his resignation from the post of Church Treasurer, a job he did “in a masterly fashion”, being trained as a Chartered Accountant. As successor Mr James Gold was appointed.


There was an appeal for a lot more people to help in the delivery of the church magazine, especially from those who lived in the Valley or in the area above Dougrie Road. On delivery days, if they were lucky they got 40 helpers and they needed 60.


The Life and Work cost 5p per month, or 60p per year and from it you could get “a complete and factual account of what the Church was doing, at a time when in the Sunday press the columnists – or at least many of them - find in the church an ever-popular target for scathing, denigrating criticism”.


A warning was issued by Dr Eileen Wybar, Medical Officer, Hamilton College of Education, on the dangers of drug-taking, and any young person with a drug problem could be assured of sympathetic help from his minister, doctor or youth leader.


The Women's World Day of Prayer with the theme ”All Joy Be Yours” was held in Castlemilk West on Friday, 3rd March. The offering, as last year's £5,250 from services throughout Scotland, would go to the provision of Christian Literature for many of the new nations of the world.


A letter came from the “far east” correspondent, from Dundee, where Jackie Petrie was deaconess. She had been there for five months and her memories of Castlemilk West were very strong and happy. She remembered the Summer School of 200 children when they prayed that at least 10 would come, her first morning as a Sunday School teacher when having missed the bus she was 20 minutes late, and got a “raging” from the deaconess, the Bible Study Evenings, the Youth Fellowship Committee Meetings which, after discussions on how “religious” the syllabus ought to be, adjourned to the Roundabout café for a wafer and a laugh, the Sunday mornings spent “at worship in the familiar surroundings of our lovely building”, and the day of the presentation to her of a “beautiful watch”. Her new parish had about 13,000 and a church membership of 800. There was about 11% unemployment, and a great housing surplus, allowing people to choose where they lived. Many chose to go to “a new house in a new area” rather than “an older house in a notorious area” like Fintry. She asked for prayers that the church in Fintry might continue to be a light for Christ in the community, where many of the people so desperately needed a sense of purpose in life.


A plea was issued for members for the choir as it had recently fallen into decline. The main reasons for this were “the movement of established members away from the district” and “a general disinclination among folks to be tied down by responsibilities”.


The sum of £15 for the Livingstonia Mission Hospital was realised from a Burns' Supper, and from various sources a supply of drugs and medicines suitable for use in the hospital was accumulated and was being sent to Livingstonia.


The Castlemilk Arts Centre provided facilities for all children between the ages of 6 and 12 to participate in Art, Ballet, Choral Singing, Drama and Recorder Playing, and there were places for new members.


“The Soldier's Armoury”, published by the Salvation Army, was recommended to the congregation as an aid to Bible Reading, something many in the congregation already used.


No fewer than three of the Girls' Brigade leaders had married within five or six months, and had set up home outwith Castlemilk. Miss Margaret Greenlees of Arnprior Road took over from Miss Ena Thomson as Captain of 74B Company, and Mrs Goudie (Miss Florence McIlhinney) took over from Miss Marlene Deas as Captain of 74A Company.


74A and B Companies worked together to insure that the girls achieved awards in baby-care, handcrafts, road safety and Bible memory work. Two girls completed the Bronze Stage of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. The explorers, the 5-7 year olds enjoyed themselves by “exploring the world around them”, that is, helping people, learning about their surroundings, handcrafts and games.


The Youth Club which had been closed since the end of the previous session re-opened in a new form in February. It was to be run for the 12-15 age group and would be open to the members of the Junior Bible class, the Boys' Brigade and the Girls' Brigade, and a friend. Mr Ian Paterson was to be in charge and would be helped by a committee and some other young people.


The Boys' Brigade Junior, Company and Senior Sections went to the Pantomime in the Pavilion Theatre in January, and the camp in the summer was to go to Great Yarmouth if enough boys wanted to go, in spite of the fact that the cost of hiring tents and a bus had gone up considerably. The dances run by the Parents' Committee had been a tremendous success. Mr Brown was thanked for his help with the Communication class and Miss Dunlop and Mrs Goudie for their help in typing the Company magazine. The magazine was called “B.B. Rag Mag”, started up again with an editorial staff of G. Olverman, E.Kelly, J.Martin and D. Forrester, who turned out an excellent publication with some very well-written articles covering many topics. Examinations for badges produced 100% pass rate for the Company, R.McGee(stage 1) and A. McDougall (stage2) gaining the Drill Badge and D.Mathieson, J. Brier, R.McGee and A.McDougall (all stage 3) gaining the Campers' Badge. In the Glasgow Battalion Cross Country Championships the Junior team came 15th with Alex. Sneddon placed 16th overall, and the Intermediate team came 8th with Andrew McDougall placed 17th overall. The Junior football team, under the guidance of S./Sgt W. Grierson finished 3rd in a league of ten , although they had been scoring “goals galore”. They also won a place in the District semi-finals.

