Pure and Unadulterated Nostalgia……

I sometimes get pathetic and I have to say poorly written comments about my Blog postings, generally having a go at me for my political leanings or my frequent (and justified) ridicule of the French but I got one today which was quite the opposite. It was from an old friend and colleague, Harry McIntosh, who, in the late sixties and early seventies was part of the experiment which was Rootes/Chrysler (subject of a previous posting). Seems like someone noticed my Blog and passed it onto more of my ex-Rootes colleagues so I thought today, I would write about the 18 guys who joined me in the class of 68 at the then Rootes car company, soon to be bought by the Chrysler Car Corporation. The posting is my main memory of each individual and is primarily for those ex-Rootes guys who might read it. Others might find some of these memories in bad taste, downright despicable or maybe even hysterically funny…..but that epitomises the ‘Class of 68’. So in no particular order, here goes……and you might find that Harry crops up in quite a few of them…. 

1. Alan Eunson – we thought he was the posh one because he came from the posh part of Glasgow but he became one of us. I remember him being a brilliant driver for some reason. He was the best in the class at metalwork so we used to get his finished metalwork, shave a few millimetres off them and stamp them with our initials.
2. Kenny Tindle – Harry’s mate who had a stag party in Linwood which turned into the biggest battle since the Alamo. I think he’s still paying for the damage 30 years later !
3. Eddie Molloy – really good looking guy (I was soo jealous but I’m not gay – honest) who managed to hit a full concrete mixer truck at 5.30am one morning on our way to work. How do you hit a vehicle which is ten times your size on a deserted road at 5.30am ?
4. Pat Gardiner – Eddie’s pal who always wore great clothes and made me feel like a country hick (and that’s not a spelling mistake on my part) !
5. Tommy Darling – got fed up with Harry’s antics one day and wired up his metal clothes locker to some mains electric source to do away with Harry once and for all.
6. Gary Blackwood – apart from being a genius in the Technical Drawing exercises also got fed up with Harry and altered the gas feeds when Harry was welding in order to blow him up. It nearly worked !
7. Dougie Smith – always had a smile on his face and sang constantly. Constantly !! I remember him sharing a bottle of Lanliq (yuck) with me on a bus on the way to Parkhead to watch Rangers vs Celtic.
8. Herbert Galloway – was from Stranraer so none of us could understand him initially but we got there in the end. Was always properly dressed and instinctively knew what was right or wrong. Poor guy !
9. Graeme Houston – we had an ok relationship until I volunteered to do an Eskimo Roll in our two-man canoe without consulting Graeme. When he surfaced, spluttering and nearly drowned he attacked me with his paddle.
10. Chick McGlade – was from Airdrie way and apart from letting me sleep in his car at the factory for 6 months (long story) he used to use the non-swearing way of swearing (Feckin this and Buckin that) claiming that he never swore ! I also seem to remember Chick and his wife-to-be ending up at the same restaurant on their stag and hen do’s on the same night ! That was Chick.
11. Peter McKell – another sharp dresser who cost me a fortune when he introduced me to (a) his tailor and (b) his hairdresser. Peter was a gifted footballer who once had a trial for Chelsea so he used to run rings round us in our lunchtime games of footie.
12. Eddie McColm – the bain of my life. Was always moaning or groaning about something and once set fire to my socks when I was asleep just for fun ! Eddie was quite good at casting metals in college but we used to spike his sand so that his designs never came out.
13. Robert Provan – was a mate of Dougie Smith’s because they came from Paisley. I just remember Robert being a nice guy.
14. Gordon McLachlan ????? – this guy left after a short period of being surrounded by a bunch of complete reprobates. He’s probably a lawyer, surgeon or corporate banker by now which vindicates his decision. Only thing I can recall is that Gordon had a pronounced limp because he had one leg shorter than the other which allowed him to walk round the side of mountains quicker than the rest of us !
15. Alistair Wallace –Walli’s claim to fame was peeing in a plastic bag (kindly provided by Gary) in class at college. The lecturer had got fed up with 20 guys coming back pissed from the pub each lunchtime and had banned toilet breaks. Unfortunately Gary had riddled the bag with holes and a stream of urine worked it’s way slowly to the front of class.
16. Harry McIntosh – everybody’s target for all things nasty and evil and the nastier the better. Nobody could work out why except that he was a big arrogant git ! He managed unwittingly to complete a 50 mile trek with a 20 pound roller towel in his rucksack put there by your’s truly !
17. Jim Lawson – another Paisleyite who was quite tubby if I remember rightly and being from Paisley I just remember him never buying a round in the Brabloch hotel at lunchtime. Still, they say that when Paisley people move house they take the wallpaper with them !  
18. Jim Shields – was quite a quiet guy and as he was in the ‘other group’ (we were split into two groups of 10 but one guy left before he joined if you know what I mean) I did not get to see his darker side.
19. Tom Cupples – now this guy was a real star but because of that he was picked on mercilessly by the others. A typical example would have them ripping all the pockets off of his brand new set of overalls or throwing buckets of water over the top of the door as he sat doing his business in the loo. 

Photo is of Reid Kerr College where we spent our formative years.