Category: Uncategorized

First things first, the Handbook introduced us to the Committee Office Bearers, preceded only by the Patrons.   Sir Iain Colquhoun was Lord Lieutenant of the County and kept himself informed of what was happening there.   Popular and active, he was first on the list.   Of the office bearers, David Brooke was a well known official who was active right up to and past the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh when he was an official time keeper, and Willie Stevenson was the man who sent round the first letter suggesting that the organisation be formed.    James Gray was a qualified CA who had been a long time member and office bearer in Clydesdale Harriers.

Although it was the Dunbartonshire AAA para 3 (a) indicates that its interests, while mainly in Dunbartonshire, were with athletics generally.   Wider than most similar county organisations which were more restricted.   Para 3 (b) includes Muster runs, again rather unusual, which were joint club runs with all clubs within it taking part in what was basically a pack run. 

As with all organisations, the results of all championships were listed up to date.    These were both cross-country and track and field.

….

Why pick on one year and not another?   Because not all events organised and carried through successfully by any organisation are reported faithfully in the Press, many of them are not reported at all.   This can be for many reasons – some events are of a purely local interest, some are so low key that they are not known of at all, there may be too much sport for any paper to write up in its entirety on any given Monday.    Mind you, there might well be a case for a purely multi-sport results sheet to be produced on Mondays.   Remember that ‘The Scottish Referee’ was only published on a Monday to start with before it became a twice-weekly production.   It covered all sports and even reported on most of them.   Perhaps a simple results supplement on a Monday would help sell more papers?   

Renfrewshire, as a member of the SAAA, had to have a permit to hold any real meeting and so we could check out the official roster of events for any year.   The SAAA produced a Handbook every year which covered every aspect of the sport in Scotland for that year as well as having the Constitution in its entirety, the Rules for Competition, lists of coaches, of officials, etc, etc.   The etc, etc includes the fixture list for the year.    Why choose 1979?    It was a time when the various county associations were doing really well – the ‘running boom’ was in full swing, Scottish athletes were performing well and so the grass-roots aspect of the sport involving clubs and schools were also very involved in the sport.   Any year around the end of the 70’s and the 80’s would have done.   

The complete list of Renfrewshire AAA activities that year was listed as follows.

And you can probably add in the County Cross-Country Championships in December.   There were other events held in the county throughout the year by member clubs and usually assisted by the RAAA as well as events not needing a permit from the SAAA such as schools championships and inter-county youth services sports.    

Be that as it may, the coverage of the above events was all but non-existant.   Of course, that may have been down to the local organiser not sending in the results of the track events but road race results are usually sent in immediately after the race.

Graham Getty helped in the quest for results with the “Athletics Weekly” report on the road championships and detailed results.   Note that the date has been altered.

The County Relay result was published in the “Glasgow Herald” and was rather short.   Run on 13th October it clashed with the Glasgow Marathon but the only result given was the Senior race, no age groups results and only the bare bones of the senior event.

The obvious conclusion is that the county association was doing its job well, the number of clubs was growing – note who won the team race in the relay, note too the name Pentastar – and clubs such as Kilbarchan were getting stronger.   The coverage in 1979 was not what it had been but fortunately it would pick up and Doug Gillon’s name would be welcome by all club and international athletes in the country.   Pentastar, by the way, was a club connected with the car manufacturers at Linwood whose symbol was a five pointed star.    

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Running is British women’s favourite sport. Around 3 million women in the UK run regularly and every weekend tens of thousands of women take part in parkrun or in races over distances from 5km to ultramarathon.

Things were very different fifty years ago. Women in the UK were limited to racing a maximum of 6000 metres (about 4 miles). There were very few road races for women, whereas men were able to race all distances including ultras. That situation did not change until 1975 when the English governing body, the Women’s Amateur Athletic Association, changed its competition rules and allowed women to run distances up to the marathon. The new rules were introduced on an experimental basis for a year, but once they had been changed there was no going back.

Change only came about because women believed they could do more, knew they could do more and took action to prove it. Two Scottish women, Dale Greig and Leslie Watson, were among the women who broke the rules in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s, challenged race officials and public opinion and showed what women could do.

Dale Greig – a world best

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in May 1964, a young Scottish woman lined up to run a marathon at Ryde on the Isle of Wight, the sole woman in a field of 67 men. Dale Greig was to become the first woman to run a marathon in under 3 hours and 30 minutes.

The club that organised the race, Ryde Harriers, knew that they were breaking the Amateur Athletic Association’s rules by letting a woman run in their race. They tried to get around this by making Dale start four minutes ahead of the men.

She was followed by an ambulance in case she collapsed. Nineteen of the men failed to finish the notoriously hilly course but Dale crossed the line in 3 hours 27 minutes 25 seconds in 35th place. Her time was later recognised as a world best by the IAAF (now World Athletics). It was to be 36 years until another British woman, Paula Radcliffe, would set the world record.

Not exhausted

A local paper reported Dale as saying:

“I felt sorry for the men I kept passing in the closing stages – they looked embarrassed. A couple who had given up and were sitting at the roadside, struggled to their feet when they saw me pass.”

The paper also reported that she went to the athletes’ dance that evening staying until midnight. Dale clearly wasn’t exhausted from running a marathon. The story was picked up by the national press as a novelty item, but not everyone approved. Two days after the race, the Daily Express quoted Marea Hartman, Honorary Secretary of the Women’s AAA:

“We have no races over four-and-a-half miles. It’s felt these distances are too much for women. … As for women running against men – No. The discrepancy in ability is too great.”

Dale’s early years as a runner

Dale Greig was born in Paisley in 1937. At school, running was limited to sprints and relays. After leaving school Dale ran for Glasgow-based club Bellahouston Harriers before setting up her own women’s club, Tannahill Harriers, in 1959, as there was no women’s club in Paisley.

Dale competed at the longest distances women were allowed to run on the track at the time, winning bronze and silver medals at 880 yards (half-mile) and the mile at the Scottish National Championships between 1956 and 1959.

She had a passion for cross country and finished in the top three in the Scottish National Cross Country Championships for 11 consecutive years (1958-1968). She won the title four times and represented Scotland at International Cross Country Championships. In 1960, Dale helped found the Scottish Women’s Cross Country Union which revived cross country racing.

At a time when few people, men or women, were seen out running, Dale would go for long runs of 20 miles or more, sometimes accompanied by a friend, but often on her own.

Road racing was a niche sport. Marathons were not the mass events they are today and in 1964 there were perhaps 1,000 marathon finishers in the UK.

More road races

Dale ran the Isle of Wight Marathon unofficially again in 1971. In 1974, aged 37, she won the inaugural International Masters Marathon in Paris and in 1976, she finished tenth in the World Veterans Marathon in Coventry.

She competed unofficially in three more races that did not admit women. She was the first woman to run two ultramarathons: the Isle of Man 40 in 1971 and the London to Brighton ultramarathon in 1972. She also completed the Ben Nevis Fell Race in 1971.

Sports historian Professor Fiona Skillen of Glasgow Caledonian University sums up Dale’s impact:

“Dale was a trail blazer in British women’s distance running. She was also fundamental to the development of women’s running in Scotland, she was a role model to many women and through her various roles in the Scottish Women’s Cross Country Union and other athletics organisations she helped to shape access, training and support for future generations of female athletes.”

