Obituary: Allan Gilchrist - Former teacher who rose to become director of education for Highland

ALLAN Gilchrist was always destined to be a high-flyer, although not quite in the way he had first intended. His 25 years in education administration saw him rise to the rank of director of education for Highland but, had it not been for an eye defect, he could have been earning his stripes as a pilot in the Royal Air Force.

This was the RAF’s loss, because the skill required in the directorate, particularly during the controversial opt-out legislation of the 1990s, was worthy of a senior officer.

His early ambition to take to the skies can be traced back to infancy. He was born in September 1938 to Archie and Jean, and the young Gilchrist’s first birthday fell in the same week that Britain declared war on Germany, and the conflict dominated his early life.

Much time during the war was spent with older brother Sandy on their uncle’s farm in Penpont, Dumfriesshire, where the outdoor life sparked a passion for adventure. Like most boys of the time, Allan was fascinated by the military, in particular aircraft and the air force. Thus was born the ambition to become a pilot.

Dedication during his school years at the John Neilson Institution in Paisley was rewarded with the dux medal, and from there Allan earned a place at the University of Glasgow to study aeronautical engineering.

The most exciting aspect of university life turned out to be the opportunity to learn to fly by joining the university’s air squadron. He ranked “going solo” as a Chipmunk pilot out of Scone airfield as one of his proudest personal achievements.

However, an eye problem, present since birth, dashed his hopes of a career with the RAF. He finished his degree and headed to south-west England to take up a post with the Bristol Aeroplane Company, working on the early-stage development of Concorde.

It was a cutting-edge project, and another experience that he would later reflect on with pride, but Allan found that the detailed engineering design process for an aircraft could never replace the thrill of flying one, and he decided to pursue a new career.

With his father a school headmaster in Paisley and brother also in teaching, it was no surprise that Allan was drawn to education. He taught maths and science in secondary schools around Glasgow before becoming a depute head at Westerton Primary in Bearsden. By this time he had met another young schoolteacher, Margaret Porteous. Within six months they were engaged, and they married the following summer, in 1964.

By spring of 1969, with one son born and another on the way, the Gilchrists took the bold step of moving to Nairnshire, when Allan was offered the post of headteacher at Cawdor Primary. They were quickly welcomed into the community; Allan played in Nairn’s pipe band, was a member of Nairn Golf Club and was a keen curler who served as president of Cawdor Curling Club.

He remained a Paisley Buddy at heart, and was a proud man at Hampden Park when St Mirren lifted the Scottish Cup in 1987.

After five years at Cawdor and a year as head of Lossiemouth Primary, Allan moved out of teaching into the education department, firstly with Ross-shire county council in Dingwall and then Highland Region in Inverness. He spent nearly 25 years in education administration, rising to the post of director of education for Highland in 1994.

Allan was committed to public service and held a strong belief that a free and quality education should be a universal right. He was particularly passionate about school buildings, and was actively involved in building projects from Lochaber to Lochinver and Mallaig to Culloden.

The most challenging issues in his role were addressed with intelligence and good humour, which when added to his passion for education earned him high respect from colleagues and elected members of the council.

Upon learning of his death, the senior officials at Highland Council highlighted his sense of fairness and equality. Many rural communities, such as Ardgour, Gairloch, Kinlochbervie, Mallaig, Ullapool and the Small Isles, have Allan to thank for promoting school improvements.

The director of education’s beat was rarely without its problem areas. Allan’s tenure coincided with a period of heavy pressure to implement school closures, which would have a far more pronounced effect on Highland’s rural communities than elsewhere in the country.

Government policy also required Allan to guide the local authority through the minefield of the Self-Governing Schools Act of 1989, the result of a controversial Conservative government policy, which led to Dornoch Academy in Sutherland becoming the first in Scotland to opt out of council control.

This was done by the school despite the reluctance of Highland Regional Council, with Dornoch one of only two schools in Scotland to take this path.

In 1997, the new Labour government said it would repeal the act, and in 1999 Dornoch Academy came back under council management with the new unitary Highland Council.

Allan had called it a day the previous year with the intention of making the most of his retirement. A heart attack almost ended it before it had begun, but Allan recovered and the Gilchrists’ new horizons took them to places such as Alaska, South Korea, India and through the Panama Canal. His later years were somewhat restricted by ill health, but his warmth, natural empathy and devotion to his family never dimmed.

He is survived by Margaret, brother Sandy, sons Neil and Ewan, and six grandchildren. CONTRIBUTED