Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Union leader who led a series of one-day strikes against Rail Track and became general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union.
On the island
Eight records
The Bonnie Lass o' Ballochmyle
Ballochmyle isn't far from the village where I was brought up and I used to wander round that area. We used to go fishing in the summertime at four o'clock in the morning and watch the trains go by over the splendid viaducts in that area. So I think that song encapsulates those kind of happy moments.
YesterdayFavourite
That came at a point in my life when I was a bit low. My mother had just died in nineteen sixty two. There's a lot of sentiment in that record yesterday because I was trying to put some of the bad days behind me.
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466: II. Romance
Walter Gieseking with the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Hans Rosbaud
It's got a touch of magic about it. I mean it is romance and having heard it in Salzburg, which is where Mozart's father was the director of music to the Archbishop and having heard it played in the room where Mozart actually performed in the Schloss Mirabel in Salzburg, I mean it left an indelible impression on me.
I've always derived a great deal of pleasure from the works of Robert Burns because he was a superb social commentator. A lot of what he wrote is still very appropriate to some of today's problems and I'd like to hear a reading from Man Was Made to Mourn which really encapsulates one of the big problems of today, you know, the problem of unemployment or indeed the homeless in our society.
The most momentous event of the eighties was without doubt the minor strike of nineteen eighty four five. I've never seen such courage and sacrifice among ordinary people as I did during that period.
Plácido Domingo with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Karl-Heinz Loges
I suppose the country that I like best after Scotland is Spain. Not the Spain of Torre Molinas or Benedorm, although millions of people enjoy themselves there and quite right too, but the Spain of Seville and Cordoba and Barcelona, but most of all Granada.
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado
Coming to London as I did in nineteen seventy two, I began to appreciate the city and eventually came to appreciate the theatre. And I think the most enjoyable moment in that period was going along to Saddler's Wells one evening and seeing and listening to Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet.
Wings with the Campbeltown Pipe Band
Going back to Scotland again, to Argylleshire, where I spent a lot of happy hours. Beautiful part of Scotland, which is a feeling I think is shared by Paul McCartney. I've never met him, but I'm sure, well I know, that his feelings for that part of Scotland are as strong as mine. And I think that's why he wrote the Mull of Kentyre as a tribute to that part of Scotland.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:04Do you think that [your accent] has been an impediment to your getting the message across?
No, I don't think so. I mean, I've been proud of my [Ayrshire] accent... I've lived in the London area now for twenty three years, but I've defended it very well... I think they know who you are, and they take as ya.
Presenter asks
6:56Have you any regrets about [leaving school at fifteen to work on the railways] now?
No. No, none at all. You know, I've enjoyed every minute of my working life in the railways, I've enjoyed every minute of trade union activity, so I've got no regrets whatsoever
Presenter asks
9:18What sort of circumstances had you lived in up till then, as a boy?
Well, I was brought up in a house where we didn't have running water, or electricity, or a toilet. You know, if you had to get up in the middle of the night you had to put your coat on. The village itself was full of heavy industry, brickworks. Iron foundries and, you know, coal mines and the railways.
The keepsakes
The luxury
It's a wonderful malt, it's a bit stronger than some of the others, and it comes from the beautiful island of Skye.
Presenter asks
13:28Was there anyone in particular who influenced you [to adopt Socialist principles], or was it simply in the air that you breathed?
There was no one person in particular I think you put your finger on it. I mean it was in the air. I mean it was a an area where there was a lot of heavy industry, the trade unions were well organised... rubbing shoulders were some of them, you know, you were active in the union branch locally. And you know, having read the book The Socialist [Sixth] of the World at that time... that brought home to me the injustice of some of the things that had gone on... I think I began to grow that sense of needing to fight for justice and fight for fairness and fight for equality.
Presenter asks
19:27Would you deny that you were a stubborn man?
I'm stubborn if I'm fighting for justice, you know, but not stupidly stubborn.
Presenter asks
26:35Why wouldn't [privatisation] benefit the railways?
The main reason we're opposed to privatisation of the railways is that it won't deliver a better service. So [it will] deliver worsening and deteriorating services. Privatisation has been presented as the panacea for the industry's olds, but the patient's health is deteriorating.
“I've been proud of my [Ayrshire] accent... I've lived in the London area now for twenty three years, but I've defended it very well.”
“I've enjoyed every minute of my working life in the railways, I've enjoyed every minute of trade union activity, so I've got no regrets whatsoever”
“I'm stubborn if I'm fighting for justice, you know, but not stupidly stubborn.”