Leslie Watson – challenging male traditions

After the rules changed in 1975, race organisers did not automatically open their races to women. In fact, most races continued to be men-only for a few years. One very well-known race which was slow to admit women was the London to Brighton ultra. The race had been organised since 1952 by the Road Runners Club, an organisation founded to promote men’s distance running in the UK.

Dale Greig had run London to Brighton unofficially in 1972, starting an hour before the men. But by 1979, the RRC still hadn’t allowed women to enter their flagship race. Five women decided to enter unofficially to show that women were able to complete the 54-mile distance within the 8 hour 23 minutes time limit. They were Ruth Anderson of the USA, three British women, Leslie Watson, Lydia Kirk and Lynn Billington and another unnamed woman. Leslie, Lydia and Ruth all finished well within the time limit, Leslie finishing first in 6 hours 55 minutes and 11 seconds, faster than most of the men. Lynn and the other woman dropped out.

In 1980, the RRC put on the first official women’s London to Brighton race with a trophy for the female winner. Leslie returned to the race, winning again, this time in 6 hours 56 minutes and 10 seconds.

206 marathons

One thing that takes your breath away about Leslie Watson’s running career is how many marathons she ran and how many of them she won. These days elite runners may target one or two marathons a year. Leslie often ran them on consecutive weekends and sometimes even on consecutive days. The 1979 London to Brighton race took place on Sunday 30^th September. Astonishingly, Leslie had run five marathons that month, winning three of them, including what was probably her first Scottish marathon, Aberdeen on 16^th September. The weekend before London to Brighton she had won the Milton Keynes Marathon on the Saturday and then run the Rotherham Marathon on the Sunday. The day before the race she took it easy with a cross country race. In her twenty-year marathon career, Leslie ran 206 marathons and won more than 60 of them.

Starting running

Leslie Watson was born in Glasgow in 1948. When she was ten, she joined Maryhill Harriers with a friend. She described herself as a “no-hoper” who trained hard with her coach, John Anderson, making it into the Scottish cross-country team and becoming the Scottish mile champion at 18. In the 1960s and early 1970s, she competed against Dale Greig many times in cross country races, including both the Scottish and English National Championships, and occasionally in track races.

A young Leslie Watson (left) before a mile race at Westerlands

Leslie trained as a physiotherapist and in 1970 moved down to London for her work. She joined one of the top women’s clubs, London Olympiades AC, and competed for them in cross country and road relays.

In an interview with the Newcastle Journal, published on 13^th December 1982, Leslie acknowledged that she had been inspired by Dale Greig and by Bridget Cushen, who had run the Harlow Marathon in 1973.  The interviewer asked her what had happened to turn her from a “no-hoper” into a marathon runner.

“Ah well, she says, I discovered the marathon. It happened when she saw Bridget Cushing (sic) and Dale Gregg (sic) competing and began to think about the possibility that the marathon might just be her own distance.”

She took the first opportunity there was for women to run the marathon distance, the Masters and Maidens Marathon in Guildford in October 1975.

“I saw the Guildford marathon advertised. I did very little training just one 20 mile run from Kent into London. I went out the night before the race and had lots of bad red wine and then on the way down I was eating chocolate and popcorn. I felt sick by the time we started and I was exhausted after 3 miles.”

Despite her poor preparation, Leslie finished third in just over three and a half hours. Her marathon career was well and truly under way. In 1978 she ran under three hours for the first time and after that she had many sub-3 results. She topped the Scottish marathon rankings in 1976, 1977 and 1978, was second in 1979 and first again in 1980. In May 1981, she set a 50 mile world best at the Lake Waramaug 50 mile road race in Connecticut, USA. In 1983, she was selected for the Evian Marathon Squad. The squad was an initiative of the British Amateur Athletics Board and the WAAA designed to secure more funding and sponsorship for female marathoners.

The queen of the roads

Described as the “queen of the roads” in the programme for the first London Marathon, Leslie was the public face of the women’s marathon in the 1980s. She was involved in setting up a chain of running stores, The London Runner, and appeared in advertisements for them. She wrote articles for magazines and gave lots of talks. When a new magazine called “Jogging” appeared in 1979 they chose Leslie for the front cover.

Her last marathon was the Isle of Wight Marathon in 1994 which she won for the seventh time. After that she developed a knee problem which prevented her from running and, never one to sit still, she took up powerlifting.

From rulebreakers to pioneers

Dale Greig and Leslie Watson are just two of the women who broke the rules and ran in men’s races. There are many whose stories will never be known because when women “crashed” men’s races, their times didn’t usually get recorded.  These women have been written out of history, as if their races never happened.

There is no doubt that the huge uptake in women running today would never have occurred without these pioneering women distance runners who broke the mould in the 1960s and 1970s.  Many of them did not get the opportunities to compete that they deserved, but they encouraged and inspired other women and paved the way for all of us who run today.

by Katie Holmes

Independent Sports Historian

www.RunYoung50.co.uk

April 2023

Sources

This article is an edited version of an article called “Rulebreakers” which appeared in Women’s Running magazine in December 2022.

Milestones in Women’s Marathon History – 1975 – Permission for women to run the marathon in the UK, Katie Holmes, Playing Pasts website, July 2022

Scotland’s People Register of Births

Profile of Dale Greig, Scottish Distance Running History website, September 2015

“There’ll be no prizes for women”, Like the Wind magazine #25 (an article about Dale Greig), Katie Holmes, September 2020

Profile of Leslie Watson, Scottish Distance Running History website, September 2015

Leslie Watson – Queen of the Roads, Katie Holmes, RunYoung50 website, December 2022

Scottish Track and Field Rankings 1959-2000 and SWAAA Championship results, the Scottish Association of Track Statisticians (SATS)

The Dunbartonshire Amateur Athletic Association was constituted almost immediately after the War.   It was an interesting group of clubs which are worth a fairly close look.

• By far the strongest club in the DAAA at the time was Garscube Harriers.   They would be third in the National Cross-Country in 1947/48 and fourth in 1948/49, third in the Midland Cross-Country in 1945/46, second (one place up on Maryhill H) in 1946/47 and  third in the Midland District Relays in 1947/48.    
• The newest club in the group at the times was Vale of Leven AAC, a club which had been formed in 1945 and with the help of two well known Harriers from the  Bellahouston and Maryhill clubs had come to the fore very quickly producing runners like Walter Lennie and Willie Gallacher.   See the note below from the “Scots Athlete” of December 1946.

• Clydesdale Harriers was Scotland’s first open athletics club with many honours to its name, a strong club membership and several very talented athletes.
• Cumbernauld AAC was a club which would eventually switch to the Lanarkshire AAA because of its geographical location.   At the time in question, the County of Dunbarton was divided with what was called the “detached portion” of Cumbernauld, Kirkintilloch, Lenzie and Kilsyth also being included despite being on the other side of Glasgow.   This led to county championships at times being held in Kirkintilloch.
• Dumbarton AAC had been formed just after the First World War in 1919.   There had been several clubs in the town before the War – Boghead Harriers, Dumbarton YMCA and others – but afterwards there was only the new one.
• Helensburgh AAC
• Milngavie AAC

It was a fine mix and the biggest surprise right at the beginning was Vale of Leven winning the National Novice Championships on November 23rd, 1946.    It was not an easy win either, have a look at the team result.

