Mum’s diary – Left Norwich 4.45am arrived Dhalling Mhor about 3.30pm. Good journey. Drizzling when we got there. Nice people – not many young people though. Had single room. A & E in multiple. About 425 miles.
Roger – I think that the four Angolan mercenaries sentenced to death have been shot today. After England’s terrible innings of 71 all out, West Indies added to their total of 211 to leave England about 550 runs to get in 2 days. All at work today but Viv, Ross & Terry will not be in the for the next 2 weeks. Went to a party but Caroline had to babysit for somebody, so she couldn’t come. It is now 12.35.
Mum’s scrapbook – We stayed at the Methodist Guild Holiday Home, Dhalling Mhor, Kirn, Dunoon, Argyll, Scotland, PA23 9DY. Dunoon has a population of 8,562 & is 4 miles by ferry from Gourock & the journey takes about 20 minutes. It is supposed that there was a stronghold here on Castle Hill overlooking the pier, shortly after the settlement of a Dalriadic colony in Cowal in the 6th century. In 1646 Dunoon was the scene of a massacre of the Lamonts by the Campbells. Shortly afterwards the seats of the Earls of Argyll was moved from Dunoon to Inveraray & Dunoon Castle fell into ruin. The town sank into insignificance & in 1822 was simply a small highland clachan, with a church, a manse, three or four slated cottages & a few thatched cottages & huts. The introduction of steam navigation brought Dunoon within easy reach of Glasgow & it gradually became a popular seaside resort.
The entry includes seven postcards. The third is described as follows… “Dunoon Pier, from the castle, looking to Gourock across the Firth of Clyde. In the foreground is the Highland Mary Statue. The Gourock Ferry is just leaving & a “puffer” is making for the coal wharf.” The fourth is described as “Dunoon from the Pier. On the right of the picture is Argyll Street the main shopping centre“. The fifth is titled “Dunoon & the Firth of Clyde” and the sixth is described as follows… “Dunoon from the air. The white building on the right is the Sports stadium & the building at the extreme top right, the grammar school“.
Notes
Travel to Dhalling Mhor, Dunoon
Mum noted that she and my two siblings Alan (A) and Liz (E for Elizabeth) left home at 4.45 am to drive to Dhalling Mhor, the Christian Guild place in Dunoon, where they were staying for a two-week holiday, see Chapter 122. They arrived about 3.30pm and it was drizzling when they got there. Mum said it was a good journey a distance of about 425 miles. Mum’s scrapbook includes two postcards of Dhalling Mhor but no description of it apart from the full address.
The journey is 409 miles according to Google. Mum did not specify that they did the last part of the journey by ferry but I imagine they did otherwise it would have been a very long albeit picturesque trip by a road, known as “Rest and Be Thankful”, to reach the Cowal peninsula. In mum’s scrapbook was a postcard showing the Gourock to Dunoon ferry which mum noted took about 20 minutes.
There are currently two ferries from Gourock to Dunoon operated by Calmac and Western Ferries respectively. They follow slightly different routes. The one that goes to Dunoon pier is operated by Calmac and is now a foot ferry only. Western Ferries operate from McInroy’s Point to Hunter’s Quay. Interestingly, the vehicle ferry service moved from Dunoon Pier to Hunter’s Quay in June 1973 meaning that mum, Alan and Liz would have gone by this latter route if they had gone to Dunoon by ferry.
Mum also noted that the people there were nice but there were not many young people. She commented that she had her own single room but both Alan and Liz were sharing with others. I have not come across any photo of the people who were staying at Dhalling Mhor when mum, Alan and Liz were there.
Interestingly, I make no mention of them leaving for holiday in my diary entry for the day.
Angolan Mercenaries
I had been following the story of the mercenaries who had been captured in Angola, see Chapter 129. I had previously noted their trial earlier in June. This is now referred to as the Luanda trial involving 14 Western mercenaries, of whom nine were British, four American and one Irish. They had been fighting for the US-backed National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). They were captured by forces of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and were charged with acting as mercenaries, war crimes and crimes against peace.
The trial lasted from 11 to 16 June. All were found guilty with sentences delivered on 28 June 1976. I had noted in my diary that four were given death sentences while the remainder received prison sentences of between 16 and 30 years. There had been pleas for clemency including from Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister James Callaghan, the International Committee of Jurists and a number of British MPs.
However, the four who were given death sentences, Britons Costas Georgiou (Tony Callan), Andrew Gordon McKenzie and John Derek Baker, and American Daniel Francis Gearhart, were executed on this day as I noted in my diary. Following negotiations by the respective governments, the remaining prisoners were released between 1982 and 1984.
Third Test
The cricket I was referring to was the third day of the third test between England and West Indies at Old Trafford in Manchester, see Chapter 123. I noted that England had had a terrible innings of 71 all out and that West Indies had added to their total of 211 meaning England had to get about 550 in two days.
