Local resident John Edward contacted the Spurtle this morning with news of commemorative events surrounding the centenary of the Quintinshill Rail Disaster.
The great-grandson of Private James McSherry (7th Batallion Royal Scots, Territorials) who died in the tragedy, Edward is asking for other descendants and relations of victims to get in touch in advance of ceremonies from 21–23 May.
They can email him here, and find out more on a dedicated Facebook page here. Alternatively write: c.o John Edward, 9 Rosebank Road, Edinburgh EH5 3QW.
The 100th anniversary itself will be marked at the cairn at the Gretna site on 22 May. The day before, there will be a short commemoration at Larbert Station where most of the 7th Scots boarded.
Closer to home, on Saturday 23 May there will be a much larger-than-usual annual Memorial Service at Rosebank Cemetery, Pilrig Street.
The Commemoration Service will be held at the Memorial Cross in the cemetery, starting at 11am. A range of dignitaries and organisations will be represented.
Rosebank does not have many open spaces for larger crowds, and the memorial site itself is very restricted. However, there are plans to relay the service to a larger screen within the cemetery.
He will pass their details on to the organisers, who will arrange access if the event is ticketed. This will be particularly important to any folk planning to travel long distances to attend.
Meanwhile, eagle-eyed correspondent Tim Smith reports that the erroneous plaque outside the cemetery has now been removed.
This looks like a remarkably swift response by CEC’s Services for Communities to requests by Smith and Councillor Deidre Brock for a wrong date on the sign to be corrected (see Issues 237, 238).