Note the name of the fourth finisher for the team – Willie Gallagher, brother of the famous boxer Skeets Gallagher, and a runner about whom we will hear more later.    The formation of the DAAA was an idea whose time had come and the first step towards it was taken by the Secretary of the Vale of Leven, Willie Stevenson.   Other clubs were quick to get on board and the organisation took off.   

Dunbartonshire AAA Youths Championships was the first promotion by them and took place in March and it was noted in ‘The Scots Athlete’ as follows:

Have a look at these names.   JJ Duffy of Garscube Harriers who would win the National Novice title – see the photograph above, Robin Smith of the same club who would become an excellent runner, Alex McDougall of the Vale who would become one of the nation’s best marathon runners and compete in the 1956 Commonwealth Games at that event.   Less well known is Alex Hylan of Clydesdale Harriers who was a good runner but emigrated to Canada where he was in charge of the Canadian Junior Football team for some years.   

We know from the “Scots Athlete” fixtures list that there were DAAA Track and Field Championships on Thursday, 5th June, 1947 but no results could be found for it but it does tell us that the Association was never ‘just’ a cross-country grouping.   Later in the year, on 16th August, at the Milngavie Highland Games, there was an Inter-County relay race.    The race was won by the Dunbartonshire team of A Warton, A Cameron, DY Clark and R Sharp.   The strength of  Garscube Harriers was further indicated by the Hugh Hatrick winning the 880 yards and Alex Kidd the Mile. 

The Dunbartonshire AAA first ever AGM, was held on 26th September,1947, in Glasgow when the new committee was elected and arrangements for the upcoming year’s events were made.

The first race mentioned above – the cross-country relays – was held in Dumbarton on 29th November and won by Garscube Harriers team of Alex Kidd, Arthur Warton, D Murray and T Dailly in a time of 55 minutes 59 seconds with Vale of Leven second, half a mile further back.   Garscube B team was third.   Alex Kidd (Garscube) and H Cole (Vale of Leven) were fastest and second fastest with times of 14:13 and 14:53.

Alex Kidd (left) and Arthur Warton (both Garscube) in the McAndrew Relay.

The result of the championship races on 10th January are unfortunately not available but the clubs were running well as was shown by the result of the Midland District Championships where the winner was Bobby Boyd of Clydesdale Harriers with Walter Lennie from the Vale second.   The team race was won by Garscube Harriers with a team of A Kidd 4, A Warton 5, RJ Mulgrew 10, T McGinley 11, J Gunn 15, and D Murray 29.   They defeated the powerful Maryhill Harriers by 74 points to 110.    Clydesdale was fifth and Vale of Leven eighth.   

17th April 1948  saw the Balloch to Clydebank road race, started by Clydesdale Harriers before the War but now being organised and run under the auspices of the DAAA, was won by G White.  The brief report read:

George White had been a cyclist before taking up running.   Regarding himself as a track and cross-country runner he had to be specially persuaded to enter the Balloch 12 mile road race.   The County Track Championships were to be held at Mountblow Recreation Ground on 20th May.  

Like all such organisations, there was a constitution which was contained in an annual handbook with other details such as membership and championship winners.    The Dunbartonshire AAA Handbook for 1948/49 with all these details can be seen by clicking on the link.

Walter Lennie, Vale of Leven AAC

The cross-country relay championship of the county for 1948/49 was held on 16th October and was won by Vale of Leven who led all the way to win comfortably in 40:30.   Clydesdale Harriers were second 200 yards back with Garscube third another 200 yards back.   Walter Lennie of the Vale ran the fastest time of the day.   Result:  1.  Vale of Leven (F Lacey 12:54, A Campbell 12:40, W Gallacher 12:09, W Lennie 11:47);  2.  Clydesdale Harriers (W Andrew 13:06, D Scott 12:58,  G White 12:06, R Boyd 12:01);  3.  Garscube Harriers (D Murray 12:57, A Warton 12:44, A Kidd  12:04, R Smith 12:53).

In the Seven Mile Individual and Team Championships, Alex Kidd won comfortably to beat Boyd who was the reigning Midland District champion.   The Senior Race Results:

1.   A Kidd (Garscube) 41:04;  2.  R Boyd (Clydesdale); 3.  G White (Clydesdale).   Team Race:  1.   Garscube (A Kidd 1, R Mulgrew 4, T McGinlay 5, D Murray 6);  2.  Clydesdale 22 pts;  3.  Vale of Leven 46 pts.   Three Miles Junior:  1.  F Robertson (Garscube) 16:16; 2. W McCallum (Clydesdale);  3.  R Steel (Vale of Leven).   Team race:  1.  Garscube (F Robertson, E Murray 4, M How 5)  10 pts.

Another interesting field with Garscube minus Arthur Warton still being good enough to win the team race as well as the Junior event where their second counter was Ewan Murray who would become one of Scotland’s most experienced officials and long-time secretary of the SAAA.   Later in the year – 30th April – the county road running championship from Balloch to Clydebank was won by Willie Gallacher of Vale of Leven in 70:03 from T McGinlay of Garscube 200 yards back and Alex Gold (Garscube) third.   

Willie Gallacher, Vale of Leven AAC

Into October and the third Saturday of the month was the appointed day for the County cross-country championship.   The report from the “Scots Athlete” reads:

The Track and Field Championships were held at Scotstoun on 24th May and again it was Garscube Harriers that made the headlines:

John Hume’s Victory in the 440 yards in the match against Ireland at Milngavie

The Milngavie Highland Games on 19th August again held an Inter-County Relay but this time the winners were a Glasgow Select.

The Scottish Marathon Club had been founded in 1944 – before the English Road Runners Club – and there were many members of Dunbarton clubs as members.   That maybe had some influence in the organising of a road race between Clydebank and Helensburgh.   To start with it was run from Helensburgh to Clydebank although it would became a classic event that was run annually in the opposite direction.   Lots of interesting names to look at – and note how far down the field was Emmet Farrell.

The next county promotion was the cross-country relay championship, held this year in the Vale of Leven with results printed in the “Scots Athlete”.    Four clubs took part with 9 teams in competition.   Three teams each from Garscube (winners) and Vale of Leven made up the first six.

The Inter Counties Cross-Country Championship would become a serious fixture but this one had four counties turning out teams – Lanarkshire, Dunbartonshire. Stirlingshire and Renfrewshire  They met head-to-head at Stirling over 6 miles and Lanarkshire ran out winners     Dunbartonshire were second, Stirling third and Renfrew fourth.   Result:

Less than a month later the county championships took place from the Brock Baths Dumbarton and the four clubs which would form the base of the DAAA for years to come were all in evidence.   Garscube, the Vale, Clydesdale and Dumbarton would be the sole protagonists until the dissolution of the Glasgow AAA when Victoria Park, Maryhill Harriers and Glasgow University would be accepted into membership.   Numbers in membership at one point were approximately a dozen and included Stirling University.   However, the results of the championships in 1951:

Before that race however, the Dunbartonshire AAA had organised the Clydebank to Helensburgh on 1st January.   Despite: Chick  the date of 1st January for the race there was a goodly number of runners, and runners of high quality at that.   Just look at the number of International athletes out there: Chick Robertson, Jack Paterson, Emmet Farrell, Alex McLean.   Four top men head-to-head.   

