Charles Bannerman

I'm surprised IHE hasn't been on here with stories about Granville!

There are several versions of this. The one I heard was set on Lewis:- "So what's the Gaelic equivalent of the Spanish word 'manana'?" "Och we have several... but none quite conveys the same degree of urgency!"

Given the origins of barbering (they were originally surgeons - hence the red and while pole representing blood and bandages) there's possibly not a lot of difference!

Guys like that have a bath as often as that?!

One thing about the Gents' Barber's in the market... the conversation is always that bit more interesting than "have you had your holidays?" or "are you working today, then?" In fact, sitting in the chair there on Saturday morning, the subject of Diggar McGillivray came up. Does anyone else have memories of haircuts (or buying coupons for that matter) in Diggar's shop in Greig Street? Mention of the man and the place brings me back vividly to the days of my early youth! Diggar had been a Burma Star veteran (artillery) and I believe began barbering in the army at Fort George. His shop was a mecca for those of the Bluenose persuasion and Diggar was staunch Caley and Rangers. You would go into the shop and Diggar would be brushing up hair clippings. You would read a Beano lying beside you on the wooden bench... then a Dandy... then a Beezer... then a Topper. Diggar, meanwhile would have someone in the chair but would most likely be out on the street shouting good natured abuse in a broad Inverness accent at various passers by... especially John Brooman. Then someone would come in to pay for their coupon. Then Diggar would return for a minute's hair cutting before disappearing into the back shop. At last it would be my turn and the board would go across the arms of the seat so boost me up to Diggar's level. Diggar's first line of conversation would be "so that's the way, Charles" ... even though I hadn't actually said anything by this stage. He would then launch into the customary monologue but before any proper conversation could get under way, there would be another interruption for another coupon or torrent of abuse but eventually the mandatory short back and sides would be completed. Diggar took his son Dennis into the business for a while but for some reason Dennis didn't keep it up although the shop is still there as a barber's... one of the few on Greig Street whose deisgnation has not changed.. One memorable Diggar anecdote relates to a meeting about the heating systems in the houses where he lived in Ballifeary Road. At one point in the debate Diggar (never short of a view on anything) was heard to observe "But I'm all gas of course...." The place fell about laughing! Thanks to a tip off, I attended the inaugural meeting of the Caley Rebels in the Ordnance on the Sunday following the merger votes in September 1993. Diggar had just died and one of the Brooman boys (John's grandson) put it to me forcefully "Diggar McGillivray is hardly cold in his grave and look at what they're doing to the club!" I wonder what Diggar's view on ICT would have been? Any other memories of him... for instance in the Howden End?

Interesting social observation. Note that the gentleman back left in the Jags photo is wearing "sh1tecatchers", a true emblem of the middle classes, not observed among the Caley proletariat.

I'd just point out that Caley Thistle don't actually own the land on which the stadium is built. It is leased by the ICT Trust from the Common Good Fund until 2093, but effectively that doesn't alter the fact that the site's "value" (in terms of what might be raised from any transfer of the lease) will indeed be increasing. There are one or two obstacles to a move. Firstly, as ASDA found, there could be huge cost implications for any incoming tenant if the Kessock Bridge roundabout needed upgraded. Secondly, and I suspect more importantly, as Caley100 very rightly says, an alternative site at a realistic cost would be very difficult to find in Inverness. Even way back in 1993 when Bruce Hare of Percy Johnston Marshall did his original study, he looked at 13 sites, most of which were no hopers. That was boiled down to four and then to only two which were realistic - Stratton Farm and East Longman. Stratton might have been great for kick starting the Golden Mile but the merger partners were strongly opposed to it so the football club eventually won the battle against INE and East Longman it was. I've read the Bruce Hare report in entirety and even in 1993 there wasn't a great choice of site available. Remember also that for a number of years before that, Caley (sic) looked at various options such as the Carse, Charleston, the Bught and the Northern Meeting Park and it all came to nothing. As an aside, the "Carse Farce" came reasonably close to being realised. Had it done so, I believe there would have been no merger, but we've already discussed how a solo Caley bid have fared and I don't want to go there again!

