GLASGOW  UNIVERSITY

Glasgow University was founded in 1451 . It is the fourth oldest in UK after Oxford , Cambridge & St Andrews . One of the few things I remember doing with my father was being taken up the tower you see in the background . You got the most fantastic view of the River Clyde .

Of my generation three Thompsons went to Glasgow University .

The first to go was Irwin Thompson who was three years older than me . He qualified  as a doctor . He went to The Glasgow High School which, formed in 1124, is the oldest school in Scotland and 12th in the UK .( Also discovered there  is a Glasgow High School in Newark, Delaware) . Amongst its Alma Mater are two Prime Ministers : Campbell Bannerman and Andrew Bonar . Irwin's two sisters ( Aileen & Norma) went to Hillhead. Irwin emigrated to America and worked first in Seattle and then Boston. When he qualified as a doctor he added Elliott to his name : presume he thought it sounded better .

Next to go was Dorothy who was well placed in the Competitive Bursary Exam . I was still at school when Dorothy was in her first two years doing medicine . I remember her bringing these bones home , fingering them and reciting their different parts in Latin.

Dorothy worked in Aberdeen, Dumfries and Sheffield before she went to UHCL in London and qualified as a consultant dermatologist.

Ian Thompson ( my age ) who went to Hutchesons' Grammar was the last to go . I don't know what he read but after Glasgow he went to Harvard and then joined Unilever . He worked in South Africa , Hong Kong & Perth Australia. I believe he ended up in America .

My only exposure to these hallowed grounds was at the annual CCF Church Parade when all Glasgow School CCF s marched through the grounds with their Pipe Bands. It was a grand occasion with lots of pomp . Later there was the University OTC bar which was more sophisticated than the Students Union. Most of my school chums were at Glasgow University .