Ronnie Proctor’s life journey has taken him from milk laddie to mixing with royalty as the civic figurehead of Angus.
Even if the retired Black Watch Major likes to shock people with his claim to where he made his arrival into this world.
“I was born in Barlinnie,” reveals the former Provost of Angus.
He explains: “My granny was one of the first tenants in the council houses built up at Knowehead.
“They were harled grey and got the nickname of Barlinnie.”
By the age of 15 he had left Angus to sign up as a boy soldier, beginning a military career which took him across the globe.
But Kirrie is where is heart has always been and he has huge love for the charms of the Wee Red Town.
He did his best to whittle those down to just five favourite aspects of being a Kirriemarian.
1. Heritage
“I doubt there are many other places in Scotland which can claim the famous figures Kirrie has,” said Ronnie.
“Of course, everyone knows the Peter Pan connection since J M Barrie was born in Kirrie.”
But the fame of the Boy Who Never Grew Up has been overtaken in recent years by the global interest Bon Scott, the son of a Kirrie baker.
“I was a year below Bon Scott at school – although he went to Reform Street and I went to Webster’s Seminary,” he adds.
“I was too young to remember Bon but I certainly remember other members of the Scott family growing up.
“And I didn’t know much about AC/DC when the idea of Bonfest was started – but I was 100% behind it and it’s been an amazing success. Bon actually brings in more money to Kirrie than Barrie and Peter Pan.”
He was instrumental in creating Kirrie’s walk of fame at Cumberland Close, a series of commemorative stone slabs.
“The first ones were for Barrie, geologist Sir Charles Lyell and mountaineer Sir Hugh Munro.
“We added others commemorating Bon, as well as Kirriemuir’s three Victoria Cross recipients – Captain Charles Lyell, Charles Melvin and Dick Burton – and the Cameron music family.
“And just outside Kirrie there’s a fantastic sculpture to Captain Robert Scott and Dr Andrew Wilson, who planned their 1912 Antarctic expedition in a cottage in Glen Prosen.
“I thinks that’s a pretty impressive selection of famous figures from different fields.”
2. Community positivity
“We hear an awful lot these days about apathy in society but there is really so much positivity in Kirrie,” Ronnie says.
“There’s no greater example of that than the Kirrie Connections dementia centre.
“What they have done is remarkable, and the beauty of it is that its success is now being replicated across Angus.
“It’s a wonderful thing, but just one of the many groups which are doing really good things in the community.
“We have Sustainable Kirriemuir, the Allotments Association and the Foodbank and Clothing Hub which have just moved into the old bank building together.
“And then we have DD8 Music, who do so much more than just organise Bonfest, and the Kirrie Regeneration Group.
“They stepped in to take on the Barrie pavilion and camera obscura when the National Trust for Scotland was going to close it, and do an awful lot more for the benefit of the town.”
3. Local businesses
“When I was a paper laddie and milk laddie there was any number of small local shops,” Ronnie remembers.
“Things have changed dramatically but we still have a lot of good independent businesses – and can still support two butchers.
“It’s a good mix and there is the famous Star Rock Shop, which has been in Kirrie all my days and long before,” he says of Scotland’s oldest surviving original sweet shop.
“Kirrie’s been famed for its pubs and hotels and the likes of the Airlie, Thrums, Gairie and Three Bellies Brae are still going strong.
“All of them are so enterprising in what they do, for the people of the town and the folk who come to visit at the likes of Bonfest.”
4. Compactness
“Kirrie is still pretty much within its boundaries, it hasn’t expanded the way many other towns have,” says Ronnie.
“There has been development but the population hasn’t increased dramatically.
“But you can still easily walk from The Hill to the other end of the town and enjoy everything in it.”
5. The Setting
“The Gateway to the Angus Glens is the perfect description of Kirrie,” he says.
“You’ve got this small town, with its original red sandstone buildings, nestling in the braes of Angus and leading into the Cairngorm mountains.
“If you stand on Kirrie Hill you look down the Strathmore valley to the west and the iconic Sidlaw hills to the south.”
And for a man who wore the famous Red Hackle with such pride, built bookends of the local vista strike a special resonance.
“All of this is wonderfully framed by two memorials,” Ronnie adds.
“To the south is Balmashanner war memorial which overlooks Forfar.
“To the north is the Airlie Monument on Tulloch Hill, built in honour of the 11th Earl of Airlie who was killed in the Boer War.
“It’s easy to see why Scott and Wilson came to Kirrie when they were planning their journey to the other end of the world.”
Conversation