It was with great regrets that I learned that my old friend Tam Dalyell former MP for Linlithgow had died recently.
Tam was an old Etonian and yet I got on famously with him. Tam Dalyell died after a short illness at the age of 84, his family has announced.
The Eton-educated baronet spent more than 40 years as a Labour MP, representing West Lothian from 1962-1983 and Linlithgow from 1983-2005.
Tam was a great bloke, Posh but approachable! He stayed with Mary & I at our home in Coppice Farm in the 80’s he was a delightful guest, and it was only after he departed and Mary and I was chatting that I told her he was a Baronet and was living in a 400 year old ‘castle’ .
Mary flipped at this point because she said “he was crammed into our back bedroom and the dog kept visiting him”
Tam was a gentleman and a great man! He had a huge appetite when visiting our home he loved eating peanut butter on toast.
He got me into a load of trouble in an Albrighton Church, but that is a story for another day.
Tam also planted a tree in the Travel West Midlands Park Lane Garage. I will have to have a look and see if it is still there when I visit Park Lane again…But now is the time to say Rest In Peace my friend, you certainly made a great contribution to British History, and you will be forever in my thoughts.
I will be ordering a copy of his Autobiography so in quiet moments I can remember the man who had a such a fabulously interesting life. He was very much a giant of British and Scottish Politics.
