Key Events & Deaths on this day in Northern Ireland Troubles
9th January
Thursday 9 January 1969
Terence O’Neill, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, travelled to London to meet James Callaghan, then British Home Secretary, to brief him on the growing violence in Northern Ireland.
Tuesday 9 January 1990
Peter Brooke, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, delivered a speech in Bangor, County Down, in which he sought to break the political stalemate by seeking to encourage a fresh round of inter-party talks aimed at restoring devolved power to Northern Ireland. In particular he stressed that sufficient “common ground” existed for progress to be made and urged Unionist politicians to resume contact with the British government. Whilst reluctant to make any commitment to suspend the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) to allow for Unionists to engage in discussions, Brooke did hold out the promise that he would seek to work the AIA in a sensitive manner.
Tuesday 9 January 1996
A debate opened in the House of Commons, Westminster on the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Bill which was drafted to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency Provisions (Northern Ireland) Act. The Bill contained a proposal on the videotaping of Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) interviews.
Friday 9 January 1998
Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, went into the Maze Prison to meet Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) prisoners in an attempt to change their decision to end their support for the peace process.
Mowlam’s decision met with severe criticism from Unionist politicians. After the meeting, the prisoners agreed that the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), the political representatives of the UDA and the UFF, should continue in the talks. Edward Kennedy, then United States (US) Senator, paid a visit to Derry and delivered a speech on the American view of the prospects for peace in Northern Ireland.
Tuesday 9 January 2001
There was a pipe-bomb attack on the home of a Catholic family in Larne. The device was thrown through the front window of the house but only partially exploded. A mother and her son were in the living room at the time but the two escaped uninjured. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) described the incident as attempted murder. The attack was carried out by Loyalist paramilitaries.
Wednesday 9 January 2002
Violence Outside Holy Cross School
There were confrontations outside the Holy Cross Girls’ Primary School in Ardoyne, north Belfast, during the early afternoon. Disturbances and rioting quickly spread to other surrounding areas and there was serious rioting in Ardoyne during the evening and into the night. Catholic parents and Protestant residents of the Glenbryn estate each claimed that the other side started the trouble. Catholic parents said that they had faced increased verbal abuse since Monday during their walks to and from the Holy Cross school and they were attacked while coming from school in the early afternoon. A Catholic mother claimed she was punched in the face as she walked home from the school with her child.
Some Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers said they arrived at a confrontation between a Protestant woman and a Catholic woman close to the school. The police moved to make an arrest but the person was protected by other residents. There was a report that some Loyalists had driven a car at the school gates in an attempt to enter the school. Police officers said they had to draw their weapons. Some school children had to be taken home through another school while a bus carrying other children was attacked on its way down the Ardoyne Road..
Protestant residents claimed the trouble started when Catholics removed a wreath from a lamppost. Disturbances continued later in the afternoon: Loyalist youths petrol-bombed and destroyed a police vehicle; 4 Catholic youths were taken to hospital when they were hit by pellets from a shotgun at Hesketh Park; a number of Catholic homes were attacked in the upper Crumlin Road; Catholic youths petrol-bombed a car; a Catholic woman was knocked down by a car at the nearby Twaddell Avenue; a 13-year-old Protestant schoolboy was injured when a bus taking him home through the area was attacked, a Catholic man was struck by a police vehicle.
During the evening the rioting became more serious and was mainly centred on the Nationalist end of the Ardoyne. The police fired 8 plastic baton rounds and three Catholics were injured. Three people were arrested. As the trouble further escalated, 200 police officers, backed by 200 soldiers, were drafted on to the streets. At least 14 police officers were injured during the evening.
Up to 500 nationalists and loyalists were involved in the disturbances on the Ardoyne Road, Crumlin Road and Brompton Park areas and 130 petrol-bombs, acid-bombs, and fireworks were thrown.
[A Loyalist blockade of the school had first begun on 19 June 2001 and continued until the end of term on Friday 29 June 2001. The protest resumed after the summer break on Monday 3 September 2001 but was ‘suspended’ on 23 November 2001. The protest at the school lasted for 14 weeks during 2001.]
The Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning (Amendment) Bill was given a third reading in the House of Commons, London. The Bill was introduced to extend the time allowed for Decommissioning of paramilitary weapons by one year, with possible annual extensions up to a maximum of five years. The Bill was opposed by Unionists and Conservatives who objected to the extra time and they forced a vote which was won by the Labour government by 357 votes to 142.
During the debate David Trimble, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), warned that if the government did not apply pressure on the Irish Republican Army (IRA) for continued decommissioning then he would. The current legislation only extends the work of the Independent International Decommissioning Commission (IIDC) to 26 February 2002.
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Remembering all innocent victims of the Troubles
Today is the anniversary of the death of the following people killed as a results of the conflict in Northern Ireland
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die
– Thomas Campbell
To the innocent on the list – Your memory will live forever
– To the Paramilitaries –
There are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, but nothing worth killing for.
4 People lost their lives on the 9th January between 1977 – 1992
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09 January 1977
Martin Walsh, (28)
nfNI Status: British Army (BA),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by booby trap bomb left in shop, Gortnacarrow, near Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh.
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09 January 1987
Ivan Crawford, (49)
Protestant Status: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Killed by remote controlled bomb hidden in litter bin, detonated when Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) foot patrol passed, High Street, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh
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09 January 1990
Olven Kilpatrick, (32)
Protestant Status: Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR),
Killed by: Irish Republican Army (IRA)
Off duty. Shot at his shop, Main Street, Castlederg, County Tyrone.
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09 January 1992
Philip Campbell, (28)
Catholic Status: Civilian (Civ),
Killed by: Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF)
Shot at his mobile fish and chip van, Airport Road, Moira, County Down.
Flying Scotsman wearing its British Railways livery and numbering, equipped with double chimney and smoke deflectors
The locomotive set two world records for steam traction, becoming the first steam locomotive to be officially authenticated at reaching 100 miles per hour (160.9 km/h) on 30 November 1934,[1] and then setting a record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive when it ran 422 miles (679 km) on 8 August 1989 while in Australia.[2]
Retired from regular service in 1963 after covering 2,076,000 miles (3,341,000 km),[1][3][4]Flying Scotsman gained considerable fame in preservation under the ownership of, successively, Alan Pegler, William McAlpine, Tony Marchington, and finally the National Railway Museum (NRM). As well as hauling enthusiast specials in the United Kingdom, the locomotive toured extensively in the United States and Canada (from 1969 to 1973)[5] and Australia (from 1988 to 1989).[6]Flying Scotsman has been described as the world’s most famous steam locomotive
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The Flying Scotsman in Australia
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History
The locomotive was completed in 1923, construction having been started under the auspices of the Great Northern Railway (GNR). It was built as an A1, initially carrying the GNR number 1472, because the LNER had not yet decided on a system-wide numbering scheme.[9]
Flying Scotsman was something of a flagship locomotive for the LNER. It represented the company at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 and 1925. Before this event, in February 1924 it acquired its name and the new number of 4472.[10] From then on it was commonly used for promotional purposes.
With suitably modified valve gear, this locomotive was one of five Gresley Pacifics selected to haul the prestigious non-stop Flying Scotsman train service from London to Edinburgh, hauling the inaugural train on 1 May 1928. For this the locomotives ran with a new version of the large eight-wheel tender which held 9 long tons of coal. This and the usual facility for water replenishment from the water trough system enabled them to travel the 392 miles (631 km) from London to Edinburgh in eight hours non-stop. The tender included a corridor connection and tunnel through the water tank giving access to the locomotive cab from the train so that the driver and fireman could be changed without stopping the train.
