THIS week’s walk down memory lane takes us back to this day 21 years ago, when parents in Inverclyde feared they would have to make emergency arrangements for their young children if a planned nurseries strike went ahead.
Nursery nurses all over Scotland were set to walk out for two days in pursuit of a long-running pay and re-grading claim.
It was expected that 110 nursery nurses would be on strike at Inverclyde nursery schools, nursery classes in primary schools and children’s centres.
Inverclyde Council staff were handing out letters to parents to say that 'minimal or no provision may be available' for them on those days.
Meanwhile, young designer Rebecca Collins was to have her winning creation made up by a top retailer.
The Greenock schoolgirl was set to travel to London to see a full-size version of an outfit she designed for a national competition.
The eight-year-old was the only Scottish winner from 3,000 entries from pupils throughout the UK.
She was to join five other winners who would also have their outfits made up by the childrenswear team at Marks & Spencer.
Elsewhere, pupils and staff at Gourock High School raised £700 for Ardgowan Hospice and Inverclyde Royal Hospital’s children’s ward with a balloon race.
Some 700 helium balloons were released from the school grounds, and some made it as far as Newcastle and the Borders.
Every person taking part in the race paid £1 for a balloon, which was then donated to charity.
In other news, TV prankster Jeremy Beadle had the crowds falling about as he toured Gourock Highland Games in his role as Chieftain.
The poor weather meant that the previous year’s 10,000 crowd plummeted to only 2,668 spectators, but Jeremy did his best to liven up the occasion.
Jeremy had always wanted to be the chieftain at a Highland games, and Gourock was his first.
The Tele reported that the TV star enjoyed the games and was wowed by the local scenery.
In sport, Inverclyde AC’s Mark Pollard displayed his undoubted talent to claim the senior 800 metres West District title.
In his heat Pollard was faced with some of the country’s biggest kickers, but with an aggressive run almost from the gun he dictated the pace to ease himself into the final.
The punishing one-hour recovery between heat and final suited Pollard as he shadowed the leaders until 500m to go when he hit the front and ground the ‘kickers’ down to power clear, claiming his first 800 senior title in a new best of 1:54.5.
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