RAF veteran, 99, will remember friends ‘who didn't make it' on VE Day
A 99-year-old RAF veteran said he will be remembering friends 'who didn't make it like I did' through the Second World War on VE Day.
Dennis Bishop, a former leading aircraftsman who saw active service in France, Belgium, Germany and Africa, visited RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Wednesday as it prepares for the VE Day flypast on Monday.
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Press and Journal
8 hours ago
- Press and Journal
Auldearn foster family: The ups and downs of giving 20 kids a loving home
Moray and Karen Ford's first foster placement was a three-year-old girl they looked after for two weeks. They put her shoes on wrong, weren't sure they'd be 'good enough' and cried when she left. But since then, the Auldearn husband and wife have looked after about 20 children – and Moray, 62, even gave up work to be a stay-at-home dad. From emergency placements to three permanent additions to the family, they have seen a lot. Moray has two grown-up biological children from a previous marriage, James and Lesey. But while he was in the RAF, he had 'a certain male operation', as he puts it, that meant he and Karen, who married in 2008, couldn't have a family of their own. Almost two decades ago, they bought a house in Auldearn, near Nairn, and did it up. At this point, Moray was working offshore. He would be away for weeks at a time and Karen was on her own 'with all these rooms'. Karen, 56, said: 'It was something we just sat and talked about.' Moray continued: 'We didn't apply to adopt because adoption was permanent. And what happens if, after a year or so that the child doesn't actually like you? Or it wasn't for us? 'The process of adoption is really good, but sometimes it doesn't work, you know?' So several interviews later, and the Ford were ready for their first new arrival in 2011. In their case, their first child was a three-year old girl with mismatched shoes. Karen took up the story: 'Within a couple of weeks we had a a wee girl of three. She was the very first one we got.' The first hiccup they encountered was reassuringly mundane – and a little bit funny. Karen, who works at Brodie Countryfare, laughed: 'She came in the Friday, and I was working the weekend, and Moray came to my work with the wee one. 'He'd put two different shoes on her.' But just two weeks later, the little girl's stay with the Fords had come to an end. They expected it to be a short stay, but didn't anticipate the sadness it caused. Karen added: 'It was hard letting her go. We just got that wee bit attached. After the wee girl, the Fords had a break of a few months. They then had a six-year-old girl for a year and a half. But the weekend she arrived, they also had a last-minute request for an emergency placement for two more children. Moray said: 'I just said yes, of course. I didn't think about it. 'So they arrived – I think they were three and one – the wee girl was already here and Karen was working the weekend. 'I don't think we've ever said no to anybody.' Apart from a stint as a porter in Dr Grey's and then Raigmore during Covid, Moray fell into the role of stay-at-home dad. Over the years, Moray and Karen reckon they have had about 20 kids through their doors – and they obviously remember all of them. There was the wee boy Luke (more on him later) who arrived with assurances he was a vegan – but asked for a cheese and ham sandwich for lunch and a roast chicken dinner. And the six-year-old girl we already mentioned – when she finally left they admit they were 'greeting at the door'. After that, they generally had longer-term placements. Although Karen and Moray opened their homes and their hearts to every child who needed it, some of them were destined to stay for good. Dylon recently turned 21 and Moray is his legal guardian. He is at college and lives at home. They adopted Sky, now 19 and living in Wales with her boyfriend. The next step will be formally adopting Luke, 11. They have a theory, although it's probably not as simple as that – it's all down to the lucky number nine. Karen explained: 'Nine seemed to be the age for a while. We got Dylon when he was nine, and Sky too.' They have lovely stories about their kids. In April 2013, Dylon arrived. Moray said: 'He was like a wee old man when he came – he had slippers and a dressing gown and would sit cross-legged. 'I just said to my social worker, this is the only thing that's missing is a pipe. 'It wasn't like other boys, he'd never played football and stuff like that. He went to coffee mornings.' Dylon has ADHD and finds it hard to remember things – but he's now thriving at college. Moray became Dylon's legal guardian. He wasn't up for adoption, but he took the family name. Luke (who was the reluctant vegan I mentioned earlier) also came along at the age of nine. To prepare for his arrival, Moray found out what the schoolboy was into – it was dinosaurs. So he went out and got a sticker for his door that read 'Luke's room' illustrated with dinosaurs. He and Karen also added dino bedding and curtains. Luke has recently made an important decision. Moray said: 'There is a social worker MairiAnna Birse who did life stories with Luke. 