9th June - Darvel plumber makes good

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This time last year I was at the Gala Day in Darvel, my home time in Ayrshire.
I met up with Jimmy Mair, “the plumber” whom I hadn’t seen since our days at Darvel Junior Secondary in the early sixties. Jimmy and I were in the same class and according to him, I was at the top of the class and he was at the bottom. Jimmy retired 5 years ago at which time he was running three engineering businesses and employed 120 people!
Not bad for bottom of the class.
He showed me his business card which read “James Mair Q.B.E.”. When I asked what Q.B.E was he replied “qualified by experience”.

Darvel Junior Secondary Old Boys

As old boys of Darvel JS, Jimmy Mair and I are in good company. One former pupil won the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Sir Alexander Fleming, for it is he, discovered penicillin while working at St Mary’s Hospital in London. He was born and brought up on Lochfield Farm which is next door to Longgreen Farm where I worked at weekends and during holidays in my teens.
Another former pupil was Nichol Peacock a world-renowned nuclear physicist who worked on nuclear fusion. I had never heard of him until I read his obituary in the Guardian last year.
Ian Robertson who was also in my class has just set up a website about the area. You can find it at www.loudounvalley.co.uk. Ian’s wife Marlene heads up the Burns Scottish office in Kilmarnock.

info@burnspet.co.uk