Inspirations

At 5.00 this evening a  plaque  was unveiled in Rothesay to commemorate Andrew Blain Baird and the first attempted heavier than air all Scottish flight  which took place  in September 1910 .    It is on the wall of the old drill hall in Rothesay, which was where Baird assembled the plane that he had designed and built.

The plaque was authorised and donated by Historic Scotland and unveiled by three local women, all of whom have a connection to Baird .  The whole thing - and the subsequent dinner at which the Baird aviation and science awards were presented and the Baird scholarships celebrated - is organised and driven forward by a small group of Trustees, of which I am now one.   But the real inspiration and power behind  it is exiled Brandane Chris Markwell who has lived in Canada for almost all of his life but who has put an enormous amount back into the island.  

This is what I said about him  in my speech at the dinner  :

“ I want to pay tribute  tonight to Chris Markwell who is the inspiration for this gathering.   It was Chris who brought back into public view the hidden story of Bute’s place in aviation and Scottish history; it is Chris who made the first event and the subsequent events happen ; it is Chris’ generosity that still brings things to fruition ; it is Chris that saw the need to widen out the commemoration so that it had an effect on young people and could inspire them to aspire as the motto of the Society has it , it is Chris who persuaded Historic Scotland to contribute one of its much coveted plaques which we were able to unveil this evening at the Drill Hall where Baird built his aeroplane  and it is Chris that is now taking forward the work by brining in new trustees and making plans for the future.

Chris has the spirt of Andrew Blain Baird - the spirit that does not see things as impossible, but only as challenges to be overcome.   The spirit that marries imagination to hard practical work in order to produce results.

It is difficult to imagine what it was like to be Andrew Baird.   To work for months on the construction of a flying machine whilst, no doubt, his neighbours mocked the very idea.   To sit in the rudimentary cockpit and look around at the sea and sand and wonder if he would be alive in half an hour.   To  rise from the earth like no one ever before in this island and realise that imagination and hard work did produce results.  And to do it here in a place that some would see as far from the centre of innovation and progress - though those of us who live in Argyll know different ! 

Andrew Blain Baird should inspire each one of us.   He should be a role model for young people , because nothing should be impossible for them.    And Chris Markwell should be an inspiration too for the work he has done to remind us of all that.”