'We came to the very last session and Luke said I want Moray and Karen to be my mum and dad.' As Karen and Moray talk me through the list of children they have helped, cared for and made feel safe, even if only for the odd weekend, one thing is clear. The tone of their voices and the look in their eyes as they count children off on their fingers – all named – shows how much love is in this house. They are calm and easy going, nothing fazes them – perfect people for being foster carers. But if it reassures anyone, they weren't at all confident when they started out. Moray said: 'At the beginning we worried if we were good enough for this.' Karen added: 'Every child has their challenges, but we always seem to cope.' Moray said: 'We very quickly realised that giving them reassurance as soon as they came in the door was the key. 'It's so important to have patience and understanding. The children are scared, they've been passed from pillar to post.' Moray urges anyone who feels they can to come forward and help. He added: 'It's so rewarding to see them succeed. 'I'm so glad we did it – it's been great.'
Daily Record
8 hours ago
- Daily Record
Raploch war memorial plans take next step as long-running project moves closer
The group behind the memorial plans have found more than 120 men and women who served in World War Two from the area - with hopes to commemorate their sacrifice with a permanent monument. Raploch is stepping closer to achieving its goal of creating a lasting monument to its war dead. Rev Barry Hughes and Raploch Community Council have now lodged a planning application with Stirling Council planners to install the memorial at the north west corner of Raploch Community Campus on Drip Road. A fundraising campaign was launched last year in a bid to raise £30,000 for the war memorial to honour the community's fallen. In 2019, two local residents discovered not only the names of over 60 local men who served their country and were among the fallen of World War II, but also where they had lived in Raploch. This discovery gave the impetus for a project to build a war memorial in the Village Square outside the Raploch Community Campus, to commemorate all those from Raploch who have lost their lives in conflict. The Raploch War Memorial Group formed and then discovered over 120 men and women who also served during World War II and were injured, prisoners of war or awarded and recognised for their actions during service. They also aim to honour these men and women with a history book that has some of the stories they have discovered. The group said last year: 'We are pleased to announce that we are now in a position to begin our fundraising for the war memorial. 'It has taken us longer than we expected but we didn't want to start this process until we had everything in place to begin the official application for planning permission. 'We are hoping to raise £30,000 to fund the construction of the war memorial.' A public consultation in the area in 2022 asked people to vote on a number of options for the memorial. Asked what they would prefer to see on the memorial, 55 per cent said a list of the names of the fallen in all conflicts of the 20th/21st centuries; 30 per cent said a tribute quote to all the fallen in all conflicts; 7.5 per cent opted for only a list of the names of the fallen in World War II; and 7.5 per cent went for 'other'. A second question asking people whether the top two winning designs and quote from a local children's war memorial design competition should be included saw 94.59 per cent of respondents say yes, with 5.41 per cent saying no and 2.7 per cent unsure. The proposals for the permanent memorial to the fallen were dreamt up by local pensioner Mick Lowe and partnerships with local groups including Raploch Community Partnership, St Mark's and St Margaret's, Stirling Council and the Salvation Army have been formed for the project. The project came about after pensioner Mick began researching soldiers to find out more about his dad John, who died in 1948 after being a prisoner of war during World War Two. Mick discovered a total of 68 soldiers who died during the Second World War from Raploch. But the proposals would see a war memorial erected to pay tribute to the casualties from several conflicts who originally hailed from Raploch. Six streets in a new housing development being built in Raploch are also being named after men from the area who died in World War Two. Brewster Crescent, Fairley Crescent, Hulston Road, Turner Street, Spencer Place and McDonald Court, will become lasting legacies of six of those who lost their lives in the conflict, and their fellow fallen comrades from the community. Private Robert Brewster of 21 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte John Fairley of 43D Raploch Road, Pte William Hulston of 8 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte James Turner of 23 Hawthorn Crescent, Pte Ian Spencer of 4 Haig Avenue, and Pte James McDonald of 64 Drip Road are amongst a list of 48 names compiled by Raploch man Mr Lowe. The formal planning application lodged last week states: 'Raploch Community Council wishes to erect a war memorial adjacent to the Raploch community campus building. 'The war memorial will be 2000mm x 1500m wide, will be set on a raised foundation, and then be 2860mm high; it will be made out of sandstone.'
