This was the period where there were several large caps in the record. There were also pages which consisted solely or almost completely of newspaper reports which were not purely club records, or club records at all which have been left out.
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George Sinclair, Dumbarton AAC January to March 1934
George’s record keeping faltered a bit in 1934, then there were several bigger gaps in 1935 as will be seen below. Possibly because of injury, business or because for whatever reason he missed the training. Results indicate that his form had not slipped too much though.
The club championship was written on a separate sheet of paper which had to be folded to fit the page above. The result after the result was folded down in below.
The clippings on the right hand page were all reports on the National championships and fold out in three directions.
The Balloch to Clydebank Road Race had been held by Clydesdale Harriers as a closed event but this was the first race involving another club: it would become a prominent feature of the summer athletics calendar in years to come. The result above has been folded out and appears below.
George Sinclair: Dumbarton AAC: Cross Country Oct – Dec 33
Club Group: George Sinclair, Front Row, second left
The two pages above show how important the inter-club fixtures were in the 1930’s: two held on consecutive Saturdays, one away and one at home. There were the three packs on each occasion. It also indicates how personal the diary was to George: comments on the weather for the entry of 16th December where he criticised the weather and the Glasgow runners with the only enjoyable aspect of the day was the hot baths. He was, justifiably I think, very critical of the Glasgow YMCA for not turning up. Having arranged the fixture and the date, they were obliged to turn up or to let the host club know beforehand that they would not be able to fulfil the event. And again we see a photograph of Scottish athletics interest generally included in the week’s report.
George Sinclair: Dumbarton AAC: Summer 1933
The principal social function of the year for most sports clubs, and certainly for Harriers and Athletic Clubs is the Annual Dinner or Supper. The terminology varies but the format is always the same – a formal dinner dance with speeches before or after. These come at the end of the summer season or at the start of the cross-country season in October. In 1933 Dumbarton AAC had a formal ‘Supper’ at the end of April and were no small affair.
Quite a lot to take in on this page. The ticket, beautifully printed indicates the cost of 2/6d which is approximately £9 in today’s money, tells us it was a Social and also that George himself won the club championship. The format is presented in the programme reproduced below:
The two big open and invitation sports in the West were the Rangers Sports and the Queen’s Park sports. A man like George who kept abreast of Scottish athletics would naturally have included such photographs. In this case there was a special interest when Fullarton of Dumbarton AAC won the open handicap 100 yards.
The summer season as recorded was short and the cross country season started with the opening run on 7th October 1933 from the Brock Baths. The club handbook for the winter season is included in George’s book but stuck down. The handbook ran to 16 pages but the back page is presumably blank.
There are lots of interesting facts about the sport in the early 30’s here regarding fixtures, training nights but there are also rules for club members and information about subscriptions, life membership and so on that are worth a close look. It was now the start of the 1933/34 cross-country season which will take a new page.
George Sinclair, Dumbarton AAC: to 25th March, 1933
This page continues where the 1932 diary pages ended and goes as far as the end of the cross-country season and then on to the club annual Dinner – or Supper as it is called here. Entries are at times very ornately written but the essential information is never obscured.
The handicaps listed above would have been worked out previously according to strict rules which would continue from race to race and would be accurate as far as the relative abilities of the runners were concerned. The list of names of entrants would probably have been posted on a club notice board at the training HQ for intending runners to enter their names.
As the notes indicate, he was direct and honest about the numbers who turned out for the inter-club runs whether they were DAAC runners or not. The details of the course and reason for the variation are also of interest – it would also be of interest to know whether the same trail could be followed today.
A nod to the social situation of the early 1930’s with George’s comments in his script about the club not being able to afford to send a team to the National Championships. That they were numerically strong enough to send a team is indicated by the fact that they had three packs out in Dumbarton on the day. The newspaper article is a report on the National event with nothing about the club in it. The next two pages are for Saturdays 11th and 18th March.
