The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
THE ARCHIVES
100 years ago
From War Correspondents’ Headquarters, France – “Sitting down to write upon the British attack which began at daybreak this morning, I find myself at a loss, because it is all too soon as yet to measure the results of the renewed offensive. Furious fighting is progressing and the easterly wind is vibrant with the roar and rattle of artillery. What is quite clear amid the many reports and rumours which always gain currency at a time like this is that we have taken more than 1,500 prisoners.”
50 years ago
Seven Invergowrie girls, all members of the Carse of Gowrie Ranger Guides, went for a hike in the sunshine – a hike with a difference. For every mile they covered they were being awarded with a penny by their sponsors – relatives and friends. The girls set out at 9am to walk the 20 miles to Perth, reaching the boundary at 3pm. The girls were Gladys Small, Hilda Small, June Jolly, Jennifer Ball, Mary Addison, Moira Gray and Christine Firth, aged 14 to 19. Mrs June Busfield accompanied them.
25 years ago
The 18-year marriage of the Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips ended yesterday in a “quickie” uncontested divorce. In contrast to a glittering wedding in Westminster Abbey in 1973 before a television audience of 500 million, the divorce was sombre, low-key and out of the public gaze. In the couple’s absence, the formalities lasting just four minutes in a courtroom of Somerset House, London, ended with a decree nisi pronounced. This paves the way for the divorce absolute to be made.
One year ago
Brawling gangs of youths that spilled out of Kirkcaldy’s Links Market blighted this year’s carnival, it has been claimed. It has emerged shops were forced to close their doors as fighting funnelled out of the market and into adjacent Links Street. The local residents association claim people were scared to go out in public and called for tighter security in future. Police insisted only a handful of arrests had been made over the course of the six-day event, which attracted 120,000 people this year.