Scotsman
18 hours ago
- Scotsman
Large part of Scottish island owned by famed shark hunter for sale
Tex Geddes was a legendary shark hunter - plus boxer, knife thrower and all round adventurer - who made his life on Soay in the Inner Hebrides. Sign up to our History and Heritage newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The home of a famed shark hunter in Scotland - and a large part of the island where he lived and worked - has come up for sale. Tex Geddes made his home on Soay, off the isle of Skye, after buying the island from his business partner, the naturalist Gavin Maxwell, in 1952. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pair hunted basking sharks around the Inner and Outer Hebrides and ran a processing plant on Soay to process the lucrative oil found in their liver, with the animals hunted in west coast waters for more than 200 years for the commodity. Now, the house of Tex Geddes, who died in 1998, is being sold on by his family. The sale includes around 1,500 acres of croftland - around 60 per cent of the entire island - with offers over £975,000 sought for the property. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Agents Strutt & Parker said the sale was an 'extremely rare opportunity' to buy the property, which covered a 'large portion' of Soay. A statement said: 'The Island of Soay is located in one the most dramatic settings in the western highlands, located in the middle of Loch Scavaig 'Lying in the shadow of the iconic Black Cuillin mountains of Skye to the north, the island also enjoys panoramic views to the mountains of Knoydart and Ardnamurchan in the east. 'The other inner Hebridean islands of Eigg, Much, Rhum and Canna also provide an interesting sea scape to the west.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Geddes' former home, which is in need of complete upgrading, sits on the shore of Camus nan Gall, where 'various other properties' owned by third parties can be found. The house is traditional stone and slate, with two public rooms on the ground floor and two bedrooms and bathroom on the first floor. A former meeting place or hall has been built onto the southern gable. Access to Soay is by boat from Elgol on Skye. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Geddes, who was also regarded as a boxer, a knife thrower and rum runner, bought Soay with his wife Jeanne. He earlier met Mr Maxwell at Meoble Lodge near Lochailort, a special operations training base during the Second World War. In his autobiography Hebridean Sharker, Mr Geddes, originally from Peterhead, described harpooning a 'great number of sharks first of all with hand harpoons' with Mr Maxwell, much in the 'fashion of Moby Dick'. He added: 'In retrospect some of our early hand harpoons appeared ridiculously inadequate; we might as well have tried to catch a shark with a kitchen fork.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Geddes said he would never forget the spectacle of towing his first shark into Mallaig harbour 'should I live to be a hundred'. Life on Soay also became the theme of a book, Island on the Edge, written by Anne Cholawo, who relocated there from London. Agents said the new owners of the house and 1,500 acres of Soay would acquire an 'interesting mixture' of land, including pasture, rough grazing and woodlands - along with eight named hill lochs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A statement added: 'The land provides an interesting habitat and topography and offers an excellent opportunity for a purchaser to explore environmental and woodland schemes and to enjoy the natural capital of the land and surroundings. 'There is also a population of red deer on Soay which offers some stalking for sport and management purposes.'
