Over the last couple of months, I have been chatting with Nigel’s friends Neil, Peter and Gordon and they have been regaling me with stories from when they were youngsters – tales that make you roar with laughter and other tales told where there is no doubt that they were up to mischief!
Neil remembers their days of being paper boys and how they used to buy thruppenny single cigarettes at Campbells in Kennishead Road in Thornliebank – they were often found round the back of the toilets at school having a smoke.
A common theme throughout their school days is they would often sneak away from school to do other things – there is a story about climbing over a 6ft fence at school – taking the train from Patterton to Whitecraigs and then ice skating round the pond at Rouken Glen Park – still in their school uniforms – totally mad – another story is when they all travelled into town and headed to Fullers Tearoom treating themselves to chocolate eclairs and cream cakes – Johnny Anderson, the headmaster at Eastwood High was not amused – there were lots more stories – some unprintable!
Gordon remembers Nigel and Neil going through a phase of wearing green and grey corduroy Donovan hats and John Lennon style glasses – they took their school blazers to the local seamstress and asked her to make a vent at the back – they thought they were Uber cool – Neil remembers after playing football they would all go off to Clarkston’s café for a hot orange.
As they got older a Saturday night would start at The Derby Café in Netherlee and then off clubbing to such places as the Maryland Club just off Sauchiehall Street or The Picasso Club which was the place to be seen – Neil remembers them going to The Lindella Club where Lulu used to perform – they always kept just enough money for the bus ride home.
Nigel loved music and was mad keen on everything Motown – the Four Tops – Martha and the Vandellas – The Temptations – he loved Rhythm & Blues and he loved soul music – the first record he ever bought was Otis Redding – his favourite song by Otis – (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay – Nigel was 19 years old when it was released.
Another great night out was a visit to the Eglington Cinema to catch a premiere – Neil remembers when they were teenagers seeing The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and for a while they became Clint Eastwood.
One thing they all agree on is that Nigel from a young age was a dedicated follower of fashion – there is talk of Nigel and Peter hitchhiking to London and Nigel heading for Carnaby Street – Peter remembers Nigel had a fitted suit with a ticket pocket – nobody else had one – he was a trend setter!
Nigel and Gordon were mad keen on fishing – they would spend all their pocket money on a day’s fishing most Saturdays – and that passion continued for many years – they fished all over Scotland – Neil has fond memories of them fishing in the summer at Arran – not so great memories of them camping – they tried it once – never again.
In later years the boys lost touch – all going off in different directions – Nigel saw Gordon more often on various fishing trips – they would tell me about all the daft things that they and the other boys would get up to – we had such a laugh – special memories!
Ayla’s wedding was extra special – she asked her Uncle Nigel to give her away the night before the wedding.
It was totally unexpected and out of the blue – he was totally gobsmacked and chuffed to bits.
Both families and friends had travelled to Cape Cod for the wedding – Ayla and her husband-to-be Chris rented a big house for the week on the water where the wedding was to take place – the backdrop was stunning.
On the day Nigel was more excited than nervous – he had watched Ayla grow up into this beautiful young woman not only on the outside but on the inside too – they always had a great time when they were together – he was so proud of her and thrilled to play a very special part on her big day.
Arran had a very special place in Nigel’s heart – as a youngster he spent his summer holidays there every year with his mum, dad and wee sister Jill – they stayed at Lenamhor along with Nigel’s grandmother affectionately known as Munner, his Aunt Jean and Uncle Bill and their kids Bruce and Jean – they would all go for a month apart from his Dad and Uncle Bill who could only get away from work for two weeks – Nigel loved telling stories about how they would take the train and then the ferry to the island – it was a big adventure – they used to send a trunk ahead with everything they would need for the trip – we would hear all about the Pickens family who were farmers and how the kids would be allowed to sit on the back of their tractor when they were bringing in the cows – go on rabbit shoots, walk to the well for water and nip down the road to pick up the milk with their can – it was a working farm so there was always plenty going on especially with all the animals and the cutting of the hay.
Jill tells me that they would often pile on to Johnny Pickens' wagon and he would run them down to the Lagg Hotel where they would sit outside with a coke and a packet of crips while their parents were in having a wee drink – they would amuse themselves in the evening playing 9 card Brag for pennies – in those days there was no central heating – you had to gather the wood and light the fire – days were spent on the beach, swimming and building fires to grill the catch of the day – and there would always be a big pot of potatoes boiling away for all to enjoy – a special treat was when Finlay Cook’s van came round twice a week – a travelling shop with lots of lovely things to eat, and trays and trays of sweets.
The family would enjoy going on day trips to Lamlash, Brodick and Whiting Bay – and let’s not forget fishing – this is where Nigel caught his first fish!
Fast forward 30 odd years – a family trip back to Arran – this time Jill with her husband Paul and their kids Jamie and Georgia – Nigel’s mum, dad and the two of us – Georgia made us all laugh when she added an ‘s’ at the end – she was going on holiday to "Arrans" – we stayed at The Lagg Hotel – we visited all their old childhood haunts, took long walks, barbecued on the beach – played games at the hotel – we had a great time – Jamie caught a fish – the kids put it in the sink back at the hotel much to everyone’s amusement – I remember Georgia not being the least bit bothered by the idea of Nigel gutting it and then putting it on the barbecue – I don’t think Jamie was quite so keen on eating his own fish – wonderful memories!
