A legendary educator, bus driver and barman

Galashiels Academy pupils between 1967 to 1989 will remember a man with a passion for his chosen subject of geography ... a passion which was no doubt passed on to many.

A lifelong supporter of Aberdeen FC, he was also well known for holding down a multitude of jobs, from coach driver – where he travelled the length and breadth of Scotland as well as further afield in the UK and Europe – to a chauffeur.

Music was another love, playing keyboard in bands such as the Rob Henderson Trio, the J.E.W.D. and as accordionist for three-piece outfit Rodger and Co, which travelled around the region’s care homes to play much-loved tunes for the residents.

He was also known to hold up a bar or two (on the opposite side to the punters) by working part time in the Kingsknowes Hotel, Ladhope Inn and the British Legion, all in Galashiels, a town he was happy to call his home.

Born the only child of William, a church officer, and Annie O’Brien in Alford, Aberdeenshire, on October 31, 1936, he attended school at Gallowhill Primary, Alford Junior Secondary and Inverurie Academy, where he was head boy from 1954 to 1955.

As a schoolboy he spent summer holidays with his uncle and aunt in Dunfermline.

His uncle was a bus driver in Fife and this was where he decided that he wanted to drive buses, but that was not to be his main calling.

Dr Norman Dixon, headmaster of Inverurie Academy had wanted Eric to be a church minister, however, he had been so impressed by Miss Pratt, his teacher at Gallowhill Primary, that he decided to become a school teacher.

Eric went on to achieve an M.A. (Hons) in Geography with English and Logic at Aberdeen University, where, a keen athlete, he was a member, secretary and captain of Hares and Hounds Club and a member of the university’s athletics club.

Whilst a student at Aberdeen University, Eric spent holidays driving the delivery van for both the local butcher and baker in Alford, going around the other local villages and farms.

Whilst at university, along with fellow geography undergraduates, Eric took part in archaelogical excavations on St Ninians Isle, Shetland.

These excavations, instigated by Professor O’Dell of Aberdeen University, were to uncover the St Ninians Isle Treasure – Pictish silver objects and the jaw bone of a porpoise which were buried under a cross-marked slab close to the chapel altar.

That silver is currently on display in the National Museum of Scotland, with replicas on display in the Shetland Museum.

In 1958 he was one of a group of 24 torch-bearers who carried an X-Ray Torch and scroll – symbols of Edinburgh’s anti-tuberculosis campaign – a distance of 154 miles from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.

This effort kicked off the campaign by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh to fight the illness by using X-rays. He gained his teacher training certificate in geography at Aberdeen College of Education, and chose the Borders – and Hawick High School – as the place to begin his teaching career, taking on the role of assistant teacher of geography there from 1960-62.

Wherever he went, he embraced the local arts scene, and was a keen member of Hawick PSA choir whilst living in the grey auld toon, and when he moved to become principal teacher of geography at North Berwick High School in 1962, he joined the North Berwick and District Amateur Operatic Society .

After a three-year spell on the East Lothian coast, he spent two years at Dumbarton Academy before moving back to the Borders to become principal teacher of geography at Galashiels Academy, where he was in situ from 1967 to 1989.

He was also assistant rector there from 1974 until October 1989, when he took early retirement.

He always wanted to be thought of as an educator rather than a teacher, as his approach to classes showed, always keen to look beyond the set coursework and ensuring his pupils shared his love of his chosen subject.

It was at Galashiels where he met his wife to be, Christina Jane Atkinson, or as he affectionally called her “CJ”, on an evening out at Kingsknowes Hotel in 1967.

The couple were married at Galashiels Registry Office on October 3, 1969, and they lived at Lindean until moving to Ladhope Bank.

The marriage also paved the way to Eric being the proud stepdad to Christina’s son Keith.

School holidays would generally be spent with family trips either within the UK or to Europe but would also include driving coaches throughout Scotland, UK and Europe.

He enjoyed travel, especially in later years, going on short self-drive hotel breaks to the Lake District, central and northern Scotland

While Eric’s full focus was on his career, he still found time to enjoy his other interests, such as reading books, watching television programmes on train travel around the world, the history of rail travel in the UK and on disused and abandoned Scottish railway lines, driving, Scottish dance music, steam trains and, of course, buses.

He drove coaches part time for Austin Travel and Border Travel, and, after retiring, enjoyed two years of driving full time for Austin Travel before his PSV licence was revoked following a stroke in 1994.

Following this, he flung himself into the role of courier for Austin Travel and Scotline Tours, taking great pleasure in meeting the passengers and passing on local and historic information wherever he found himself – especially when welcoming international tourists to Scotland.

In later years, he drove wedding cars for Wedding Classics and also drove for funeral directors David Hardie and Sons and C.R. Low.

But even after retiring, Eric carried on his true calling in education, acting as an exam invigilator for Scottish Borders Council and the Scottish Qualifications Authority for pupils at Galashiels Academy.

After what anyone would consider a full, keenly-embraced and interesting life, Eric passed away at Borders General Hospital on July 31.

KJ