Excellent start

chippings were

Cunmont Quarry.

“I have inquired locally and also in Orkney, which has plenty sand of its own, but nobody has offered any clue to explain this strange story.

“Perhaps your readers may shed light on these extraordinary shipments from the Tay.”

If you have any also shipped information, from please contact Craigie in the first instance.

“Ken Abbot, writing from Australia, quite rightly praised his teachers at Clepington and Stobswell schools,” writes a retired Perth teacher.

“Ken said: ‘...as long as you were prepared to listen and learn, you obtained a solid education.’ I found the same at Rockwell Primary School.

“Unfortunately, even the old Scottish state system did not take into account the need to do homework and to conduct personal study.

“From my own observation, most children from our area of Dundee, the Glens, fortunate enough to be selected for Harris or Morgan academies, fell by the wayside and did not make it through to their Highers, university or college.

“My sister and I were the only children from our street who not only gained entry to Harris Academy, but eventually got the message that pupils actually had to do homework and personal study as well as pay attention in class..

“I was lucky. I realised before it was too late – about the age of 15! – that I’d never pass my Highers without doing some homework and personal study.

“I was also assisted by one very strict teacher – Jock MacLure – who actually insisted on all his pupils doing their homework.

“From that excellent start, I went on to gain an honours degree in modern languages.

“It was a sight to see – classes queued up outside Jock’s classroom, frantically memorising the homework they had been given for that day!

“It usually comprised a verb and several phrases in French or German.”