Popular Meigle resident and cricket legend is mourned
Peter M Drummond, 1921 to 2016
The village of Meigle and the cricketing world lost one of its greatest-ever servants with the death of Peter M Drummond, who passed away on December 27.
Peter was a Meigle man first and foremost. He was a life-long member of Meigle Parish Church and served on most of the village committees, including Victory Park, Kinloch Memorial Hall, and Reading Room, as well as the cricket club.
He supported every fundraising event and took a keen interest in all that was going on in the village.
He was well-known as a gentlemen on and off the cricket field.
As a batsman and bowler he played in an era just after the Second World War which established Meigle Cricket Club as a leading member of the Strathmore Cricket Union and further afield in the Village Cup.
His family was also prominent in cricket.
His son, Peter jun, is a leading member of the club and captained the side for many years. One of his fondest memories is when, aged 16, he and his dad put on a partnership of 100 runs at Mannofield.
Grandson Gordon played 117 times for Scotland, many of these as captain, and is destined to play a leading part in the future development of Scottish cricket. Another grandson Peter (‘PJ’) played for the Scotland U19 team before going to Forfarshire. Granddaughter Annette played 52 times for Scotland Women.
Peter M Drummond was born at West Mains, Auchterhouse, on February 24, 1921, to James and Marjory Drummond, the youngest of four sons. James Drummond was a chauffeur and when Peter was only six months old he gained employment at The Elms, Meigle, and the family moved into Elms Cottage.
Peter attended Meigle School, as did his three brothers Duncan, Bob, and Jim, starting the Drummond connection with the school that would last around 80 years - his great granddaughter Lily now attends the school.
Peter was a bright scholar and obtained a bursary for further education but his father died when Peter was only 12 years old and the boys all had to find employment for the upkeep of the home and they managed to stay in Elms Cottage.
Aged 14 Peter started an apprenticeship with Alec Crighton, the local slater, and soon after completing his apprenticeship the war years followed.
Peter joined the RAF where he was trained as a driver, initially on small vehicles then moving on to articulated and low loader recovery vehicles.
This interest in driving was kindled by his father’s work as a chauffeur and developed as a teenager with unofficially driving lorries at the local haulage contractors of the time, Mitchells of Meigle.
During 1942 he served in the Western Desert, South Africa, Suez, Egypt, and Libya. The following year his unit was posted to India then Burma where he was involved in aircraft recovery near enemy lines. On one occasion the recovery was behind enemy lines, unbeknown to them at the time.
Peter liked to talk about his times in Burma but his tales were about the friends he made rather than the war itself. After the war Peter maintained regular contact with his war buddies through visits to England and regular letters and phone calls. Sadly he was the last but one of his group, the last being his great friend Jimmy Hanley.
On his return from war service, Peter joined William Brand, slaters, Dundee, and was employed on many schemes in the city as a slater and rough caster.
Peter and his beloved Annie married in 1948 and moved into The End Room at Elms Cottage, the first home to many newly-weds in the village. They then moved into a new council house at 3 Glebeway, Meigle, and soon after along came their family of Patricia and Peter jun.
By this time Peter had returned to manage the slaters business in Meigle for the ailing Mr Crighton and on his death in 1960 took over the business and the family moved to Bon-Accord in Meigle. In order to satisfy the bank, Peter had to secure guarantees from four different customers. This proved not to be a problem, as many had faith in his abilities to succeed. After a few years the guarantees were no longer required, but Peter never let any of his family forget the debt owed to the people who allowed the business to get started. Cup Peter with the Three Counties
In 1967 the family moved into Mondenna, a house built by Peter in the bank gardens.
Under Peter’s stewardship the business expanded, starting plumbers in 1960 and continuing to flourish up to and beyond his retirement aged 65 in 1986.
It was very much a family business with Peter jun. joining the business in 1974 and Patricia working in the office for a time. Peter was very pleased when grandson, also Peter, joined the ranks in 1998 to continue the family tradition.
Peter was a devoted family man, married for 63 years to Annie. He was devastated when she passed away in 2012. In the early stages of their family life there were family holidays, often involving driving through the night to Scarborough, Morecambe, and Torquay to spend endless hours playing cricket on the beaches.
Peter and Annie enjoyed many foreign holidays and bus trips, but were never happier than when they were spending time at their holiday cottage in Seatown, Cullen, either by themselves or with their family. They also had a love of gardening, which was shown to perfection in mid-summer at Mondenna.
Peter was a devoted granddad to Craig, Adele, Gary, Peter, Gordon, Ross, and Annette, always showing an interest in their academic work, careers, and sporting achievements.
When great-grandchildren arrived - Ben, Lucy, Eve, Buddy, Lily, and Kari-Peter - they were always welcome for games and cuddles.
Peter was able to remain in his own home, Mondenna, until three weeks prior to his passing. He appreciated that this was possible only with the aid given to him by his family, friends, Gowrie Carers, home help Helen, and gardener Bill.
His last three weeks were spent in Ninewells and Blairgowrie Community Hospital, where he received excellent care and compassion.
Peter Drummond was known to many through his cricket activities over a wide area of Scotland. He broke into the Meigle first team at the age of 15 and spent most of his playing days at Meigle, eventually hanging up his boots at the age of 55.
As part of many winning Meigle teams, Peter enjoyed playing and made many friends within the game. He went on to have many roles within the club from scorer, player, captain, president, and latterly honorary president.
During his best seasons he took more than 70 wickets per season and in 1953 scored two successive centuries which brought him to the attention of Perthshire County. After two games for the county Peter realised that due to family and business commitments county cricket was not for him and he returned to Meigle to finish his career.
He was a leading batsman and bowler and won the LaingOvenstone Memorial Trophy for the leading wicket taker in the Strathmore Cricket Union in 1951 and 1953, with 72 and 70 wickets respectively. This trophy was won by grandson Gordon in 1997, 44 years after his granddad.
He was a member of the teams which won the Strathmore Union Championship and Three Counties Cup during this golden era, matched only in the history of the club in the 1980s when son Peter was a key player in title winning teams.
After his first team days were over Peter played for the 2nd XI and won the Strathmore Union 2nd XI bowling cup in 1963. The Meigle 2nd XI player of the year trophy was donated by Peter and is still awarded annually.
The views of present and former players were expressed by former skipper, Iain M Stewart, who said: “Our thoughts and prayers go to the Drummond family in this difficult time.
“Peter was a much-loved dad, granddad, and great-granddad. The club will miss his presence and we will miss his views on the game.
“He knew the game and only occasionally did the rose tinted spectacles come out - usually after the bowlers had bowled a few too many wides or when a six fell short of what was formerly the tennis courts but is now the playpark.
“In these days of team kit my dad, a former minister at Meigle, the Rev. Fraser Stewart, tells me Peter once told him that he never owned a bat until he was 50. Compare that to today’s youngsters with a bat for every day of the week.
“Peter went on to hold numerous committee roles over the years and as recently as 2012 was supporting fundraising efforts for new practice nets.
“He organised the club’s fundraising whist and prize draw for around 60 years until 2006.
“Anyone who talked cricket with Peter was in no doubt of his knowledge of the game and in his later years, with age taking its toll, he kept a strong knowledge of international cricket, watching TV coverage from England tours to Australia and elsewhere, during the day after recording them over night.
“Peter and the players of his era established Meigle’s pedigree and those who followed owe a lot to those trailblazers who put our village on the cricketing map.
“The word legend gets banded about all too often in sport and life, but in this case it is absolutely deserved for the batsman, bowler, the clubman, and for the man: Peter M Drummond.”
Peter at a club presentation night. Pic by David Phillips