Lockerbie prepares for 20th anniversary of disaster

Nov 28 2008 by Sharon Liptrott, Dumfries Standard Friday

LOCKERBIE is being spruced up in preparation for being catapulted into the media spotlight next month for the 20th anniversary of the Air Disaster.

Members of the council’s combined services team descended on the Annandale town this week to paint railings and generally clean up the public areas. At the same time, £150,000 of substantial refurbishment is underway at Lockerbie Town Hall, funded by the council.

A trio of low key remembrance events for December 21 – the 20th anniversary of the Lockerbie Air Disaster - have this week been approved by the remembrance committee. There will be a public wreath-laying ceremony in Lockerbie’s Dryfesdale Cemetery from 2pm to 2.30pm on December 21 with readings from the Lord Lieutenant and US Consul.

Free buses to take the public to the cemetery because of limited parking will run from the town hall from 1.30pm.

There will be an ecumenical service at Dryfesdale Church from 6.30pm to 7.30pm. and a vigil from 6.30pm to 7.30pm at Tundergarth Church.

These are in addition to regular Sunday worship in the town: 10.30am to 11.30am Tundergarth Church; 10.30am to 11am Holy Trinity RC Church; 10.30am to 11.30am carol service at Salvation Army Hall; 11.15am to 12.15pm All Saints Episcopal Church; and 11.30am to 12.30pm Nativity at Dryfesdale Church.

Three “places to remember” will be opened to the public on December 21.

They are: Dryfesdale Lodge Visitors' Centre, from 10am to 8pm; Lockerbie Town Hall, Memorials in Lesser Town Hall 10am to 4pm; and Tundergarth Church from 10am to 8pm.

All 243 passengers and 16 crew died when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded above Lockerbie on December 21,1988. The act of terrorism also killed 11 Lockerbie residents.