The following year the locomotive appeared in the film The Flying Scotsman. On 30 November 1934, driven by Bill Sparshatt and running a light test train, 4472 became the first steam locomotive to be officially recorded at 100 mph (160.9 km/h) and earned a place in the land speed record for railed vehicles; the publicity-conscious LNER made much of the fact.[1][11]
The locomotive ran with a corridor tender between April 1928 and October 1936, after which it reverted to the original type; but in July 1938, it was paired with a streamlined non-corridor tender, and ran with this type until withdrawal.[12] On 22 August 1928, there appeared an improved version of this Pacific type classified A3; older A1 locomotives were later rebuilt to conform. On 25 April 1945, A1-class locomotives not yet rebuilt were reclassified A10 to make way for newer Thompson and Peppercorn Pacifics. Flying Scotsman emerged from Doncaster works on 4 January 1947 as an A3, having received a boiler with the long “banjo” dome of the type it carries today. By this time it had been renumbered twice: under Edward Thompson’s comprehensive renumbering scheme for the LNER, it became No. 502 in January 1946; but in May the same year, under an amendment to that plan, it become No. 103.[9] Following nationalisation of the railways on 1 January 1948, almost all of the LNER locomotive numbers were increased by 60000, and No. 103 duly became 60103 in December 1948.[12]
Flying Scotsman wearing its British Railways livery and numbering, equipped with double chimney and smoke deflectors
All A3 Pacifics were subsequently fitted with a double Kylchap chimney to improve performance and economy. This caused soft exhaust and smoke drift that tended to obscure the driver’s forward vision; the remedy was found in the German-type smoke deflectors fitted from 1960, which somewhat changed the locomotives’ appearance but solved the problem
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The Flying Scotsman (1968)
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Preservation
In 1962, British Railways announced that they would scrap Flying Scotsman.[14] Number 60103 ended service with its last scheduled run on 14 January 1963.[15]
Proposed to be saved by a group called “Save Our Scotsman”, they were unable to raise the required £3,000, the scrap value of the locomotive. Having first seen the locomotive at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924,[16] in 1961 Alan Pegler had received £70,000 for his share holding when Northern Rubber was sold to Pegler’s Valves, a company started by his grandfather.[17] Pegler stepped in and bought the locomotive outright, with the political support of Harold Wilson.[18] He spent the next few years spending large amounts of money having the locomotive restored at Doncaster Works as closely as possible to its LNER condition: the smoke deflectors were removed; the double chimney was replaced by a single chimney; and the tender was replaced by one of the corridor type with which the locomotive had run between 1928 and 1936. It was also repainted into LNER livery. Pegler then persuaded the British Railways Board to let him run enthusiasts specials, then the only steam locomotive running on mainline British Railways.[18] It worked a number of rail tours, including a non-stop London–Edinburgh run in 1968 – the year steam traction officially ended on BR. In the meantime, the watering facilities for locomotives were disappearing, so in September 1966 Pegler purchased a second corridor tender, and adapted as an auxiliary water tank; retaining its through gangway, this was coupled behind the normal tender.[19]
Flying Scotsman ready for US tour c1969
Pegler had a contract permitting him to run his locomotive on BR until 1972, but following overhaul in the winter of 1968–69 then Prime Minister Harold Wilson agreed to support Pegler via the Trade Department running the locomotive in the United States and Canada to support British exports. To comply with local railway regulations, it was fitted with: a cowcatcher; bell; buckeye couplings; American-style whistle;[20] air brakes; and high-intensity headlamp.
Flying Scotsman at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, March 1972
Starting in Boston, Massachusetts,[17] the tour ran into immediate problems, with some states seeing the locomotive as a fire-hazard, and there-by raising costs through the need for diesel-headed-haulage through them. However, the train ran from Boston to New York, Washington and Dallas in 1969; from Texas to Wisconsin and finishing in Montreal in 1970; and from Toronto to San Francisco in 1971 — a total of 15,400 miles (24,800 km).[16]
Flying Scotsman at Carnforth in 1982 with original single chimney and without the later German-style smoke deflectors
However, in 1970 Ted Heath‘s Conservatives ousted Wilson’s Labour Party, and withdrew financial support from the tour; but Pegler decided to return for the 1970 season. By the end of that season’s tour, the money had run out and Pegler was £132,000 in debt, with the locomotive in storage at the US ArmySharpe Depot to keep it away from unpaid creditors.[16] Pegler worked his passage home from San Francisco to England on a P&O cruise ship in 1971, giving lectures about trains and travel; he was declared bankrupt in the High Court 1972.[16][17][18][21]