And here endeth the winter season 1932-33. THe Annual Supper was held in April and then it was on to the summer season and track activities.
George Sinclair, Dumbarton AAC 1932 – 35
George Sinclair was a member of Dumbarton AAC from 1932 to 1935 taking part in all club activities – club runs plus open competition plus championships at District and National level, on the track, along the road and over the country. He attended socials and presentations and, in short, was a quite superb club man. The diary that he kept was sent by his son Gordon to the club and Allan Adams was kind enough to lend it to us. It is a very good, persona and in depth, account of life as a Harrier in a difficult time for the country generally. There are also people who are very well known to us in the 21st century for what they have done – BH Humble, a quite extraordinary mountaineer who was really stone deaf and had other problems yet managed to climb and write about it for many years, Doctor IMM Macphail who was a noted historian in both English and Gaelic with a series of first class histories to his credit. Look for some of these people, not just the two mentioned here. We should look at the introductory note from Gordon.
We have below the pages dealing with 1932 below and those for 1933-35 inclusive will be added shortly.
There are several pages where a newspaper cutting is stuck in to the page and folded to make it fit the album. The bottom left item on the right hand page above is one of these and when folded out it is as below
Cutting on left hand side above when opened out looks like this –
Links to Early 1933 Summer 1933 (incl Rule Book) Cross Country Oct – Dec 33 January to March 1934
Brian Edridge: the Last Word.
It seems only fair that after we have heard what some of his friends have to say about him, we let him have the last word. As we might expect he does not take a lot of credit for himself. We can do no more than quote him directly.
“I wish to record my everlasting thanks to my wife Maggie for her love, support and encouragement throughout my life and my participation in my passions for rock climbing, hill walking and sailing and allowing me to follow an active life of my own choosing.”
Brian Edridge: Administrator
Being a member of any club often/usually involves more than just running, There are committees to be sat on which involve members dealing with correspondence, handling all the financial affairs such as membership fees, paying money out for renting accommodation, etc, then there are teams to be selected (if it is a sports club), pitches to be marked out, teams to be selected and so on and so on. These tasks all fall on the shoulders of willing club members who are often still competitors themselves. There are committees at club, county, national levels as well as all the ad hoc committees that are formed. Many competitors do not take on any of the responsibilities away from the arena. That cannot be said of Brian.
The page above is from the 1995 SAF Handbook. It was at the time when Scottish athletics was being reorganised. Before the mid-90’s the sport was run by six governing bodies – Scottish Amateur Athletic Association, Scottish Women’s Amateur Association, Scottish Cross-Country Association, Scottish Women’s Cross-Country Association, Scottish Schools Association and the Scottish Hill Runners Association – and it was decided that they should all come under the single, more professional Scottish Athletics Federation. This Federation would have the differing aspects of the sport looked after by ‘Commissions’ dealing with Track & Field, Cross-Country and Road, Hill Runners, etc.
Brian was there at the start as we can see above. How did that come about? He tells us: “Apart from other Clydesdales I knew at that time only one other hill runner – Denis Bell – whom I had met at a Ben Lomond race after learning his name from a mutual business contact. Much to my surprise, at the AGM of the Scottish Hill Runners Association a lack of volunteers induced Denis to propose me as Minute Secretary, and I found myself duly elected! As a rookie I struggled without prior knowledge of people, events, organisations and the general terminology but was helpfully overseen by Robin Morris, the President. The SHRA eventually gained Scottish Athletics Association recognition, and I found myself somehow designated as Finance Officer of SHRA (not Treasurer, who dealt with annual subscriptions). Apart from attending SAF committee meetings in Perth with Elspeth Scott my only responsibility was at the International Hill Race in Edinburgh where I had the unenviable task of collecting dues from each of the participating countries.”