The Nursery Department of the Sunday School was completely revolutionised when the Baird Scheme was introduced. For the Primary and Junior Departments the change was not so dramatic as their work had been run along similar lines to the Baird Scheme already for a number of years. If , however, there was to be a church in the future, the children had be brought up in the faith, and although a number of people had come forward to help in the Sunday School, many more teachers were needed for this work.

The proceeds of the Fête on the 20th May were going to the Fabric Fund and the Building Fund, as £400 to £500 was needed every year to keep the buildings in good condition. This year the outlay had been £621, which included £281 for painting the outside of the church.



Speakers at the Youth Fellowship included Baillie James Anderson, Dr E. Wybar, who spoke on the uses and abuses of drugs, Dr W. Zneader on the Jewish Faith, Mr N. McLeod of Glenwood Secondary, and Mr Donald Stuart. There was also a panel night with Dr J. Frame, Mr Bloomer from Glenwood, Miss Grant from Castleton Primary and Rev. John Miller of Castlemilk East Church. The fancy-dress party at Hallowe'en and the two dances were a great success, from which £12 was given to Christian Aid and £20 to the church. The hockey team were preparing for another successful season.


The Covenant Scheme was again recommended to the congregation. If 15p was given weekly, £8 per year, the church would be refunded £5.07, and adding on the original £8 it would make a total for the year of £13.07 per year to the church.


The seventeen Woman's Guild Committee members, armed with sleeping bags, pillow cases and other essentials, went to Struan House, Skelmorlie for their first ever conference weekend.


The tickets for the Sunday School trip to Stevenston went up in price to 60p for adults and 50p for children.


Miss Kathleen Grant left for a time to teach in Seafield Towers Residential School in Ardrossan. Kathleen had been Secretary of the Sunday School, Beginners' Leader , member of the Congregational Board, choir member and valued soloist. As well as all these jobs, because of her artistic ability, she had provided many of the posters needed from time to time in the church.


Mrs Bristow, formerly Miss Irene Sinclair, returned to visit on Easter Sunday.


The Crusader got a generous donation of £6.65½p from the Men's Association.


Mr Ian Paterson and his wife, Grace, left Castlemilk West after a year to take up an appointment in Inverness. Their work among the young people and the visits to the sick and elderly were very much valued. Rev. James Millar presented them with a small token of appreciation.


The grand-daughter of Mr and Mrs Aitken, of Carmunnock Road, was baptised in Australia on the same Sunday as the baptisms in Castlemilk West. Mother (Mrs Matheson) and baby (Heather) were well and Grannie and Grandpa didn't look a day older!


Mr James Gilchrist and his Senior Citizens' Work Party completed the placing of protective netting over the remaining windows facing the street in an effort to combat the repeated vandalism to the church windows.


To get Colours for the Girls' Brigade a football match took place at Netherton School between the Church Football Team and an XI from the congregation.


A letter to the Sunday School was received from Morag in Malawi, thanking them for the £5 sent for her work. The money was used for a little baby boy, David Kondowe, whose mother had died at the birth and whose father could not afford to buy milk for him. At the time of the letter the baby was six weeks old and beginning to gain weight and “look as a little baby should”.


From the offering at the Easter Service in Glenwood Secondary, Morag's old school, a cheque for £45 was handed over to the Rev. James Millar, the School Chaplain, by the Girls' Captain, Carol McPhee, to go to Morag's work in Malawi.


£70, a quantity of drugs, and some large parcels were sent out by the congregation , and the Livingstonia Mission Hospital Committee organised another sponsored walk, when about 70 walkers of all ages set off in groups to walk to East Kilbride and back, a total distance of about ten miles. At the half-way stage tea was served by members of the Young Mothers' Group in the parish church hall at East Kilbride and members of the Woman's Guild had tea waiting on the return to the church at Castlemilk. Just over £100 was raised. It was hoped to have a Beetle Drive early in the New Year.


More than two dozen youngsters from Castleton School, aged between 8 and 11, who had heard of Morag's work in Malawi through Sunday School or school, eagerly took part in a Musical Evening in the church. The choir group sang two songs they had learned for the Castlemilk Festival, and the recorder group, who had shared the highest mark in the Festival with a trombonist from another school, learned “Amazing Grace” entirely on their own in order to contribute something extra for the evening. At the end of the evening they had a small collection among themselves to add to the amount raised.


At the Men's Association, the trophy for Singles Bowling was won by Mr J. Aitken and the Pairs trophy went to Rev. J. Millar and Mr W. Martin.


The Horticultural Society announced the result of the Spring Gardens Competition. The winners were J. Lavelle of Raithburn Road with a mark of 68 out of 80, T.Orr of Dougrie Road 66 out of 80, R. Kneller of Ardencraig Road and D. McLaughlin of Arnprior Road, equal 62, and A. Taylor of Carmunnock Road and J. Wallace of Carmunnock Road equal 57.