There was no note of the DAAA Track & Field Championships for 1951 in any of the fixture lists published by “The Scots Athlete” (which does not mean that none were held) but the clubs continued to hold  their own (eg Vale of Leven AC) and support local sports meetings (eg Singers Sports in Clydebank were largely organised by Clydesdale Harriers members).  

When the new (1951/52) season started the cross-country relay championships took place on 20th October from the Garscube headquarters at Westerton and Clydesdale won from the home team by 9 seconds.   George White had the fastest time of the afternoon.   

The Seven Miles Individual and Team Championship was held on 5th January and won by Willie Gallagher of Vale of Leven from Alex Kidd of Garscube Harriers with JJ Duffy of Garscube third.   There was 100 yards between first and second and over 200 yards between Kidd and Duffy.   Garscube won the team race with 16 points, Vale was second with 28 and Clydesdale third with 51.   There was a Youths championship which was won by K Campbell of the Vale in 20:40 from club mate G Crawford with H Carson of Garscube third.   Vale of Leven won the team race with 7 points, Dumbarton and Garscube were second and third with 19 and 20 points.

January was a busy month for the County Association – The Clydebank to Helensburgh on 1st January, and the County Championships on  the fifth , then there was a team to select and get to the Inter-Counties which was held at Westerton on 12th of the month.  Not a good result for the DAAA – defeat by 113 points by Lanarkshire but at least there was a team out – where were Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and the rest?

On 16th August, 1952, the Milngavie Games were a great success with Invitation events included as well as the now-traditional Inter Counties Medley Relay.   The Dunbartonshire team won and was made up of J Hume, J Weir and , W McDonald and D McDonald – the first and third were from Clydesdale Harriers, second and fourth from Garscube.   Renfrewshire was second and Lanarkshire third.   The relay was run with a first leg of 880 yards followed by 2 of 220 yards and finishing with 440 yards.   With international runners on the two long stages of 880 and 440, it was always going to be a hard team to beat.   

The Association had now been in existence for six years – it had held championships on the track, on the road (in the Balloch – Clydebank) and over the country; it had promoted its own events such as the Clydebank to Helensburgh Road Race and entered teams in the inter county events on the track and over the country.   It had more than justified its existence.    Where would it go next?

Dunbartonshire AAA 1952 – 56        Dunbartonshire 1956/57 – 1959/60   Dunbartonshire AAA 1960 – 1966   Dunbartonshire AAA 1966 – 1970   .Dunbartonshire AAA 1970 – 1975

Some DAAA competitors in pictures

Dunbartonshire Constitution & Handbook   Dunbartonshire AAA Track & Field Championship Programme, 1973   .

Ben Bickerton was a remarkably good runner who ran for Scotland in the 1950 International cross-country race and who won many medals both individually and as a member of the very good Shettleston Harriers team in the post-war years.   He was also a photographer and the club centenary history remarks that he was feeling that he was becoming “stale” and so he gave up running to concentrate on his career as a photographer.    Of his ability there is no doubt – the reproductive technology was nowhere near as good as it is at present but just looking at the photographs, you see the quality.   He did a lot of work for the ‘Scots Athlete’  in the 50’s and when George Sutherland in Edinburgh started the ‘Athletics in Scotland’  in the 1970’s, he worked for him too producing many excellent front covers among the race pictures inside the magazine.    Walter Ross had several photographers already providing the illustrations for the magazine, mainly George Barber who was a member of Maryhill Harriers, and HW Neale, of whom I know nothing,   Barber may be the subject of a separate page.

 We start with some of Bickerton’s work for the ‘Athletics in Scotland’ and then reproduce some from ‘The Scots Athlete’.

Allister Hutton and Lawrie Reilly in the 1975 Junior National

Coatbridge 5, 1975

National 1976

National 1976

Adrian Weatherhead and Andy McKean, National 1976

The above are some examples of his later work for George Sutherland, the images below are from Walter’s ‘Scots Athlete’.   The first one is from 1955.

From 1954

Above and below are both from 1954

… 

Ian Leggett, Brian Goodwin and Jim Irvine (latter two both Bellahouston stalwarts):  Taken at the Scottish Civil Championships at Irvine in March 1970.   The team won the team race with Goodwin 1st, Leggett 2nd and Irvine 5th

The reports on athletics in Scotland in the two papers of record in Scotland – the “Glasgow Herald” and “The Scotsman” – were getting shorter as the months went by and this will be seen in the extracts reproduced below.   The Sports Editors frequently printed long articles on the running of Brendan Foster or Ian Stewart on a Monday at the expense of domestic results.   It is a value judgement that they were entitled to take but it often left gaps in the coverage of long standing events on the Scottish calendar.   

The cross-country relays that marked the start of the Renfrewshire Association’s winter 1965/66 season season took place on 9th October, 1965, and the short report read as follows.   “Sixteen teams took part in the unofficial Renfrewshire 12-mile relay championship at Paisley where Bellahouston Harriers retained the title, beating Wellpark Harriers by over one minute in 69 minutes 10 seconds.   Details:- 1.   Bellahouston Harriers (MJ McLean 17:39, J Irvine 17:10, B Goodwin 16:28, J Wood 17:53) 69:10;   2.  Wellpark Harriers (J Bottomley 17:40, W Stoddart 17:15, K Shepherd 18:03, M Pollard 17:15) 70:13;   3.   Glenpark Harriers (I Hopkins 18:13, T Dobbin 17:33, J Spence 17:27, R Hodelet 17:17) 70:30;  4.   Paisley Harriers (E Bradley 17:30, M Bradley 16:48, R Price 18:39, P McAtier 17:50) 70:38.”

Unfortunately there are no results for the younger age groups but we can note that Mike McLean of Bellahouston who ran the opening leg for the club was to be a Scottish 880 yards champion and internationalist who went on to be a senior administrator in Scottish athletics.   One of his fiercest opponents was of course Dick Hodelet of Glenpark who ran the last stage for his club – 22 seconds quicker than McLean.   

Mike McLean wins a half mile at Hampden from Dick Hodelet (2), Hugh Barrow (5) and Graeme Grant

The championships for the 1965/66 season were held at Greenock in December 1965 and Brian Goodwin (Bellahouston) defeated the two local runners Hodelet and Pollard.   The brief report reads: B Goodwin (Bellahouston) beat RT Hodelet, a former Scottish half-mile champion, by 70 yards in the unofficial Renfrewshire six-mile championship at Greenock.   M Pollard (Wellpark H) was third, more than 200 yards behind Hodelet.   The team race was won by Glenpark Harriers with 61 points, and Wellpark and Paisley Harriers filled second and third positions with 77 and 105 points respectively.   Bellahouston, the holders, had the unusual experience of not being in the first three, but they had a weakened team.”