From the highest level of administration in the domestic scene, Brian was also prepared to help out where needed. The old Scottish athletics maxim of “You do what your club needs you to do” was maybe exemplified by him here in particular. We have mentioned the ‘Come and Try’ days in which he was involved and word is that the Kilpatricks Hill Race started soon thereafter. Brian stepped in when needed read what he has to say about it below:
“I don’t know the origins of the Kilpatricks Hill Race, but at my first running in it various club members were involved in organising it. Then a lack of willingness to carry on led me to take on the job myself. I devised an improved route, promoted the event at races, personally marked out the course, and arranged parking, changing, toilet and bar facilities at the Old Kilpatrick Bowling Club. Fortunately I had enough helpers to marshal the route and the finish then presented prizes. The next morning I would retrieve all the flags and deliver small gifts to the local farmer’s wife over whose ground we had run. I did this for a few years and was very glad when Christine Menhennet took over.”
In his comments elsewhere on Brian and their shared hill racing experiencing, Denis Bell comments on the assistance he had been given by Brian. To this he says: I may well have helped Denis by showing how to present the financial account for some races he organised. In other words, without being an official member of an organising committee or a representative of the runners, he willingly helped where he was asked or where he thought he could be of some use. And again: I may have helped Denis with the Dumgoyne Hill Race – a challenge between Clydesdale and Westerlands, but as he he was a member of neither club, I think it most unlikely.. You would have to check with him”
If we put them all together, we get a picture of a man who was always willing to do his bit for clubs or associations he was in whether National or local – not one who was only a taker of benefits granted to members.
Brian Edridge: What His Friends Say: Denis Bell
Denis Bell is a noted hill runner who has had a top class career in Scottish hill running and has been a friend of Brian, Maggie and their two sons for many years. I say has ‘been a friend’ but Denis and his wife Mary are still friend of the family. He knows about their highs and lows (groan) and when he was asked to say something about Brian he did it in his own idiosyncratic fashion – it is handwritten but he comments on that himself. Over to Denis, pictured below with Christine Menhennet.
Brian Edridge is a great man, I think married to the wonderful Maggie for over 50 years and with grand lads Finlay and Innes as two very bright grown men of character. A great family. Brian and I of course crossed tracks on the hills – we have a love of our special Scottish open spaces and high grounds. First recollections of this tall, lean, athletic gentleman of lovely lilting Scots tongue and always with a smile and kind words. Brian proudly wore the white vest with the bold black C – yes the Clydesdale Harriers iconic proud vest. The C teams Brian ran with were of course often exceptional and so many became true valued hill friends. Brian was a braw long-legged athlete of style and honest endeavour. Brian’s palmares reads so strong I think 2 or 3 Munros completed and add at least one winter achieved complete. A tough committed, focused man of the hills who set objectives and simply, forthrightly achieved …! All those hills again and again – energy, commitment, hilllcraft and appetite. There are few who who would rate higher in terms of loving the high places.
As Brian progressed he determined to do the “others” . . . . . yes, Corbetts, Donalds, Marilyns – his achievements and record is awesome. Of course Maggie and the boys were involved and made a ‘fit, competent family’. As an added dimensional adventurer, Brian sailed and got his ticket for skippering, so he and Maggie sailed the seas and revelled in the West Coast in particular. Such people gather in great, close friends and the enthusiastic open-arms welcome was simply guaranteed.
Two wee asides: First, Brian was an adept ‘moothie’ player and of course entertainment at the bothies, camps, on board all helped engender fun and unforgettable social gatherings. Second, I recall Brian telling me he got hellishly ‘crag-bound’ in winter while doing a classic long mountain-face traverse and needed to be rescued (bravo SMRT) – it didn’t dampen his enthusiasm to get out and about.
Apart from a really lovely valued friendship – over probably about 35 years – and more past our running days, Brian gave me much needed support when I was organising hill races. I am a bit of a “loose yin” at records and book-keeping and on at least 3 or 4 occasions Brian so generously took my mess of notes, receipts and cash and made them make sense and balance! An accountant is a compleater/finisher. That’s Brian Edridge.
