This year, 1995, we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Monklands Group of the Ramblers Association. As we all know now, the group’s first walk was on 24 July 1985 and was from Coatbridge Indoor Leisure Centre to Drumpellier Loch.

Prior to that tentative first effort, there had been a public meeting in the Indoor Leisure Centre on 24 June 1985 which was addressed by Bill Forsyth who was then the Scottish Officer of the Ramblers Association. Bill explained a bit about the Ramblers Association and about forming a local group and sounded out the meeting to see if there was likely to be support for such a group. Quite a high proportion of the large number present indicated they were in favour and a steering committee was formed there and then.

The reason for calling the public meeting was the considerable interest aroused by the first of the Monklands Three Day Walks which had just been held in May 1985. The large numbers, the general good humour and the fellowship engendered by the first Three Day Walk prompted the thought that a walking club of some sort would be a good idea.

But what was the reason for the first Three Day Walk? The legend is well known, at least locally. The Cistercian Monks from Newbattle Abbey were in an expansionist phase. They were looking for a new place to establish another monastery. They settled on what became known as the Monklands and they were granted a Charter to these lands by King Malcolm IV. The story goes that some of the monks were sent out from Newbattle to walk as far as they could in a day carrying the foundation stone for the new monastery. They got as far as the Monklands, about 50 odd miles, and stopped. All this happened around 1161 A.D.

Who said tenth anniversary? What about 834th anniversary?