There is not a lot to be learned from that particular report – no team members others than those who finished first, second and third – but the Association continued to put on the events and the clubs and runners continued to support them, and they filled their necessary part in the athletics programme.

*

There were no reports on the Renfrewshire Track and Field Championships in June but they were held and, as ever, the athletes continued to compete well in events all over Scotland.   In the SAAA Championships for instance, Hugh Baillie of Bellahouston was third in the 220 yards and first in the 440, Dick Hodelet was second in the 880, Mike McLean was third in that event, Charlie McAlinden of Babcock’s won the marathon and Bellahouston won the 4 x 440 yards Relay plus the Medley Relay.   

The Cross-Country Relay for 1966/67 was held on 10th October 1966 at Paisley.   “Bellahouston Harriers, as was expected, won the Renfrewshire relay championship ove a course from the headquarters of Paisley Harriers at Paisley beating Glenpark Harriers, Greenock, by more than 200 yards in 57 min 03 sec with Wellpark Harriers, Greenock, third, a similar distance behind Glenpark.   B Goodwin had a lead of more than 120 yards at the half-way stage and thereafter there was no doubt as to who would be the ultimate winners.   Details:- 1. Bellahouston (J Wood 14:14, B Goodwin 13:51, M McLean 14:20, J Irvine 14:38) 57:03;   2. Glenpark (R Hodelet 13:47, R Love 14:25, J Spence 14:33, T Dobbin 14:53) 57:38; Wellpark (M Pollard 14:15, J Bottomley 14:53, K Shepherd 14:50, W Stoddart 14:15) 58:13.   Fastest Individuals: 1.  R Hodelet 13:47, 2.  B Goodwin 13:51; 3. M Bradley (Paisley Harriers) 13:55.”

The individual and team championships for 1966/67 were back in Greenock on the first Saturday of December and the first two home were the very same runners who had fastest times in the Relays back in October.   The brief report read –

The County Championships were held on Monday, 20th June, 1967, and as usual at Moorcroft Park in Renfrew.   The report is reproduced below.

It was back to the country again on the second Saturday in October for the 1967/68 season.   Again it was edited down to the bare essentials of the senior men’s race.  “Bellahouston Harriers retained the Renfrewshire 12-mile championship, beating Paisley Harriers by 70 yards in 1 hr 12 min 41 sec.   The fastest individual over the three-mile course was M Bradley (Paisley Harriers) in 17 min 14 s.   Results:- 1.  Bellahouston (B Goodwin 17:37, I Kerr 17:17, J Adair 18:29, M McLean 18:18) 1-12-41;  2. Paisley Harriers ( P McAtier 19:20, M Bradley 17:14, J Simpson 18:19, G McEwan 17:59) 1-12-52;  3. Glenpark 1-13-25;  4. Wellpark 1-13-37; 5. Bellahouston B 1-15-20;  6. Paisley B 1-15-33.

Mike Bradley (4), Lachie Stewart (3) leading Mike Tagg and his team mate in the AAA’s Inter-Counties 1969

The 1967/68 County Championships in December was one of a series of County titles, all with their own tale to tell which was printed below coverage of the Lanarkshire championship taking more space than all the others put together.    Renfrewshire is fourth below but we do have results from all age groups.   The winner of the Senior Boys race was the youngest of the Spence brothers from Greenock – Lawrie – who was being coached by big brother Jim and would go on to be arguably the best ever all-round endurance runner Scotland ever produced with marks raning from sub-4 minutes for the mile to 2:16 for the marathon.

Duncan Middleton (149)

The counties all did their own thing and were independently organised but there was another tier to Scottish athletics that appeared from time to time and that was the Inter-Counties championship.   held more often over the country, there was from time to time a track meeting too.    There was one held in 1968, June 10th to be exact.   There were ten teams forward for the event – the well organised and traditional counties like Ayr, Dunbarton, Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Renfrew with some less familiar ones, namely Angus, Perth, Stirling, Moray and Midlothian.   Midlothian did turn out teams for the cross-country races but did not have a standing organisation that anyone we approached knew about.   The quality of athlete taking part was high with many Scottish internationals in action.   Names like Ricky Taylor, Duncan Middleton, Colin Martin, Dick Wedlock, Adrian Weatherhead, Alex Wight, Alex Brown, Norrie Foster, Crawford Fairbrother, David Stevenson, Dave Birkmyre, Doug Edmonds and Lawrie Bryce were all there competing for their county.    Report:

Dick Wedlock, between Lachie Stewart (317) and number 386

The winter 1968/69 season’s relays were held at Greenock and the winning team was Greenock Glenpark Harriers.   Again coverage was scanty with editorial judgment deciding that the Lanarkshire relay championship merited more than twice the coverage of the other three counties.

Two months later the Renfrewshire County Championships on 7th December were reported on as follows.

Unfortunately the report does not say who the second and third teams in the senior race were but it does tell us that Paisley Harriers provided the winner with Mike Bradley defeating Brian Goodwin for the title and that Bellahouston won the team race.   Lawrie Spence again won the Senior Boys race this time by 15 seconds although the Paisley team took the title.   Paisley were staring to appear more and more in the list of prize winners and the Johnstone High School was also becoming a regular feature of the county results sheets, both individual and team.

Lawrie Spence  (78) leading Lachie Stewart and Alistair Blamire

The 1969/70 relays were held on 13th October at Paisley and were won by Bellahouston with a remarkable display of packing with only 10 seconds between fastest and slowest club members, defeating Glasgow Police by a minute with Wellpark third.

The championships were held on 6th December, 1969 and the report reads: “Willie Stoddart, the Scottish marathon champion, scored a convincing victory over Brian Goodwin (Bellahouston) in the Renfrewshire six and a half mile championship.   Stoddart completed the Lochinch course well clear of the holder but Bellahouston had the supporting runners and won the team championship comfortably.   Results:-

1.   W Stoddart (Wellpark Harriers) 39:10;  2. B Good win (Bellahouston) 41:17; 3. D Lang (Glasgow Police) 41:26.   Team Race:  1.  Bellahouston (B Goodwin, W McLean, J Irvine, J Adair, A Yates, M McNaught)  54 pts;  2.  Wellpark 67; 3. Glasgow Police 107.   Youths Three-Mile Race:  1.  L Spence (Glenpark) 14:55.  

Below: Bill Stoddart winning the Scottish Marathon in 1969 in the Meadowbank Stadium under comstruction for the 1970 Empire and Commonwealth Games.

The tenth collection of photographs, cuttings, etc from Hugh contains some real gems.   

Alex Breckenridge, ex-VPAAC, American Olympic marathon runner, now aged 91 years of age.   This one was sent to Hugh by Ian Binnie’s daughter who now lives in Canada.

The next three were taken at the unveiling of the World Heritage Percy Cerutty Plaque with Herb Elliott and Seb Coe present along with other contemporaries and such as Derek Clayton, marathon runner.

The wonderful Herb Elliott and Aussie Rules football

New Year’s Day, 1965

Back to the days when football and running mixed and had a good relationship.

Some Historical Documents

Hugh, like many of us, is interested in the history of our sport and the back ground to events and meetings.   There are several fascination documents below.   

