I lived in Mearns from 1953 to 1966, mostly in the old village at 5 Manse Lane. The tragedy is that a lovely old Scottish village was allowed to fall into ruin only to be replaced by a shopping mall. The demolition of the old school and school house was a travesty of bureaucratic sanctioned vandalism. It should have been preserved and perhaps used as a museum. Last time I was in Mearns it was a vacant spot, overgrown with weeds.
My mum was a staff nurse at Mearnskirk, one of the nurses duties was to sterilise the wards using a highly toxic chemical, the name of which escapes me. Mum took an alergic reaction to it and spent 6 months in hospital, at one point it was touch and go as to whether she’d survive. She received not even an apology.
