Just a quickie for a change. Having left Kings Crescent and the Coyle family for a time I was on my way home to Meek Place, as I reached the junction at the X road Halfway - Kings crescent there was a small wall along the road where the 'Shows' appeared now and then, there appeared a large number of kids of all ages sitting on the wall, I asked what was happening? I was informed the Roy Rogers and Trigger (His horse) was going to appear down the road.
This was something that I was not going to miss and I took my place on the wall along with the other dozens of kids. I think that I sat there for at least two hours but no sigh of he or his horse? I decided it was just in somebody's mind so I got up and went home. I think it was around 1949/50 ish. Did this event ever actually occur? I heard many years later that Roy and the Ge Ge did actually visit Scotland. I never found anyone who actually saw him. Can anyone help? Personally I simply cannot believe that he and the horse would find little of interest galloping around the cobbled Gorbals?
On a similar note, In the early 1950s a rumour swept through Halfway that Hopalong Cassidy would be driving through Halfway with his entourage on his way by road from Glasgow to London. Crowds lined the streets and I remember clinging to the top of the large green urinal which stood at the junction of Hamilton Rd and Lightburn Rd, waiting with a good view to see the screen idol. Well, we waited and waited and he never did appear. Seems he was driving from Glasgow to London that day, but had taken the parallel (and better) road via Uddingston!
Yes, I saw Roy Rogers and he had Trigger with him. I think his wife was also there but it was not in Cambuslang. He was at the Glasgow Empire and we had tickets to stand in the upper circle. The Queen did pass through a few years later but it was by train on the line going behind the Halfway Prefabs. We waited for hours and we knew she was coming when we saw the police close the road at the bridge next to the cemetery. The royal train passed and we all waved our flags to a train with the blinds down at every window.