So Brian and Maggie. committed and true Scots through and through have been around and graced so many companies with their warm social skills and fun welcoming and supporting. You’ll gather from my scribblings that the tall, lean, gentle-man is a self effacing power house and resilient, hardy man of huge endeavours with skills and energy that makes him an inveterate achiever, par excellence, To know and be friends with Brian and Maggie is a rare treat . . . . people’s people who are always a pleasure to be in the company of. Our (Mary and me) friends have inspired and enthralled and we hope that continues for many years to come. Challenges come and go for us ‘aulder yins’ but the love of friendships gained over the years add to the richness of life. Thank you for being “youse” Maggie and Brian. Here’s to a few more glasses raised. Slainte Mhath.
Thanks Denis and also thanks for bringing up the matter of Brian’s sailing abilities and adding to what Christine has said already. In fact Brian himself tells us that he had the yacht for approximately 20 years. He says that after he retired he and Maggie lived aboard the yacht (Antarctica) for 4 months every summer for about 15 years. They visited the Scottish Islands which enabled him to climb more Marilyns and higher hills.
Brian Edridge: What his friends say: Phil Dolan and Ross McInroy
Phil Dolan
Phil Dolan (87) running in the Saltcoats Road Race
Phil Dolan, having been Clydesdale Harriers club president, secretary and captain was a very good endurance runner indeed who set records on the road as well as in the fearsome Mamore Hill Race at Kinlochleven, who ran well on the track with two Scottish vests at 10000m and over the country has several Scottish appearances to his credit has this to say of Brian.
“Brian has a great love for grassroot sport and in the late 90s would write an occasional letter to the Glasgow Herald, illustrating his passion. In 1998, after having participated in the Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay, he was somewhat disappointed in the lack of coverage of the Clydesdale Harriers performance by the then Athletic Correspondent, Sandy Sutherland. Accordingly, he wrote a letter gently chiding the report for said lack of a mention for the Clydesdale performance finishing in the top 12 teams out of 20 and thus guaranteeing their invite for the following year. Brian Edridge is a true advocate for grassroot sport in and a great ambassador for Clydesdale Harriers in particular!”
[ I had not remembered this letter of which Phil speaks but write it Brian did. Reproduced below for interest]
Glasgow Herald, 21st November 1998. “Letters to the Sports Desk”
HAVING run in the Barr’s Irn Bru Edinburgh to Glasgow Road Relay yesterday, I enjoyed reading Sandy Sutherland’s report on the event published today.
However, I was disappointed to see no mention of Clydesdale Harriers who finished twelfth, good enough to qualify automatically for next year. None of our depleted team which included four veterans (two over 50 including myself) lost a single place. We are immodest enough to believe we put up a good showing.
Please keep on reporting athletics at club level – your readers are interested.
Brian Edridge
Ross McInroy
One of Brian’s running companions and one who knows him well as a competitor as well as a work colleague is Ross McInroy. Ross ran in many of the same events but in particular took part in the Scottish Island Peaks Race twice with him. Ross says:-
“I first met Brian at work (KPMG formerly Thomson Mclintock) and at an social event in the 80’s we realised we had a mutual interest in hill racing. He was instrumental in me joining Clydesdale as Helensburgh was mainly focused on road running. We were at many of the hill races in that period and took part in club training in the Campsies as well weekend training runs. A circuit from Callander round Stuc a Chroin and Ben Vorlich sticks in my memory. We competed in the 1992 & 1993 Scottish Islands Peaks races ( 3rd in boat class 1992, 3rd runners 1993). Brian moved on to sailing around 2000 and we lost touch thereafter and I moved back to the Helensburgh club.
Brian was a very competent mountaineer as well as a good runner plus he was also a excellent sailor He was good company on the long races and a much more confident navigator than me, A very calm person!”