Nigel cherished the time he had with Leilani and Lochlainn.
There was something very special about the relationship he had with Leilani – he loved her – and she loved him – when I would FaceTime to have a blether with the family Leilani would pop up on screen to say hello – the first thing she would say is “Where’s Uncle Nigel" he would hear her from the sofa and would be tickled pink – his face would just light up and then that was it – no one from then on could get a word in edgeways.
Every single time Leilani would ask for her Uncle Nigel – they always called each other "tomato face" using various funny voices which always cracked them up – they were always laughing – whenever we were all together on holiday they always had such a lot of fun – reading, playing, watching Disney films, chatting – they watched every single episode of Peppa Pig – Nigel became an expert on Peppa – he enjoyed spending hours choosing books for the kids which they will be able to pass down to their own children.
When Lochlainn came along there was tremendous excitement – another wee person to love and cherish – when Ayla and Chris gave Lochlainn Nigel’s middle name Bruce he was deeply touched – just before Lochlainn was born Nigel painted a forest scene on the wall in the nursery which was pretty cool – of course Leilani joined in to help her Uncle Nigel – they were two peas in a pod.
A dream come true – going to Wimbledon – Nigel was a huge fan – he loved the game.
Nigel played tennis as a youngster – he was actually quite good – he played for the school team – and he became junior champion in his 1st year at Hillpark Tennis Club.
Every year we were literally glued to the TV enjoying our strawberries and cream with a glass of Pimm’s – we watched every match and he would always say "wouldn’t it be great to go to Wimbledon" we had both grown up with Wimbledon – never missed a tournament and dreamt of going one day.
Nigel decided to enter the ballot for 2018 and was thrilled to receive tickets for centre court on the Tuesday of the first week – we were in the very back row – we didn’t care – we were just so happy to be there and enjoy the whole experience – it is a very special place – Nigel entered again in 2019 and couldn’t believe that he was lucky enough to receive tickets again – this time for the second Saturday on Court 1.
The day before the Saturday match we were in London sightseeing – I received a phone call from Judy Murray – we were involved in her foundation so we got to know her a wee bit – she had two tickets for the men’s final on Sunday that she would like us to have – she had no idea that we were already in London and had ballot tickets for Court 1 on Saturday – we were both blown away – these were very special tickets – we suddenly realised that we had nothing to wear – we only had casual clothes with us so we dashed round the shops to make sure that we had the proper attire – Nigel needed shoes, socks, a shirt and a tie – and a dress and shoes for me.
Saturday on Court 1 was great – a lovely setting – we had recently watched the documentary about the retractable roof being completed in time for the 2019 championships – and now we are here.
Wimbledon on Sunday was truly magical – we arrived early – it was just so great to be there and take everything in – soaking up the atmosphere – people watching – we had a lovely lunch – we kept pinching ourselves just to make sure that it was real – when we got to our seats we couldn’t believe how truly lucky we were – we were really close to the court – the match was between Djokovic and Federer and it was electric – we now know that it was the longest singles final in Wimbledon history at 4 hours and 57 minutes – Nigel was like a wee boy – he was so excited – he loved every minute – the game went on so late that we missed our flight and stayed another night – we went back to the hotel and relived the whole day – Nigel had realised a boyhood dream – treasured memories.
It was the most magical day – the best day of our lives!
We were trying to set a date for years – the original plan was to have a castle wedding and a ceilidh bringing all the family here to Scotland – we are the only ones here – everyone else is in New York, London, Dubai and Spain – we thought "right let’s get everyone together in October 2020" when we would have been celebrating 30 years together – this was not to be – due to Covid.
At the beginning of 2021 there was still so much uncertainty with Covid – we realised that it would be ages before we could get all the family together – so after 30 years together we decided to elope – and then the plan would be to have parties with all the family when we were allowed to travel – we swung into action – we found the perfect place – Wee Weddings at Crear – the folks at Crear are truly wonderful – we had less than 8 weeks to prepare before the wedding on 25th May – we were in the studio by ourselves so it was fine to have all the things we needed for the wedding to come here – dress, suit, shoes, cake, wellies and everything else we needed to make the day special – it was a secret so being on our own was perfect – every day a parcel was being delivered – it was a really happy time – we just laughed and laughed at the thought of us finally getting married and nobody knew – the day we chose our rings was really special – we were so looking forward to telling our families on the day – we knew they would be super excited for us and of course we would have all the parties to look forward to.
When we arrived at Crear it was everything we could have wished for – a lovely cosy cottage for two, homemade soup and bread on the stove, a lovely hamper – our flowers were perfect – just as we had described them to the florist at Crear – we couldn’t have asked for more – a beautiful setting on the west coast of Scotland – wonderful scenery and the spectacular beach overlooking the Paps of Jura.
On the day there was just us, David the minister, Ian the piper, Bart the videographer and Gavin the photographer – we had the wedding ceremony filmed so that the family could enjoy seeing us tying the knot – Nigel wrote the most beautiful poem which the minister read for us – we also had a lovely film made of the whole day – we can be seen walking up and down the beach to the sound of the pipes – very Scottish – and of course we have a lovely wedding album to treasure – the most amazing dinner was prepared for us and brought to the cottage with lovely wine – we spent the evening Facetiming all the family to tell them the good news – there were lots of tears – tears of joy!
We were so happy!