In the beginning of amateur athletics in Scotland many football clubs had their own sports, and their players  competed regularly in the meetings.   When the SAAA was established, the two disciplines mixed easily and amicably.   One of the earliest teams to do so was St Mirren FC.

The AP Findlay of Ayr mentioned above was the first winner of the Scottish Cross-Country Championships in 1886 and again in 1888 as a member of Clydesdale Harriers.

The pretty comprehensive programme for the Sports at the new Westmarch Stadium

XXXXX

We all need a wee smile now and again: Hugh is also a rugby aficionado and this is a comment on the number of ex-South African players in the Scottish team.

…

The Renfrewshire Amateur Athletic Association had been in existence for more than 12 years by 1960 and had developed into an organisation that held track, road and country events for men, women and younger age groups.   It was supported by the clubs and by the athletes, of all standards, who kept turning out in its races.    The ‘Glasgow Herald’ as a paper of record had reported at varying lengths and detail over the years too but this would not always be the case – in the 1960’s the ‘Herald’ sports editors seemed at times to prioritise international events, no matter how small, at the expense of Scottish ones – space on the sports pages was precious and decisions had to be taken about what and how much to include.   But for the athletes on the ground, the county association was continuing to do a very good job in providing competition for all and encouraging new clubs to form. 

The winter of 1959/60, started as usual with the relays over the country and after the traditional McAndrew relay at Scotstoun, the Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire versions were held on 10th October with Renfrew holding their county championships a fortnight later.   In the 1958 relay, Bellahouston had three teams in the first three which was unheard of before that; they repeated the feat in 1959.   Their strength was such that Scottish internationalists Des Dickson and Bert Irving were relegated to the B and C teams respectively.   The ‘Glasgow Herald report is below.

The Renfrewshire Championships were held on 12th December in 1959 and Bellahouston retained the team title, Joe Connolly won with six men in the top 10.   The six included John Murtagh who had won the Youths title the previous year as well as all the well-kent faces – Connolly, Fenion, Penman, Mercer and Adams.   Second team was Wellpark, whose lead runner was Tom Stevenson in second place, leading an experienced squad of McConnachie, Stoddart, Aitken, McKay and King.   Third placed Glenpark had several interesting athletes in the race – long-serving Bertie Cox whose son Hammy would become a Scottish senior international, and Jim Spence, the oldest of the five Spence brothers, starting out on his career as a Glenpark athlete and coach.

The five Spence brothers who ran for the Greenock clubs in the Renfrewshire championships, Jim second from right.

The Track and Field Championships were held on Monday 21st June, 1960, where more new names destined for international honours were in evidence.   Dick Hodelet running for his first club, Auchmountain Harriers, won the Junior 880 yards, Hamish Robertson (Bellahouston) won the Junior 100 yards, and old favourites like Connolly, Dickson, McAlinden, Helen Cherry and Mary Symon were competing and the schools were represented on the prize winners list too by Greenock Academy and Paisley Grammar.

The cross country relays that started the 1960/61 competition year were held at Paisley and there were several surprises – which did not include Bellahouston’s victory.   There was a surprise when the Wellpark team finished a mere one second behind Bellahouston’s B Team for third place.  There was another surprise when Pat Bradley of Paisley Harriers set the fastest time of the day, 17 seconds faster than Bellahouston’s Des Dickson.   Bradley was one of three brothers of whom Mike was the fastest, a Scottish international miler, who later joined Springburn when he moved to that part of Glasgow.   Results:-

It had been a good day for Bellahouston and there were signs of other clubs starting to take them on – eg Bradley’s fastest time of the day, Bill Stoddart starting to show what he was capable of – but unfortunately none of the online resources have the result of the 1960 championship in December.  In the District championships however, Joe Connolly was first county man to finish when he crossed the line in third place, and the club team (Connolly 3, Black 11, Irvine 18, Goodwin 38, Wright 53 and Wilson 54) fourth and the only Renfrew club to finish a team then it may well be that Bellahouston won the championship that year.

The Renfrewshire association held their 10-mile road race on 22nd April 1961 in Paisley and the winner was Joe Connolly of Bellahouston in 54:27  from clubmates R Black (54:49) and R Penman (54:49) with Bertie Cox of Greenock Glenpark fourth in 58:04.

The track championships that summer were completely dominated by Bellahouston with winning athletes in men’s and women’s events plus winners in Junior and Youths events.   Several of the athletes were competing successfully after having a hard day on Saturday at the Babcock Sports.   Joe Connolly was such a one having had a very hard race against Graham Everett in the Two Miles where he finished second and then winning the Mile at the County event.   

The Relays in October were again at Paisley for season 1961/62 and again Bellahouston won two sets of medals but this time it was first and third with Wellpark splitting them.  Pat Bradley was third fastest this time round but only four seconds separated the times of the first three runner, D McDonald of Bellahouston was fastest with the very consistent Des Dickson second.   Billy Goodwin’s younger brother Brian was running for the B team on the fourth stage – he came in to the sport in the Boys age group, and as has already been noted would become one of the country’s best known administrators.

Bertie Irving to Jim Irvine in the Edinburgh to Glasgow

As in 1960, the results for the County championships are not available but we do know that Bellahouston was third in the Midland Championships on 20th January, and that Bert Irving in sixth place was the first Renfrewshire finisher, Dick Penman in 15th and Brian Goodwin in 38th were second and third finishers from the county, it may well be that the club won the Renfrewshire championship.

The summer championships meeting was held on Monday, 18th June, 1962, and many of the regulars were there – McGaw, Rae, Stoddart, McAlinden, Carmichael and Cherry were all taking part, note that Ronnie Arthur of Glenpark appears as R McArthur.    

A very short report in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ tells us that Bellahouston Harriers won the 10 miles cross-country relay on 20th October from Paisley Harriers with Wellpark third.  The Paisley Harriers team had Pat Bradley and his brother Eddie on the third and fourth stages with the team made up by Scottish Marathon Club stalwart, Pat McAtier, and steeplechaser Tommy Thomson.   Pat Bradley had the fastest time of the day but had to share the honour with J McDonald of Bellahouston.   Results of Youths and Boys races were not published.

The Championships for the 1962/63 season were hard fought with Des Dickson winning from Charlie McAlinden with the excellent Frank Whitley of Wellpark Harriers third.   Wellpark won the title by one single point from Bellahouston with Glenpark third.   The third Bradley brother for Paisley, Mike, was second in the Youths race and now all three brothers had represented the club.   For Glenpark, it was a time when they had several very good half milers in the club – Dick Hodelet had joined them from the now defunct Auchmountain Harriers, Ronnie Arthur was running and racing well and the winner in the Boys race was Tom Dobbin who would be a Scottish champion and one of the best in Britain as a Youth and Junior.

The  local paper that could usually be relied upon for detailed results reporting was the ‘Glasgow Herald’ and in the 1960’s for some reason not all domestic fixtures were covered every Monday morning.    So it was that the Track Championships were not covered in 1963 although many of the Renfrewshire athletes were competing well at national level, both as individuals and as teams (ie relays).   

Dick Hodelet, Greenock Glenpark Harriers.

