Restoration Update 2011

Thanks to Michele for his work midweek on the West Terrace. We got a lot done again this morning at Cathkin. Another 40 feet of pitch wall painted and track cleared. We painted another 8 crush barriers and have nearly finished the West End. Another few steps cleaned and painted as well and a decent full survey of the ground was recorded today, breaking the restoration points into segments for future work. More well sishers came by pleased to see the ground returning to life, all of which is much appreciated too.

Restoration Latest...

Pat & I have been hard at work down at Cathkin all weekend. All of the West Terrace crush barriers are now 3rd Lanark scarlet. This section feels like it is just waiting for the crowd to return ! We cleared both stairways of leaves and rubbish, filling 15 refuse sacks! We have now started restoring the actual terracing and painting as we go. Here's a wee selection of this week's work. We also covered another 30 feet of the pitch wall in white masonry paint, so it's looking more and more like a football stadium again after this weekend! Many thanks to Craig Stewart from the SFL website for highlighting our fight against the vandals of last week. Check out his coverage on the Third Lanark comeback at the official SFL website. A special hello to the Berwick Rangers fans we met down at the park on Saturday and to our new Italian friend. Word is certainly spreading fast...

Blue Monday !!

Today was rightly named ! Arrived at the ground this morning at 8am to be met by this scene...

The whole place had been vandalised overnight and there wasn't a part of the old stadium that was spared. The usual gang slogans and idiotic 'tagging' covered my lovely white walls and covered the Pavilion building as well. I spoke to the Council and the local Police but it annoyed me so much I came home early, bought some more masonry paint and covered up all of the offending 'artwork' this evening in the dark, illuminated by my car headlights! Sorry, but it takes a lot more than that to put US off restoring this place!! Nice try though...

Restoration Latest...

Pat & I have been working away at the old stadium all weekend. Managed to clear another 25 feet of the south side pitch wall and painted another 50 feet of this section. Really starting to look like a football ground again ! We then moved on to the west terracing, which is still in surpringly good condition. Last restored in 1948, we cleared away the leaves, rubbish and muck and got stuck into the dirty work of scraping away all the undergrowth and moss from the concrete terraces themselves and the first stairway. At the end of a back - breaking session we had completed this entire section. We then made a start on the crush barriers, repainting them in the scarlet of the glorious old Warriors ! Here's a few pics of what we have done so far in January...

January 2011 - Restoration Update

Happy New Year all. We have been working through the bad weather to restore the old place and despite sub zero conditions and a layer of snow and ice again this week, we have managed to get another 20 feet of the pitch wall on the South side of the ground cleared and prepped for painting. This week I have finally made a start on the long neglected West terracing, clearing the sides of the first 21 steps. Thanks to Vice Chairman Pat McGeady for bringing me life - saving coffee early Sunday morning !! More photos to come...

From the Slopes Of Cathkin To The Slopes Of Gallipoli

We have been doing some filming recently for the documentary we are making entitled 'FIELD OF DREAMS'' and took some shots during our walking tour of the History Of Third Lanark. This is the old Drill Hall in Coplaw Street. Built in 1884, they were partially funded by a tournament played at the 2nd Hampden Park(now Cathkin) between 3RD LANARK, COWLAIRS, QUEENS PARK & RANGERS FC. Each played 2 halves of 20 minutes, with Rangers running out the eventual winners.
The 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers were eventually amalgamated into the Cameronians following the Haldane Military Reforms of 1908, becoming the 7th Terratorial Battalion of The Cameronians(Scottish Rifles). This proud history is commemorated above the entrance with this wonderful carving. A fitting tribute to the likes of Sgt.John Yuill Turnbull VC and 2nd Lieut. John Ferguson, killed at the Somme and whose body was never recovered. The Regiment served with honour in the murderous Gallipoli campaign. This is from The Hellfire Corner Website -"The 7th & 8th Battalions had arrived at Cape Helles

on the 14th june 1915 with 2200 Officers and men, but left on the 9th of January 1916 with a combined strength of 130."It seems that " the last remaining embers that were the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers were extinguished on the white-hot slopes of Gully Ravine on the 28th June 1915." (c) Ian Livingston.

If our campaign to return to Cathkin is successful, then it is our intention to build a War Memorial to all of those who served with the 3rd LRV and to remember their sacrifice from The Boer War onwards. Lest We Forget.