Express column sparks happy recollections
KENNETH SPEIRS
Memories of a wedding day came flooding back for a Paisley couple when they opened the Paisley Daily Express.
Iain and Emily MacRae, of Dykebar, were married on June 14, 1963, in Gibson’s restaurant in the town’s High Street.
And when they saw a picture of the restaurant as it was at that time in our Then and Now column, it reminded them of a very happy event.
Mrs MacRae, 79, said: “It just brought everything back. Iain’s sister had her wedding reception in it two years previously, and when I saw it for myself, I thought ‘Oh, yes’. It was beautiful, absolutely.
“And we had a pianist playing during the meal, and I thought that was just super.”
Mr MacRae, 82, a former British Rail clerical worker, remembers Gibson’s as being a popular place for wedding receptions in the 1960s. “I think it was, yes,” he said. “But you didn’t go in the main entrance. “You had to go round to School Wynd. “The High Street was the main entrance but when you were going for anything special, it was School Wynd.”
The young Iain and Emily were married at St Columba’s Church, Foxbar, having met at the Berkley Ballroom, in Glasgow.
“We had only about 40 guests,” Mrs MacRae said.
And the bill for the reception came to just over £50, a big sum in those days.
“Three bottles of whisky for £6, and the pianist 17/6,” added Mrs MacRae.
She remembered the High Street in the 1960s. “There were two picture houses,” he said. “La Scala and the Picture House, which is where The Paisley Centre is now.”
Although the young Iain and Emily had a happy day back in June, 1963, the event is now tinged with sadness for Mrs MacRae.
“My mother Helen was only 45, and just a month later after that, she died suddenly of a coronary thrombosis.
“That’s why Gibson’s has special memories for me,” she said.
“Every time I go up School Wynd I always take my mind back to that day when my mum was alive. I was only 24 when she died. It’s mixed with lovely memories but sometimes sad as well.
“We’ve got very happy memories of Gibson’s and it’s always been a special area.”