SHANNON CUP 1950-1960

Report

The 70th Renfrewshire won the Shannon Cup in 1956. Unfortunately, the log covering that period is missing and it is not known who was in the team, other than that it was led by Hamish Rankin. This was only the second time that the 70th had won the Shannon Cup and it was particularly praiseworthy as the average age of the troop in 1956 was very young. Hamish himself would have been aged about 13 at the time.

Source: Hamish Rankin.

The 70th continued to perform well in the Shannon Cup during the second half of the 1950s and, although they did not  win it again during that period, they came close on several occasions. For example, they came second in both 1957 and 1959. In 1959, they lost out by only 5 points. A report on the 1957 competition can be seen by clicking here, and a report on the 1959 competition can be seen by clicking here.

In 1958, the 70th entered two patrols, possibly the only time that they did this. The A-team led by Kenneth Conway finished 3rd and the B-team finished sixth. Unfortunately, it is not known who all the Scouts were who made up these teams, but, the A-team may have included Kenneth Conway, John Nisbet, Brian Elliott and Jim Blair. Laird McFarlane was also in one of the teams, but it is not known which.  In 1960, the 70th entered another strong team but this time came 4th. This may have been partly due to the patrol having 7 members instead of 8 due to a last minute injury that prevented Sandy Miller participating. A report on the comnpetition can be seen by clicking here.

It is not known how the 70th did during the period 1962-1964, but it is known that they had to withdraw from the competition on one of these years as the competition was held on the same weekend as the Greenock Academy sports day.

The third and final time that the 70th won the Shannon Cup was in 1965. This is described in a separate web page (click here).