I'm sure you're right. Buenos Hornell.... now there's a blast from the past!

'L' as in 'Loose' :023: Is that a quote from "Against all Odds", in which case you must be referring to the Chic Allan Fan Club? I'd no idea that architect of the 83% Courier poll against the merger was still involved even indirectly by that stage... or have I got that one wrong?

QPR.

Possibly more likely that many of them are fed up with an upsurge in the kind of material which has led to the need to moderate more strictly. That is NOT a dig at IHE!! There was a definite change in the general tone of the content of these boards some time before IHE's "little local difficulties". It seemed to coincide with promotion to the SPL but that may be a coincidence. But whatever the reason, a lot of valued contributors have been lost.

The first few programmes were like that. It appears that the new board were not very organised in that department and requested the jounalistic talents of 'Dots' and your pal, a certain Mr L. Cannon :015: Mr. L. Cannon?? :symbol_question: By the way I think John McGinlay played for Bolton that night. I also think it was just before that game that the Rebels painted the gents' urinals (sorry... tautology... I've never seen ladies' urinals!) black and red. The programme in question can be seen to the left in the photo which TBB linked to.

Its got a nice beach though. Also the Brahann Seer is reputed to have been born there. But he probably foresaw the need to get out...

I know I'm in the minority here but I simply find the Proclaimers cringeworthy!

"March, July, October, May... nones on the seventh, ides on the fifteenth day." That was how the rhyme went that you had to learn in the Latin class to remember the months that the nones and the ides weren't on the 5th and the 13th. The other reference point in the Roman month was the Calends which were always the 1st day and from which we get the word calendar. So SP, the 7th of March is not the ides of March but the nones. The Ides of March ("cave idus Martias - beware the Ides of March" as the soothsayer said to Caesar just before he got the point!) are the 15th and tomorrow is the Ides of October. Anyway... to get back to Inverness football.... I have certainly seen 1885 and 6 for Caley and 1884 and 5 for Thistle but always understood the real foundation dates to be 1886 and 1885 respectively. As an aside, it's quite amazing the number of sporting institutions which were founded in the final quarter of the 19th century. The timescale for Caley Thistle is that both clubs agreed to merge on 9th September 1993 (although Sherriff Fraser's judgement of March 1995 said that Thistle did not actually in law decide to do it that night but at a later meeting.) The decision to merge was confirmed by Caley members at the First Battle of Rose Street on 1st Dec 1993 and Caledonian Thistle had its first board meeting and was constituted as a club on 21st February 1994. The team played its first SFL game on August 12th 1994 and final agreement was given to asset transfer by Caley and Thistle on 1st and 8th December 1994 respectively.

I was in the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden yesterday and managed to uncover a copy of George Campbell's Citadel booklet. Unfortunately I only got to it shortly before I had to leave but I did manage to get a quick look through and very interesting it was too. Apart from the Citadel content, I couldn't help but smile at the final page on the future of Inverness football. This was clearly written in June 1990 since it regretted that, with the calling in of the receivers at Clach, another Inverness football team had gone the way of Citadel. Clearly the deadline had just missed the dramatic 11th hour rescue! The same passage also reflects on the possibility of a merged Inverness team bidding for Scottish league membership and comments that, whilst the powers within the SFL might like the idea, the attitude of fans would surely mean that the realisation of such an idea was a long way away! They seem to have in the library there all the books that I'm aware of ever having been written about Inverness football, including the very rare "Hub of the Hill" Thistle booklet. Other items of local interest include a display which includes an Inverness Thistle sign and keeper's jersey big enough to have been Jimmy's (!), a 1997 Div 3 Championship mug and the programme for the original July 1994 friendly v St. Mirren which - a true sign of the times - on the front cover more or less says "Caledonian FC" in bold blue with a little apologetic red "Thistle". There are also about 6 minutes of audio from Renzo Serafini describing his footballing experiences as an Italian internee on the Isle of Man after Churchill told his men to "collar the lot".