Fears then arose for the engine’s future, the speculation being that it could take up permanent residence in America or even be cut up. After Alan Bloom made a personal phone call to him in January 1973, William McAlpine stepped in and bought the locomotive for £25,000 direct from the finance company in San Francisco docks. After its return to the UK via the Panama Canal in February 1973, McAlpine paid for the locomotive’s restoration at Derby Works. Trial runs took place on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway in summer 1973, after which it was transferred to Steamtown (Carnforth), from where it steamed on various tours.[22]
Flying Scotsman at Seymour railway station, Victoria in 1989, equipped with electric lighting and air brakes for operation on Australian railways[23]
In 1988 the organizers of the Aus Steam 88 event were interested in having LNER A4 No 4468 Mallard visit Australia for Australia’s bicentennial celebrations that year. Unfortunately due to 4468’s 50th anniversary of her world record breaking run she was unavailable and 4472 was recommended as her worthy replacement. In October 1988 Flying Scotsman arrived in Australia[24] to take part in that country’s bicentenary celebrations as a central attraction in the Aus Steam ’88 festival. During the course of the next year it travelled more than 45,000 kilometres (28,000 mi) over Australian rails, concluding with a return transcontinental run from Sydney to Perth via Alice Springs in which it became the first steam locomotive to travel on the recently built standard gauge Central Australia Railway.[25] Other highlights included Flying Scotsmandouble-heading with NSWGR Pacific locomotive 3801, a triple-parallel run alongside broad gaugeVictorian Railways R class locomotives, and parallel runs alongside South Australian Railways locomotives 520 and 621. Its visit to Perth saw a reunion with GWR 4073 ClassPendennis Castle, which had been exhibited alongside Flying Scotsman at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition.[26] On 8 August 1989 Flying Scotsman set another record en route to Alice Springs from Melbourne, travelling 679 kilometres (422 mi) from Parkes to Broken Hill non-stop, the longest such run by a steam locomotive ever recorded.[7] The same journey also saw Flying Scotsman set its own haulage record when it took a 735-ton train over the 490-mile (790 km) leg between Tarcoola and Alice Springs.[27]
Flying Scotsman returned to Britain in 1990 and continued working on the mainline until her mainline certificate expired in 1993. 4472 then toured preserved railways and to raise funds for her upcoming overhaul was returned to BR condition with the refitting of the German style smoke deflectors, refitting of the double chimney and repainting of the locomotive into BR Brunswick green. By 1995 it was in pieces at Southall Railway Centre in West London, owned by a consortium that included McAlpine as well as music guru and well-known railway enthusiast Pete Waterman. Facing an uncertain future owing to the cost of restoration and refurbishment necessary to meet the stringent engineering standards required for main line operation, salvation came in 1996 when Dr Tony Marchington, already well known in the vintage movement, bought the locomotive, and had it restored over three years to running condition at a cost of £1 million,[28] a restoration which is still recognised as the most extensive in the locomotive’s history. Marchington’s time with the Flying Scotsman was documented in a documentary, the Channel 4 programme A Steamy Affair: The Story of Flying Scotsman.[29]
Flying Scotsman at Leamington Spa, Warwickshire UK. October 2005
With Flying Scotsman’s regular use both on the VSOE Pullman and with other events on the main line, in 2002, Marchington proposed a business plan, which included the construction of a “Flying Scotsman Village” in Edinburgh, to create revenue from associated branding. After floating on OFEX as Flying Scotsman plc in the same year,[29] in 2003 Edinburgh City Council turned down the village plans, and in September 2003 Marchington was declared bankrupt.[30] At the company’s AGM in October 2003, CEO Peter Butler announced losses of £474,619, and with a £1.5 million overdraft at Barclays Bank and stated that the company only had enough cash to trade until April 2004. The company’s shares were suspended from OFEX on 3 November 2003 after it had failed to declare interim results.[30]
With the locomotive effectively placed up for sale, after a high-profile national campaign it was bought in April 2004 by the National Railway Museum in York,[31] and it is now part of the National Collection. After 12 months of interim running repairs, it ran for a while to raise funds for its forthcoming 10-year major overhaul.
