David's first solo flight - at the age of 82

David Luke from Lanark, with his flying instructor Graham McNally.

The elder of the two is a Lanark citizen born two years before the first-ever Spitfire flew who has just made his first solo flight at the age of 82.

He is David Luke, of Delves Park, and he took to the air alone a mere couple of decades after most pilots retire.

Since being a lad, when he still remembers seeing wartime aircraft in our skies, David harboured dreams of becoming a pilot, but his life led him down a different professional path.

Now retired and with some spare time, he decided last summer to take up flying training and started a happy association with his trainer Graham McNally at Strathaven Airfield.

A year of training culminated in David making his first solo outing in an Ikarus microlight recently, describing the very, very long-awaited experience as “exceeding all expectations”.

He told the Gazette that his youthful dreams of becoming a pilot had been put to one side as he built a career with the lawnmower manufacturer Atco. He ended up as head of its Scottish operations.

The second of Clydesdale’s Peter Pans is Archie MacDonald, a mere slip of a lad compared to David at 64.

A resident of the Auchlochan retirement village in Lesmahagow, Archie is heading back to school next month to complete his course in a subject that didn’t even exist when he was first a pupil back in the 1950s and 1960s – computing.

Explained an Auchlochan spokeswoman: “After graduating from the Open University with a BSc degree in computer studies in 2015, Archie enrolled on a master’s course with the university last year.

He only has one module left to complete before he will have achieved a postgraduate diploma, and he plans to focus on cybersecurity.

“He will then be well on his way to a master’s degree, with just a research project left to complete.

Archie left school almost 50 years ago at the age of 17 to pursue a career in ICT with Scottish Power. After climbing the career ladder for 30 years, it was only when he began working as a freelancer that he discovered opportunities with the Open University and began studying modules with them.”

Said Archie: “Auchlochan gave me the space, time and supportive community I needed to really concentrate on my studies.”