LOW cloud and a steady drizzle in gusting wind delayed by 10 minutes the arrival of the Queen's plane at the new, £5 million Glasgow Airport. It was June 27, 1966.
Several thousand sightseers, travellers and airport staff watched as her plane taxied to within a few yards of the international pier. An RAF corporal shielded her from the rain as she stepped onto the tarmac.
Waiting to greet her were dignitaries including Willie Ross, the Scottish Secretary, John Johnston, Lord Provost of Glasgow, and Lt-Col Sir Guy Shaw-Stewart, Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire. She was also presented to Basil Spence, the airport architect. As onlookers gazed through the glass, many of them taking photographs, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh passed through gaily decorated corridors from Gate 12, lined by children from Renfrewshire schools.
On arriving at the main hall, the Queen unveiled a commemorative plaque, and said it gave her great pleasure to declare the airport open. She spoke to the airport director, Ronald Read, and toured the terminal building before sitting down to lunch in the company of 170 guests in the airport restaurant. Before leaving, she signed the visitors' book.
Mr Reid hinted to the Duke that expansion might be in the offing for the airport. "Already?" the Duke replied with a laugh.
A major extension was being planned to the runway. "When this is completed, probably by 1970, there is a strong possibility of the airport being used for the operation of transatlantic services," this newspaper observed. By that same year, it was estimated, the airport would be handling two million passengers.
* More tomorrow
Read more: Herald Diary
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here