YOU can almost smell the Brasso from here. Youngsters from Motherwell and Wishaw pictured at a Boys' Brigade rally in 1961. All shoes are polished to a shine, the pill-box hats are worn at the correct angle, and white haversacks are worn over the shoulder. They were not real haversacks as they did not unfold, but you still had to use tennis shoe whitener to keep them pristine. By the time your shoes were polished, belt buckle burnished, haversack cleaned, and even the company number on your hat buffed up, it's a wonder you had time to get to the meetings.

Many lads just joined for the BB fitba' on a Saturday when two or three layers of skin would be removed in a sliding tackle on blaes pitches.

Nowadays the uniforms are simpler, and there are still nearly 50,000 BB members across Britain. For us oldies you only have to start the hymn "Will your anchor hold" and we can rattle though two verses. Funny thing memory.