| Mike Laughton |
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Does anyone else remember Jock Gass (pronounced Gas) and his bagpipes from the Stamford of the 1940s and 50s.
Jock lived with his wife and family in Kesteven Road near the Northfields pub. He was a Scot who had married a local girl during the Second World War and settled in the town. They had several children and I went to school with their eldest son Peter.
I remember that during 1956, when we were 13 years old, Walt Disney's Davy Crockett was the film all the kids wanted to see. Pete and I decided that instead of waiting for the film to come to Stamford we would go off to Peterborough to see it at the Broadway Cinema. Before leaving Pete's Mum fed us beans on toast (a treat in those days) but at the last minute asked us to take his younger brother (who was only ten) with us.
So with Pete wearing his Davy Crockett hat, off we went to Peterborough via Patch's cream bus service to see Davy Crockett. Unfortunately when we got to the Broadway Cinema, the commissionaire took one look at the younger Gass brother and refused to let us in. Children under 12 were not allowed in to evening performances at that particular picture house. (A bit mean considering they were showing a kids film)
We ended up going to the Embassy to see The Man Who Never Was instead. We never did see Davy Crockett until it came to Stamford.
Anyway Jock was a keen player of the bagpipes and on special occasions - New Year's Eve, St Andrew's Day, etc, he would march through Stamford playing his bagpipes usually followed by a crowd of marching children who never normally got the chance to see or hear a piper.
Jock was a real character and well-known local personality for the near 20 or so years he lived in Stamford. The Gass family emigrated to Australia in about 1960.
Kate: Sorry Mike - I don't remember Jock - perhaps I'm too young - hope so anyway. Interesting nevertheless. Thanks very much.
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| Roger Partridge |
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I don't remember Jock Gass, but I was at Bluecoat School with a Robert Gass, who might have been one of his sons, but not the one refused admission to the cinema as Robert would only have been 6 or 7 in 1956.
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| Mike Laughton |
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Hi Roger, yes I'm sure Robert would have been one of Jock's sons. Gass is a very uncommon surname and I am sure there was only one Gass family in Stamford and Robert (or Rabbie) is a very popular first name with Scottish families. Even "The Bruce" was a Robert.
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| David Farman |
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I remember Jock, he was friends with my farther, days before he emigrated he came to our house to say goodbye and he brought his bagpipes with him,I remember pestering him to play them in the house , after a short time he did and they where really loud I had to go outside because they were deafening
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| Janet Gibbons (nee Farman) |
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I do remember Jock Gass as he was a friend of my Mum and Dad (also a Scotsman). I was friends with his daughter, Susan but don't remember any other member of the family. Jock spent his last night in Stamford with us before he and his family departed for Southampton and Australia. He kept in touch for a short while after arriving in Oz.
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| Betty |
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I have a feeling this family lived at one time in a house on Radcliffe Road, opposite Patches Bus Yard . I thought the older sister was Margaret or Peggy Gas. Correct me if I am wrong . Clem might be able to help me on this one. I would say they lived there before say around 1950??
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| Betty Haddon |
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I remember the Gass family,we moved to Witham Close in Nov.1950, Holland Road was still being built, we used to play in the part-constructed houses - they probably became occupied in 1951/2. We would hang around to hear Jock practising !
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