The SMSA chats to 97-years-young veteran, toolmaker and golf club manufacturer John McGhie who is the oldest active member of Stonehouse Men’s Shed and the most mature Shedder within the South Lanarkshire Shed network. Here, John shares his life story and how he connected with his local Men’s Shed which he now ‘could not live without’.
Born in Stonehouse on the 20th June 1927, John McGhie went to school in the village before leaving at age 14 to become a toolmaker and studying practical and theory at Burnbank Engineering College for two years travelling back and forth on his motorbike.
John then went on to work in the tool rooms of Metropolitan Vickers in Motherwell and Ranco in Tannochside before, at age 18, he was drafted into the army towards the end of the war and sent to the Royal Corps of Signals in Berlin putting in lines of communication.
John describes Berlin as ‘flat and very quiet’ but he did meet a local girl and asked his commanding officer if he could get married. His commanding officer’s response was to send him to Antwerp instead saying he was too young to get married.
Following the army, John came home and established himself as an entrepreneur, building up the brand of McGhie Golf Clubs. John said: “I set off on the train to travel all the way to the Foxhall Stores near London—the equivalent of Harrods today—for a meeting with the manager. On arrival, my excitement was quickly deflated when the lady at the reception informed me that it was the manager’s day off!
“On my way to leave the store and feeling very disheartened, a man brushed the back of me and asked me why I was there. I informed him that I had travelled all the way down from Scotland to meet the manager but he was not working that day. The gentleman turned out to be the owner, Brian Marks and he was keen for me to show him a set of the clubs that I had brought with me. There and then, I received an order for £6,000 for 15 half sets of clubs and it was also the beginning of a life-long friendship between myself and Brian.
“I waited a few weeks and finally, an envelope plopped through the letterbox. It contained a big cheque—ya beauty—and then there was also a letter with an order for 2,000 more sets!
“More orders quickly followed so I purchased a building in Stonehouse for £500 and started manufacturing. I brought in people from the Larkhall labour exchange and bought grips from Goodyear, maple heads from Canada and iron shafts from three foundries in Douglas in Lanarkshire all shipped via Motherwell Railway Station.
“I really had a great, loyal and trustworthy team working with me and I trained the men on every step of the process—how to make, polish and finish the clubs.
“I really did make an awful lot of money with my business back then but to be honest, the workload almost killed me. Towards the end, we were making over 500 clubs a week with a team of just four and I have to say, it was such a relief when I retired.”
John was delighted that he had built up McGhie Golf Clubs to become a well-known and highly-respected brand in the golfing world, famed for its quality, but all good things must come to an end. Avid car enthusiast John, who at one time owned five much-treasured cars, then went on to invest in Jaguar motor cars and was then asked by the Managing Director of Taggarts to deliver Jaguar cars across Scotland. Not one to turn down a great offer, John then began driving all across Scotland delivering his favourite luxury car.
John said: “When I retired—for the final time—I then just started staying in the house. I didn’t go out much—I had nothing to go out for! But then one day, I noticed some building work taking place at an old toilet block near my house. Intrigued, I went over to chat to the builders to see what was going on.
A McGhie Golf Club
“The builders informed me that the toilet block was about to become a Men’s Shed! A Men’s Shed—whatever it was, it sounded great and I was in. I took an interest and talked to my grandson who was all for it too and offered to support me by taking me along.
“Every Monday without fail, since day one of the Shed, my grandson picks me up in his car to take me along. I make a beeline for ‘my chair’ and thoroughly enjoy chatting to the lads and hearing all the banter. I love listening to everyone’s stories and also sharing my tuppeny’s worth.”
Throughout the interview, John reminisced on many stories of his loving wife Georgina—who was selected to be a model for many, including the army, and had the most stunningly beautiful low-maintenance hair that she used to dunk in a bucket and swirl and shake in the air and then she was done. Georgina (pictured below) had always supported John tremendously and devoted her life to John and their son and daughter. Georgina unfortunately had a family history of cancer and is now sadly no longer with us and John himself has also fought and recovered from cancer.
Graham Curtis, Chairman of Stonehouse Men’s Shed said: “Recently, this remarkable man stood and captivated the Shed members with his incredible life story for over 50 minutes (pictured above right). This man has lived in Stonehouse all of his life and has so much wisdom and experience to share. John commands his seat on the couch and is a focal point of our Shed. He comes in the Shed and soaks in what people say and you can hear his laughter echoing through the social area. We are so lucky to have him as a valued member.”
When asked about his secret to a long life and still living in his own home, John first of all had to stop the interview to cancel another call on his smart watch, before sharing that he makes sure to keep himself and his brain active by going to the Shed and his main meal of the day is his hearty breakfast—a humungous bowl of porridge made with a pint of milk and four Weetabix dunked in and topped up with orange juice—sometimes with a scoop of jam on top! “The breakfast of champions, plus the odd pint of Guinness” he said.
John added: “I intend to keep coming along to the Shed every single Monday. The lads held a fantastic birthday party for me for my 96th birthday, we all had a great time, and they are already speaking about my 100th birthday celebrations. I can’t let the lads down.”