Shotts News

Any news items for inclusion in the Shotts news section should be emailed to dinsdey@hotmail.co.uk or can be phoned in to 01501 825294 on a Sunday evening before 9pm. “Shotts – A Village that went to War” is a new book written by Alistair Allan. This is Alistair’s fifth book, with his previous four featuring Newmains, Morningside, Cambusnethan and Overtown. Alistair’s mum, Agnes Allan (nee Findlay) came from Shotts. It took almost six months to complete and looks in detail at armed forces personnel from Shotts and Stane who died in the conflict. Using information from Shotts War Memorial, Calderhead and Erskine Church Memorial, Kirk O’Shotts Church Memorial and the Stane Panel on the Cambusnethan Landward Memorial, it was noted that 163 men from Shotts and Stane are named on the memorials. The book, with over 260 pages, has details of the men who died, their parents, siblings, addresses and occupations, enlistment dates and details of the action they were involved in prior to their death and where they are buried (where available). It also records information on some of the men who served and survived to tell the tale, details of medal winners, descriptions of the medals, prisoners of war, pictures of memorial plaques from the Shotts area and old maps of the area. The book costs £10 and is available by contacting the author on 01698 383159, Lanarkshire Family History, Motherwell or Shotts post office. Alistair will be donating all proceeds to Lanarkshire Family History, to fund their research and publications. A donation from the sales of the book will be made to Royal Erskine Hospital. It is the author’s intention to donate copies of his book to local high schools, libraries and churches. Gala day The committee are holding a bingo night in Springhill Marble Club this Friday, from 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5 each and includes hot food. For tickets, contact 07702050013 or any member of the committee. All funds raised are used to make the gala day a great day for all. This will be the last fundraiser before the big day. Residents can also place a personal message in the programme for only £5, but the date for ordering has now passed. Anyone who has a trophy from last year is asked to hand it in to any of the committee members. If shopping online, you can now donate to the gala day by using the following link at www. easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/shottsgaladay/. Shotts and District Rotary Club This Friday, the club will be holding their annual sportsmen’s dinner in St Patrick’s Parish Hall with a few tickets still available. The guest speakers will be Scott Glyn and Tom Paterson. Monies raised will largely go to local charities and organisations. Contact John Eadie (president) on 07923441479 for tickets which cost £25 each. On Wednesday of last week, the guest speaker was Tom Purdie, originally from Quarry Street in Shotts (now Stoneyburn). Tom was a former police officer and safety/security officer with Hearts, Livingston and Hamilton Academical football clubs. He has had five books published, with the last being “Hearts at War 1914-1918”. This book told the story of Hearts players who volunteered to join the British Army to fight in France. Tom’s presentation was on Scottish football - the golden years. He displayed a collection of photos from Jim (Scoop) Rodger, a former Shotts journalist. Members from Tranent Rotary Club also visited that evening. On June 14, Linsey Fairlie of local business, Only Natural Holistic