1980
Excitement among youngsters in Newtongrange will reach fever pitch on Saturday when the village holds its annual gala day. All week, special events catering for the young and old of the village have been taking place in the village but the highlight of the week is on Saturday when the village turns out to enjoy a day of fun and activity starting off with the crowning of the Gala King and Queen. Residents will be up early to decorate their gate of doorway to give the village a carnival atmosphere. Prizes for the best three have been donated by Mr D.Paterson of Hamilton Crescent.
A cavalcade will proceed through the streets during the late morning. All cars in this procession will also be decorated and their owners will have a chance to win three prizes for the most original decoration. Prizes for this competition have been donated by Mr A. Smail of Gardiner Place.
The Court
King - John Kirkwod
Queen - Gail Weston
Chief Maid of Honour - Wendy Grieve
First Lord - Thomas Cairns
Maids of Honour - Linda Gordon, Diane Graham
Lords in Waiting - Mark Richardson, Scott Thomson
Herald - Scott Rutherford
Crown Bearers - Ian Nelson, John Turnbull.
Yeoman - William Leitch
Halberdiers - Andrew Keogh, William Laidlaw, John Scott,
Kenneth Traill
Ladies of The Court - Jill Calder, Lorraine Campbell, Agnes
Doyle, Pauline Grieve, Deborah Jinks, Cheryl Macrae,
Linda Sullivan, Amanda Young
Bower Girls - Jean Amos, Karen Brown, Karen Turnbull, Irene
Weston,
Flower Girls - Sharon Bell, Beverley Currie, Julie Dennett,
Michelle Kocaba, Gillian Messelink, Joanne O'Brian, Hazel Potts, Tracy Twaddle
Page Boys - Marshall Docherty, Paul Green, James Reith, Neil
Stobbart
The Crowning Ceremony at 1.15pm is followed by a children's meal and Punch and Judy Show. The afternoons events begin with 12th Dalkeith Army Cadet Force displaying their skills in drill, guard mount and target range. There was then an exhibition by Capital Cruisers of Edinburgh, a club for custom built car enthusiasts. The club have a 1961 Ford Thames van with space age murals, an Austin Healy Frog Eyed Sprite with a V8 Rover engine and at least four Mk.II Consuls and Zodiacs.
Another Special attraction is a search and rescue display by an RAF Helicopter from 22 Squadron at RAF Leuchars to be staged in Abbeylands at 3pm.
Competitions throughout the afternoon include bonny babies,
shapely ankles and glamorous grannies and there will also he many other novelty
events and sideshows.
During the week the villagers have enjoyed a novelty pet show, tug-of-war
tournament and a five-a-side football tournament. The week's events end on
Sunday with a church service in Newtongrange Parish Church starting at 3pm.