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Lockerbie is known internationally as the site where, on December 21, 1988, the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 crashed as a result of a terrorist bomb. In the UK the event is referred to as the Lockerbie disaster, the Lockerbie bombing, or simply Lockerbie. Eleven townspeople were killed in Sherwood Crescent, where the plane's wings and fuel tanks plummeted in a fiery explosion, leaving a huge crater. The 270 fatalities (259 on the plane, 11 in Lockerbie) were citizens of 21 nations. Of them, 189 were Americans.
The subsequent police investigation was the largest ever mounted in Scottish history and became a murder inquiry when evidence of a bomb was found. Two men accused of being Libyan intelligence agents were eventually charged in 1991 with planting the bomb. It took a further nine years to bring the accused to trial. Abdelbaset ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was jailed for life in January 2001 following the 84-day Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial under Scottish law, at Camp Zeist, Netherlands. His co-accused, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted, and returned to Libya. In March 2002, Megrahi's appeal against his conviction was rejected, and he remains in Greenock jail, near Glasgow.[1] In September 2003, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission started a review of Megrahi's case, and granted him a second appeal on June 28, 2007 against his conviction for the Lockerbie bombing.[2]
[edit] Lockerbie Academy
Lockerbie Academy, the town's public high school, became the headquarters for the response and recovery effort after the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster. Subsequently, the academy, in cooperation with Syracuse University of Syracuse, New York, USA, which lost 35 students in the bombing, established a scholarship at the university for two of its most outstanding graduating students. Each year, two graduating students spend one academic year at Syracuse University as Lockerbie Scholars before they begin their university study. The scholarships have led to a lasting relationship between the university and the town. The rector of Lockerbie Academy, Graham Herbert, was recognised in November 2003 at Syracuse University with the Chancellor's Medal for outstanding service.
A former student of the Academy, Helen Jones, was killed in the 7 July 2005 London bombings. In her memory, a new scholarship has been set up, awarding £1000 towards further education to aspiring accounting students from the Academy.[3]
[edit] Lockerbie Drama Club
Lockerbie war memorial, "Tower" chip shop, and town hall, 2006.
Lockerbie Drama Club was formed before the Second World War by members of local churches. Originally known as Lockerbie Churches Drama Club, plays were performed in the town hall. In 1964 the club acquired land at the corner of Well Street and Well Road, along with a prefab corrugated iron building that had been a workshop in the Technical department at Lockerbie Academy. This building became the Little Theatre. Lockerbie Drama Club puts on two plays per year and holds play readings during the summer. [4]
[edit] Lockerbie Ice Rink
Located across the road from Lockerbie Academy, it is one of the oldest indoor ice rinks in the country. Built in 1966 it has a long successful history. In curling it has has given rise to World and European Champions and Olympians in the adult, senior and junior disciplines. It also provides skating at most weekends. The ice rink is closed between April and September. It has also recently received funding for a new roof.
[edit] Dryfesdale Lodge Visitors' Centre
Dryfesdale Lodge Visitors' Centre, formerly a cemetery worker's cottage, was opened on 25 October 2003 after extensive renovation work funded by the Lockerbie Trust and is maintained with grant assistance from Dumfries & Galloway Council. The Lodge's vision is that it should be a living, growing, flexible facility that can respond to the needs of visitors and the community.
There are two exhibition rooms in the Lodge and also the Dryfesdale Room that is used as a quiet room for visitors to reflect. A permanent exhibition room displays ten history panels depicting Lockerbie's unique past stretching from its pre-historic origins to 1988's terrorist attack and beyond. Located within the cemetery grounds, just a short walk away, is the Lockerbie Memorial Garden of Remembrance.
Dryfesdale Lodge Visitors' Centre is not just a memorial to the disaster but is also a tribute to the community of Lockerbie and in its short life has already had many hundreds of visitors from home and abroad.
[edit] References
- , BBC's "on this day" website
- , SCCRC's decision on Megrahi's second appeal against conviction
- , Helen Jones' scholarship
- , Lockerbie Drama Club
[edit] External links
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(Source: Wikipedia) |