Interviews of Norman McKinnon aged 69

Biographical interview with Norman McKinnon (aged 69) from Dumfries. Norman spent his childhood staying at various farms including Chapelcroft, Morton Mill, Longmire, Culraven and Borgue and he describes this time and his early interest in animals. He went to several primary schools and repeated primary 7 in Dumfries after his mother bought a boarding house there. He was enrolled at Wallace Hall and went on to Edinburgh to study to be a vet. He found the move to Edinburgh quite overwhelming, especially as most of his cohort were from English schools and were already familiar with the year 1 work. He qualified in 1968, married and moved to Lockerbie to become assistant to Mr Findlay. Unfortunately, this proved a baptism of fire after Mr Finlay died within weeks. After 6 months, Norman and his wife moved to Arbroath. Although he continued to visit Dumfries this stopped after his mother died. He and his wife still make an annual visit to the region to see how it has changed but have no family links there now.