The cross-country relays on 19th October saw the title retained by Bellahouston Harriers from Wellpark with Glenpark third.   It is interesting to note that the two fastest times were recorded by athletes from clubs that did not feature in the first three.    

The championships for 1963/64 were held on 7th December and a new name was inscribed on the trophy – Bert Irving of Bellahouston, of whom it was once said “he only ran three races a year – the Edinburgh to Glasgow, the National and the International”.   A top class athlete his progress maybe suffered a little because he lived at the far tip of Galloway and travel to races was often quite complicated.   The Youths race had Tom Dobbin, a superb track athlete, winning from Mike Bradley who had an equally good career as a miling specialist.

The track championships were held on 21st June in 1964 and were, from the performances point of view at least, a great success.   

The 1964/65 county competition year began as ever with the cross-country relays, held again at Paisley, on 17th October and Bellahouston Harriers won again with Paisley Harriers in second.   Glenpark were third.   The brief  report only gave details of the senior race but there was enough to show that the Irvine/irving double act was largely to the benefit of the winning team.   It read:

Bellahouston won the Renfrewshire 10-mile senior relay championship at Paisley, beating Paisley Harriers by 18 sec., Glenpark Harriers were third, 4 sec behind Paisley.   The power of J Irvine and R Irving assured Bellahouston of victory over the second half of the journey.   Results:- 1.   Bellahouston (R Penman 16:08, B Goodwin 16:06, J Irvine 16:23, R Irving 15:40); 2. Paisley Harriers (M Bradley 15:44, E Bradley 16:15, J Simpson 16:37, P McAtier 16:39);  3. Glenpark Harriers (R Arthur 16:01, W Murray 16:03, J Spence 16:21, R Cox 16:34).   Fastest:- 1.  R Irving 15:40;  2. M Bradley 15:44; 3.  W Murray 16:03;  4.  B Goodwin 16:06.

Irving ran well in the relays and then, while still reigning county champion, he won the championship when it was held on 5th December on his home soil of Pollok Estate.   The short report in the ‘Herald’ reads:-

Into 1965 and the Track and Field Championships were held again at Moorcroft Park on Monday 21st June and the athlete of the meeting was probably Tom Dobbin of Glenpark Harriers who won the Junior 880 yards as well as the Senior Mile.   The standard was high across all events with HC Robertson, SSAA champion just two days before in the Schools championships, who won two events, as did Hugh Baillie of Bellahouston, and among the top performers with gold medals at the end of the evening,  were Hilda McCann of Bellahouston Harriers with a double in the throwing events, and Dick Hodelet of Glenpark.   

The Association was growing with more clubs in the county, more schools represented in the championships and more athletes coming through the age groups.   The future was looking bright.

Frank Sinclair, Greenock Wellpark Harriers, one of Scotland’s best milers and cross-country runners in the 1950’s

The County Associations did a lot for the sport in providing an extra layer of competition on the way from newcomer to national champion.   They also provided a natural progression for athletes at the start of the winter with road runners trying to sharpen up for the District and national relays and team building for the Edinburgh to Glasgow.   It was a phenomenon that seemed to be a particularly west coast thing with the east coast clubs taking part in their own league.   You can find out about that at   this link .

The Renfrewshire Association was a very active one, and grew with every year that passed to include men’s cross-country relays and championships, track and field championships for men and women as well as age group competition.  Of course it awarded medals for competition success: 

 You can read about it at the links below.

Renfrewshire AAA 1947 – 1954    Renfrewshire AAA 1955 – 1959   Renfrewshire AAA 1960 – 65   

Renfrewshire AAA 1965 – 70   .Renfrewshire AAA 1970 – 1978   Renfrewshire AAA 1979

   Renfrewshire  AAA 1980 – 85   Renfrewshire AAA 1985 – 1990

There was a boys and youths league organised by the four counties – Renfrew, Dunbarton, Lanark and Glasgow with track suit badges issued for that too:

Below: The Bellahouston team that won the Edinburgh – Glasgow 8 stage relay in 1958.

Back Row, from left: Des Dickson (7), Billy Goodwin (1), Hugh O’Neil (Team Manager), Jimmy Irvine (3), Bert Irving (6)

Front Row: Dick Penman (5), Joe Connolly (6), Harry Fenion (4), Ramsey Black (8)

Joe Connolly (B 1) to Des Dickson in the Edinburgh to Glasgow

In the absence of a copy of the constitution of the Association, we can look at the relevant part of the Ayrshire Harrier Clubs  Association dealing with its aims and objects.   This reads: 

“The objects of the Association shall be:

1. To further the interests of athletics by endeavouring to secure the formation of new clubs eligible for membership.
2. To encourage clubs by promoting individual and team competitions, county championships, inter-county contests and international matches.
3. To assist schools by encouraging the promotion of athletic competitions.
4. To assist youth clubs by offering advice to members and encouraging the promotion of area and inter district youth panel sports meetings.”

As far as Renfrewshire AAA is concerned, items 3 and 4 above are difficult to measure although we know that Renfrewshire did have teams competing in the Inter-Area Youth Services competitions with local meetings before them.   Items 1 and 2 are the ones we are mainly concerned with here and it is clear that the number of clubs taking part in the events confined to the county increased over the years.   In addition the events promoted by them included cross-country relays, cross-country championships, they played their part in the Inter-County Cross-Country events and for a time at least held a 10 mile road race.   There were also Track and Field Championships organised by the county.    There may well have been more but the details are not available at present.   

We are now looking at the cross-country events promoted in season 1954/55 and start with the cross-country relay of October 1954 which had 14 complete teams finishing from 8 clubs and Bellahouston emerged victorious winning a close run race by only 5 seconds from Greenock Wellpark.    

The championships were held on 15th January, 1955, and well though Bellahouston were running, the first two places on a cold and frost-bound course went to the Stevensons of Wellpark – Tom winning by approximately 600 yards.   The team race was a comfortable win for Wellpark’s team of T Stevenson, J Stevenson, J Cairns, G King, W Stoddart and D Anderson with 43 pts from Paisley Harriers (74) and Bellahouston (78).   Lots of names there that would become, if not legends, then very well known at least.      Bill Stoddart of Wellpark and Billy Goodwin of Bellahouston being the stand-outs.

Billy Goodwin of Bellahouston leading this group in the Edinburgh to Glasgow.

The next major promotion by the RAAA was the cross-country relays meeting held on 15th October 1955.  The results of the various county relays were mixed in together in the report in the ‘Glasgow Herald’ of 17th October as below.   It should be noted however that although Greenock Wellpark won, they were without the services of Frank Sinclair who had been an important part of the winning team the year before.   Bellahouston, preparing for the Edinburgh to Glasgow in November, had two teams placed second and third with new boy Joe Connolly having third fastest time of the day.   Results:

*

The 1955/56 championships resulted in team and individual success for Greenock Wellpark’s strong team were held on 15th January, 1956, at Paisley and the ‘Glasgow Herald’ headline read 

BROTHERS DOMINATE COUNTY CROSS COUNTRY RACE:

Renfrewshire Championships

The County Track & Field Championships were mentioned at the top of the page and in 1956 they were held on Monday, 18th June which was just two days after the Babcock & Wilcox Sports at Moorcroft Park in Renfrew.   Local athletes had done well at that meeting with Bellahouston second in the overall competition for the Empire Trophy.   Results included I Leckie of Bellahouston winning the 220 yards, John Stevenson winning the Two Miles with Gordon Nelson (Bellahouston) third (Bellahouston won the team race), P McDiarmid (Plebeian) won the Mile and T Prentice of Bellahouston won the Ladies 220 yards.    Two days later, the County event was a success with records set in the Mile, the High Jump and the Ladies half mile.   Report below:

If we look at the events being covered here, then the aims of the Association are being seriously tackled – men, women, junior as well as schools being represented on the prize list.   Six clubs plus two schools are all there – coming so close behind the bigger Babcock’s meeting it was a good show.   Bellahouston were undoubtedly the best all-round club in the county and Emmet Farrell noted that in his ‘Running Commentary’ column in the ‘Scots Athlete’.

