Teenage Years In Cumbernauld
(by Jim Skene)

We must have been at Kildrum primary at the same time! I came from Carntyne primary about 1960 to Seafar and then was in the last year of the kids that went to Lenzie by one of the 6 buses.

Colin Brown and Rhona McDonald were some of the first to go to the new High School and Peter Morson the following year. I left Lenzie in 65/66 and my years there were completely wasted as I was useless in most subjects. Andy Park taught us (something) at Lenzie and I remember Jimmy and Jackie Mc Culloch well and Robert Ross (Rosco) too.

Believe it or not I have met some ex Lenzie students here in West Australia and there are about 6 ex students living in WA on the Lenzie past students site. I came over to Perth in early 77 and joined the city bus group which then was a Government job as a diesel mechanic. I was working on a Sunday morning and had the local Sunday Times and was shocked when I read the article about the death of Jimmy McCulloch, he was an absolutely brilliant guitarist, as the many websites to him testify.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article and website and it has brought back many good memories of teenage years in the new town. We would cycle everywhere- the canal at Dullatur or fishing in the Luggie above Condorrat. Shame to see that the town gets some not so good reviews today or is that just media talk? I don't know who from the past is still living in the town but would love to hear from anyone who remembers me.


Response

I think you must have been a year earlier than me. I was in the same year at Cumbernauld High as Colin and Rhona. I was very friendly with "Hovis" Brown, Cumbernauld High's very first Hell's Angel. OK, it was only a BSA Bantam but everyone has to start somewhere. I used to live just round the corner from Rhona. Small world eh? It must be about 40 years since I last saw Colin. The last time I bumped into Rhona was about 20 years ago in a car showroom in Falkirk.

If you travelled by bus to Lenzie Academy, you may have known Alan Grier, who lived in Afton Road at that time. He was the nephew of James Paul, who had the butcher's shop in Cumbernauld Village. Alan and I worked together for about ten years in a company which had factories in Falkirk and Larbert. We both moved on to different employers and I lost touch when he left the area.


Reply

‘No worries’ as the Aussies say, Perth has many Scots living here and it used to be  called little Scotland. Yes, Colin had the Bantam and I had the Triumph Tiger cub which always broke down. Good talking to you.




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