GILLIAN Davies and Sam Purdie are working towards a crucial meeting in the quest to keep the name of Glenbuck alive.

Dr Anne MacSween of Heritage Scotland has asked to visit to the village and this has been organised for this Friday.

Robin Caldow, a director of Mines Restoration Limited (MRL) has agreed to organise a tour of the area, which will be starting off from the MRL office at Powharnal from 10am.

MRL are current owners of the land which encompasses the site of the village and are carrying out remedial work on abandoned mining sites nearby.

Ms Davies is director of Catrine Community Trust but is involved on a personal basis and not representing the trust.

She said: “What is currently being explored between a group of activists involved with Glenbuck and a group of activists in Catrine is not a project of Catrine Community Trust.

“As is to be expected, some of the folk interested in the possibilities a cooperation represents — the joint and interwoven heritage of the two villages — are trust members and two of us, myself and Jimmy Kleboe, are directors but without a specific directive from the board of directors, the trust as a body, cannot take on any such project.”

It it hoped that there will be a collaboration between Catrine and Glenbuck villages based on the linkages created by Catrine Cotton Works.

An invitation has also been extended specifically to officers at East Ayrshire Council who have shown interest in Catrine’s heritage and trust people who might have an interest in exploring such possibilities.