In the NRM Workshop (18 November 2007)
In January 2006, Flying Scotsman entered the Museum’s workshops for a major overhaul to return it to Gresley’s original specification and to renew its boiler certificate; originally planned to be completed by mid 2010 if sufficient funds were raised,[32][33][34] but late discovery of additional problems meant it would not be completed on time.[35][36][37] In October 2012, the Museum published a report examining the reasons for the delay and additional cost.[38] The locomotive was moved in October 2013 to Bury for work to return it to running condition in 2015.[39] On 29 April 2015, Flying Scotsman’s boiler left the National Railway Museum to be reunited with the rest of the locomotive at Riley & Sons E (Ltd) in Bury.[40]
The bay in which the locomotive was being refurbished was on view to visitors to the NRM but the engine was rapidly dismantled to such an extent that the running plate was the only component recognisable to the casual observer. Early in 2009 it emerged that the overhaul would see the loco reunited with the last remaining genuine A3 boiler (acquired at the same time as the locomotive as a spare). The A4 boiler that the loco had used since the early 1980s was sold to Jeremy Hosking for potential use on his locomotive, LNER Class A4 4464 Bittern.[41]
Debate over restoration
In the Museum’s workshops in 2012 for restoration
Choice of livery is an emotive subject amongst some of those involved in the preservation of historic rolling stock, and Flying Scotsman has attracted more than its fair share[citation needed] due to 40 years continuous service, during which the locomotive underwent several changes to its livery.
Alan Pegler’s preferred option was evidently to return the locomotive as far as possible to the general appearance and distinctive colour it carried at the height of its fame in the 1930s. A later option was to re-install the double Kylchap chimney and German smoke deflectors that it carried at the end of its career in the 1960s, which encouraged more complete combustion, a factor in dealing with smoke pollution and fires caused by spark throwing.[citation needed]
More recently, until its current overhaul it was running in a hybrid form, retaining the modernised exhaust arrangements while carrying the LNER ‘Apple Green’ livery of the 1930s. Some believe that the more famous LNER colour scheme should remain, while others take the view that, to be authentic, only BR livery should be used when the loco is carrying these later additions. The subject is further complicated by the fact that, while she was in Brunswick Green in BR service, the locomotive never ran with its corridor tender.[citation needed]
The National Railway Museum announced on 15 February 2011 that Flying Scotsman will be painted in LNER Wartime Black livery when it undergoes its steam tests and commissioning runs. The letters ‘NE’ appear on the sides of the tender, along with the number ‘103’ on one side of the cab and ‘502’ on the other – the numbers it was given under the LNER’s renumbering system. Flying Scotsman will be repainted in its familiar-look Apple Green livery in the summer, but remained in black for the NRM’s Flying Scotsman Preview Weekend which took place on 28–30 May 2011. Furthermore, during the National Railway Museum‘s ‘railfest’ event on 2–10 June 2012, Flying Scotsman was in attendance, being kept in front of Mallard in a siding, still in its Wartime Black livery.[42] A report on the restoration was published, in redacted form, on 7 March 2013.[43] On 23 January 2015, the NRM announced that as it will retain its smoke deflectors and double chimney and they wish to keep it as historically accurate as possible, Flying Scotsman will be painted in BR Green as No. 60103.[44]
In popular culture
Because of the LNER’s emphasis on using the locomotive for publicity purposes, and then its eventful preservation history, including two international forays, it is one of the UK’s most recognised locomotives. One of its first film appearances was in the 1929 film The Flying Scotsman, which featured an entire sequence set aboard the locomotive.[45]
Flying Scotsman was featured in The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry. The locomotive visited the fictional Island of Sodor in the book Enterprising Engines to visit its only remaining brother: Gordon. At this time it had two tenders, and this was a key feature of the plot of one of the stories, “Tenders for Henry”. When the story was filmed for the television series Thomas & Friends, renamed as “Tender Engines” only Flying Scotsman’s two tenders were seen outside a shed.[46] He originally was intended to have a larger role in this episode, but because of budgetary constraints, the modelling crew could not afford to build the entire engine.[47]
A model of the Flying Scotsman appeared in Episode 6 and “The Great Train Race” episodes of James May’s Toy Stories. It was James May‘s personal childhood model and was chosen by him to complete a world record for the longest model railway.[49] The train was meant to travel 7 miles from Barnstaple to Bideford, in North Devon and it failed early in the trip in Episode 6[49] but managed to complete it in “The Great Train Race” which took place on 16 April 2011.[50]
One of the specially produced £5 coins for the 2012 Summer Olympics featured an engraving of the Flying Scotsman on the back.[4]
Simfusion 