The first race promoted by the Renfrewshire Association in the 1956/57 winter season was the cross-country relays on 20th October at Pollok Estate when Bellahouston Harriers, running on home territory, were first and second teams to finish with Wellpark, minus John Stevenson, in third.   In addition, all three fastest times were recorded by their own atletes.

The Championships held on 14th January, 1957, had quite a few interesting names appearing for the first time.   The championship was actually won by Gordon Nelson from Harry Fenion with Wellpark’s George King third.  note that Billy Murray of Glenpark, who would go on to be a very good senior runner, won the Youths race from Harry McWilliam of Auchmountain Harriers – a well known and well liked runner – and the winning Glenpark team included the highly respected administrator and author of the SCCU Centenary history Colin Shields.   

Harry McWilliam (in front, dark vest) training with Auchmountain at Cappielow Park

The Track & Field Championships were held on Monday 9th June, 1957, at Moorcroft Park, again two nights after the Babcock meeting where many of the athletes had performed nobly.   Note the double success of Charlie McAlinden (Babcock’s)  who would go on to win the SAAA Marathon title in 1966 and the Three Miles victory of Joe Connolly in a good time on a grass track which had not had time to recover from the pounding of hundreds of feet on the Saturday! 

Charlie McAlinden (138) and Pat McAtier (Paisley 52)

The 1957/58 relays were held on 19th October and the report in the ‘Herald’ was  brief in the extreme and read “Bellahouston Harriers were never seriously challenged after the first relay of the Renfrewshire senior event in which J Connolly gave G Nelson a useful lead, and the race was virtually over when Nelson completed his run with the fastest time over the course.”   The result  was given slightly more space: Bellahouston won by a minute from Wellpark who were over two minutes up on Glenpark.   Interesting that George King was second fastest over the trail, faster than Connolly and Tom Stevenson and only 7 seconds down on Nelson.

If we remember the aims of the association, if they are similar to those of AHCA as set out above, then the Renfrewshire Association continued to work on these and in January 1958 they introduced a Boys race to add to the Senior/Junior and Youths races.   With six men to score in the senior race, Bellahouston supplied the first four finishers plus seventh and eighth placed men to win comfortably with 25 points from Wellpark who had 80 pts and Plebeian with 145.    

The Track & Field Championships were held on 9th June, 1958, as usual at Moorcroft Park on the Monday after the Babcock Sports and the results were as follows:

The standard was  still very high with internationals on the men’s side represented by Joe Connolly and on the women’s side by Helen Cherry (winner of the SWAAA 880 in 1962, and of the Mile in 1962 and 63) and Mary Symon (second in the SWAAA 100 yards in 1958 and champion in 1959).

Helen Cherry in second behind Barbara Tait in the SWAAA Mile Championship

The cross-country relays in 1958 were held in Pollok Estate and the results were hard to find bur Jimmy Irvine of Bellahouston Harriers came to the rescue with the details.  Bellahouston provided first, second and third teams but not, as Morecambe and Wise might say, in that order.   Result:

1st: Bellahouston A team (J Connolly 11-21,  W Goodwin 11-42,  H Fenion 11-26, D Dickson 11-35)

2nd: Bellahouston C team (Roberts 11-52, F Cowan 11-52, R Irving  11-26,  –  )

3rd: Bellahouston B team  (I Wilson 11-40, R Black 11-48,  J Irvine 12-00, R Penman 11-48)

A quite remarkable result because it is not often the case in any competition that one club provides all the first three teams.   Simply looking at the result, it is no surprise that the A team won the championship given the quality of all four runners representing the club: Joe Connolly, Harry Fenion and Des Dickson all ran for Scotland in the Cross-Country International in March that year, and Willie Goodwin won the SCCU Junior Championship for season 1958/59.   

The winning Edinburgh to Glasgow team receiving the trophy

Nor could we find the results for the 1958/59 Renfrewshire Championships until Jimmy pointed out that they were held on 13th December, 1958, instead of the traditional January of the next year.  He sent the results as follows: 

1st: H Fenion 33-32;  2nd:  J Connolly 33-37 ;  3rd:R Irving 33—39.   Team Result Bellahouston  1^st;  Wellpark 2^nd;   Glenpark 3^rd. and with six to count, the next three Bellahouston runners were  –  4^{t h}  W Goodwin;  5^th D Dickson;  7^th J Irvine .    With six men in the first seven, there was no way anyone else could win the race.

A comment on Jimmy’s help: many, if not most, runners kept a training diary and that was true of runners of whatever standard.   You can find extracts from such diaries in the biographies of all the top runners but good club runners, and even not so good interms of trophy-winning runners kept a note of their training, of their races and of anything else relevant – some kept their daily weight in them, others kept a note of what they ate, and so on.   But whoever they were, the diraries are like gold dust to historians be they sports historians, social historians or athletics historians of varying specialisms.   Jim has certainly given us assistance from his for this page. 

The ‘Glasgow Herald’ gave less detail than Jim on the senior race but included a bit on the younger age groups in their report:

Two interesting names in the results for the younger age groups – in the Youths age group, the winner was John Murtagh who became an actor in adult life and was one of the cast in the award winning film, “Braveheart”, while in the Boys’ age group, Brian Goodwin, Billy’s younger brother, won and after a good career as a runner became a well-known official and administrator working at international fixtures as well as local ones, and being President of the SCCU in 1976/77..

The club had a superb season in the winter of 1958/59 when they won – 

• The Midland District Relay (Dickson, Irving, Fenion, Connolly)
• The Renfrewshire Championship (Fenion, Connolly, Irving, Goodwin, Dickson, Irvine)
• The Edinburgh to Glasgow Relay (Goodwin, Irving, Irvine, Fenion, Penman, Connolly, Dickson, Black)
• Nigel Barge Road Race (Goodwin, Connolly, Dickson)

and were very close up in all the others.     Alex Jackson has sent the following link to a video clip of Bellahouston winning the Edinburgh to Glasgow in 1958.   Just click on the link.

Summary of the Five Year Period

The 1958/59 season finished with the Track and Field Championships, held again at Moorcroft park and the ‘Herald’ report is below and the spread of results shows how well the County Association was doing – Men’s events, women’s events, schools athletes all taking part, standards as measured by winning times continued to creep upwards and there was a new SWAAA champion in Morag Carmichael taking part.

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