The Bay City Rollers were really just the another in a long series of Scottish entertainment embarrassments... Harry Lauder, The Krankies, The Proclaimers, The Alexander Brothers, Andy Stewart.... The List is endless. Where's Tam Paton these days, by the way?

You've heard about the Sounds of the Sixties... well what about the Sights of the Seventies?! The 1970s must be the most sartorially cringeworthy decade in history. Flares, tank tops, perms (male), platforms.... It was AWFUL! I can understand Kingsmills being deeply ashamed of his brief BCR period. BCR just about epitomised all that was embarrassing about the 1970s.

The Caley Thistle tartan was first worn by Dougie McGilvray and Dougie Riach who had kilts made from it for the Division 3 Championship celebration function in May 1997. I haven't seen much of it since.

In these days of automatic chokes, where do lady drivers hang their handbags? :015:

Smee... do you not remember when "Billy Connolly" was Caley manager and won the title on the last day of the season in 1984 through a trademark Urquhart goal v Keith at Telford Street? Raymond then stepped down as manager and was succeeded by Peter Corbett but then wanted to come back as a player but Corbett turned him down. I remember that was one of the first football stories I covered. Is that not the Garage? Was the laundry not the next building up towards the canal? Did that then become Frozen Foods?

Just in case anyone is in doubt, Bumbers Lane is an alternative title for Balnacraig Road, linking Fairfield Road with Telford Street along the back of the Howden End. The it named after "The Bumber" who was headmaster of Merkinch Primary School in the early years of the 20th century. It was unmetalled until about the 1970s - I certainly remember going through the potholes and the puddles on my way from Dalneigh to Telford Street on Saturdays in the early-mid 60s. I'm interested to hear SP talk of the beginnings of Dalneigh in around 46-50. That presumably would be Lilac Grove or possibly Hawthorn Drive. I suspect at the other end Laurel Ave and Dalneigh Road would also be on their way up with the Swedish Houses not too far away either. Inverness was no different from the rest of the country inasmuch as there was a chronic housing shortage to which the response was a massive building programme, including the prefabs which we hear a lot about on this thread. It seems remarkable that, hard on the heels of a war which had crippled the country economically, the post war Atlee government managed to fund so many of the Welfare promises of the Beveridge Report and came up with the NHS, Council Housing etc etc. There was definitely post war austerity but at the same time so much was done in so many respects. I'd be intrigued to know how they financed it.

The new section of road is due to link the present distributor road (which would be realigned) with the A82. Thuis link up would take place near Torvean. The two options discussed at the Council on Thursday were a high level bridge and a much more expensive 0.9km tunnel (?100M). By I think 41 votes to 21 the Council went for the tunnel. It so happened that earlier in the day Holyrood announed the canelleation of EARL (Edinburgh Airport Rail Link) and perhaps HC thought it might get its hands on a slice of the ?600M that won't be spent on that.

Gordy... the very same Iain Clark. Stayed in St. Mungo Rd. Buckett... I never knew Gordy Bennett, although i know he died the very same day as my mother. I happened to be speaking to his widow Avril last night who was with her in laws in the Heathmount. Oops... I'm only now noticing that if you scroll down you get all the names! :029:

I was surprised to see the photo was as early as 76-77. Others in there include Billy Urquhart, Ray MacKintosh, Alex Main, Tichy Clark(?), Billy Sanderson, Hamish Munro, Norman Miller, John Stewart, Charlie Gair, Hugh Grant, Rodwill Clyne, Gordy Fyfe. Unfortunately, of these Messrs Miller, Gair and Clyne are no longer with us.