THIS week’s look into our archives takes us back 14 years ago – when then-Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill hurriedly arranged an official visit to Inverclyde days after the Scottish Government had to apologise for a shocking knife attack mural.
Details of Mr MacAskill’s visit were announced only a week after he praised a controversial painting which had sparked uproar in Greenock.
In an embarrassing climbdown, the mural — which showed a young boy plunging a knife into another’s chest — was changed and then taken down following protests.
Mr MacAskill was set to visit a community event in Port Glasgow’s Slaemuir area in an effort to rebuild bridges.
Elsewhere, a Port Glasgow butcher was selling the best bangers in the west of Scotland — made with an 80-year-old family recipe.
Robert Alexander Butchers in Princes Street scooped the best beef sausages in the West of Scotland title for 2010.
Drew McKenzie, who is the third generation of butcher at the family business, said at the time: “The recipe for the beef links is my grandfather’s 80-yearold recipe which hasn’t changed.
“It’s great to have won, especially with an old family recipe.”
Meanwhile, imaginative Port Glasgow youngsters celebrated the story of an iconic Inverclyde ship in a history packed project.
Boys and girls from Lilybank, Newark, St Francis’, St Michael’s and St John’s primary schools took part in the Comet’s Return Port Glasgow art project, with help from Port Heritage Group and Reaching Out.
The replica paddle steamer was undergoing a full restoration at Ferguson’s shipyard, carried out by apprentices employed through the Inverclyde Council administered Future Jobs Fund.
In other news, talented filmmaker Andy Cassels won a prestigious award in America — but missed the chance to pick it up in person because of a mix-up over his address.
A letter informing him he had won Short Film Award of Merit at the Indie Fest in La Jolla, California, was posted to his old home.
By the time the competition organisers tracked him down to find out why they had not heard from him, it was too late to fly to the States to pick up the accolade for his gripping film Seance Fiction.
But Andy had finally received his winning statue, and although he said he was disappointed not to have been able to attend the awards ceremony, he was thrilled to have the accolade.
In sport, Allan Moore insisted he wants to build success at Morton by making them one of the fittest teams in the league.
His Stirling Albion side stormed to the Second Division title in the season just ended by overturning a 15-point deficit on rivals Alloa.
Despite being forced to play three games in a week towards the end of the campaign, Stirling’s superior fitness told as they clinched the league on the final day of the season.
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