On the first day, West Indies made 211 all out in their first innings. Gordon Greenidge scored 134. By the end of the first day, England had made 37 for 2. On the second day, England collapsed to 71 all out. David Steele, on 20, was the only batsman to register double figures! By the end of the second day, West Indies were 163 for 1 in their second innings with Greenidge on 71 and Richards on 28. On the third day, West Indies declared at 411 for 5 with both Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards scoring centuries. Greenidge scored 101 and Richards 135. The West Indies’ declaration left England needing 552 to win! At the end of the third day, England were 21 without loss. England went on to lose the test match by 435 runs.
Saturday Job
At this time, I had a Saturday job at the Scientific Anglian bookshop, see Chapter 119. Others who worked there included Vivien Gamble, Terry Tidd and Ross. They were all in that day but would not be over the next two weeks.
Vivien Gamble
My diary refers to Vivien working at The Scientific Anglian and I believe this was Vivien Gamble who I knew from Hewett and who is now Vivien Seymour. She has confirmed that it was likely to be her although she had forgotten about working there.
Terry Tidd
I did recall Terry but not his surname. I am grateful to James Tidd for explaining on Facebook that his surname was Tidd and that Terry, who sadly died in 2013, had been his uncle. Terry was older than us and I believe was a friend of Mr Peake’s. He worked at May and Baker.
Ross
I do recall Ross but not his surname. I believe he attended King Edward school. He was doing A levels so was probably two years older than me.
Party
I noted that I went to a party and it was 12.35 when I was writing my diary, Caroline referred to Caroline Kingham the girl I had started going out with the day before! She was unable to come to the party as she was babysitting.
Caroline Kingham
I recall Caroline and would consider her as my first “proper” girlfriend, see Chapter 122. We went out for a relatively long period by the teenage standards of that time, but it was probably less than a month all told! I confess that I was unable to recall her surname but was able to track it down as my mother and her mother later worked together. I don’t know much about what happened to her but I believe she may have married Marcus Adam Batch in June 1982.
Dunoon
Many of the entries in mum’s scrapbook are impersonal and read more like a guidebook or Wikipedia entry! In this case, mum noted that Dunoon had a population of 8,562 and lies around four miles by ferry from Gourock. The population appears to have reduced since then. In 2020, the population was 7,660.
She noted that it was established as a Dalriadic settlement in the sixth century, that is as a settlement of the Dál Riata kingdom. Mum noted that there may have been a stronghold on Castle Hill at that time. However, the first record of Dunoon Castle was in the thirteenth century.
Highland Mary
One of mum’s postcards of Dunoon, which shows the pier, also shows the statue of Highland Mary (Mary Campbell). She is known for having had an affair with Robert Burns in 1786, the year of her death aged only 22 or 23. The statue was erected in 1896.
Massacre
Mum noted that, in 1646, Dunoon was the scene of a massacre of the Lamonts by the Campbells. A memorial of this massacre was dedicated in Dunoon in 1906. Mum noted that shortly after this the seats of the Earls of Argyll were moved to Inverary and Dunoon castle fell into ruin. Dunoon itself became a small highland village (clachan) with a church, a manse, three or four slated cottages and a few thatched cottages and huts. However, the introduction of steam navigation brought Dunoon within easy reach of Glasgow and it gradually became a popular seaside resort.
Argyll Street
One of the postcards mum had in her scrapbook showed Dunoon from the pier. Mum noted that the town’s main shopping street, Argyll Street, was on the right.
Douglas Hotel
One of the buildings visible on the postcard is the Douglas Hotel. Although the hotel has since closed, the building is still in place and is known as Douglas Flats. I came across a photo of the building when it was still Douglas Hotel here.
Two Churches
There are two churches visible on the postcard. They are both Church of Scotland. High Kirk is on the left and St John’s is on the right, see Chapter 122.
High Kirk
There has been a church on the High Kirk site since the 13th century. The current building was constructed in 1817 but enlarged in 1839/40 and in 1909. The High Kirk is currently closed.
St John’s
St John’s was formed in 1843 as a result of “The Disruption” in which the Free Church of Scotland split from the Church of Scotland. The current building was opened in 1877.
Cowal Kirk
Locally, the two churches joined together with three other churches in 2021 to form Cowal Kirk.
Sports Stadium
One of the postcards in mum’s scrapbook is an aerial view of Dunoon and mum picked out a white building and identified it as the sports stadium. It remains in use. While I have not found a date for when it originally opened, it was in use as early as 1932.
Grammar School
Dunoon Grammar School is identified behind the sports stadium on the postcard above. Established in 1641, the school continues to operate.
Dunoon Bays
Dunoon has two main bays, East Bay and West Bay located on different sides of Dunoon pier. Mum had a picture of East Bay on a multiview postcard of Dunoon in her scrapbook.
Ben More Gardens
A photo of Benmore Gardens also featured on the same multiview postcard. Benmore Botanic Garden is one of the sites of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh having been acquired for that purpose in 1929.
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