THIS week’s look back at the Telegraph archives takes us back nine years, when a team of thoughtful Greenock prison officers came to the rescue of a local pensioner.
Margaret McCreadie, 81, issued a plea for help after being left ‘worried sick’ that enforcement action would be taken against her because her 70ft garden had grown out of control.
After reading about her plight in the Tele, Mark Thomson decided to do something to help.
He said: “I went straight round to her door and said I could do it myself or gather a group of prison officers together to come down and help as it would be a good deed for the community.
“The prison governor Willie Stuart was very supportive of the idea and was more than happy for us to hire a van and use the jail’s gardening equipment as it’s a big job.”
Margaret said the kindness of the Gateside jail's staff had ‘restored her faith in humanity’.
Elsewhere, an exquisite gown worn by Lady Inverclyde at the coronation of King George VI was discovered lying in a house in Staffordshire.
Antiques expert Charles Hanson was called out to identify a rich red velvet robe, coronet and ermine cape which was hidden away in a tin box within a property in Burton-upon-Trent.
The outfit was made personally for Lady Inverclyde to wear to the King’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in May 1937.
Charles told the Tele: “I was called out to a very normal, three-bedroom house in Derbyshire and within the house we found this old rusty box which contained this beautiful gown — I couldn’t believe it, it was really quite something.
“It felt like the coronation had come alive when the gown came out of the box.
“The family had no idea what it was.
“It’s now going to be auctioned off and I really hope it will be brought home to Scotland.
“Perhaps the local museum could buy it as when dressed up the gown is really splendid.”
In other news, shipyard workers in Port Glasgow handed a cheque for £3,000 to a much-loved Inverclyde charity.
Staff at Ferguson Marine raised a total of £1,500 for Ardgowan Hospice, which was matched by the company itself.
Workers had been raising money for the charity since 2008 through raffles and other events.
They later began donating money directly from their wages into a pot to be handed over to the hospice.
Elaine McNeill of Ardgowan Hospice said: “We weren’t expecting that — it’s amazing.
“Ferguson’s are regular supporters of the hospice and it is greatly appreciated.”
In sport, Morton manager Jim Duffy said he expected a friendly against Rotherham United to be his side’s toughest pre-season test.
Morton were set to host the English Championship side for a third consecutive year, having drawn 0-0 in 2013 and lost 1-0 in 2014.
Duffy expected another thorough examination at Cappielow, but welcomed the challenge as ‘ideal preparation’ for the following weekend’s Petrofac Cup match against Dumbarton.
He told the Tele: “I remember a fair bit of last year’s friendly in the sense that it was really, really tough — just non-stop defending for 90 minutes.
“We had to work hard and hang on in there, because we weren’t quite ready to play that level of team.
“And I was pleased with the attitude of the players last year.
“We knew that they were considerably better — and I don’t think it will be too much different tomorrow either.
“It’s natural down south for the players to have both the technical side and physicality.”
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