Well respected broadcaster and former Braidhurst School Captain, Tam Cowan, spoke to one of the 2019 Captains, Jay Blakeway, in an interview about his time at the school.
One half of the hosting duo behind the popular satirical football radio show, Off the Ball, Cowan – along with buddy, Stuart Cosgrove – have humoured listeners for 25 years, and they are still going strong.
Tam’s talents were established and nurtured in the 1980s whilst attending Braidhurst High School – a time he looks back on with fondness.
In the meeting, Tam was asked how our school fuelled his ambitions for a career in journalism, and if he had any advice for the young people currently at Braidhurst …
When you return to the school, do happy memories return?
‘Absolutely, I had a great time here. To be quite honest, when I left Primary School, Braidhurst, and the local area, maybe didn’t have a great reputation, and I was thinking “aw naw! I’m going to Braidhurst,” but the school was brilliant.
I got my O Grades and I got my Highers – nothing particularly stunning – but I really enjoyed all the other stuff: the extra-curricular stuff like Football, Table Tennis, Badminton and, especially, the responsibilities that came with being School Captain. Me and the female Captain were put in charge of the tuck shop, which was absolutely brilliant because we were sent away in a taxi every Thursday to the cash and carry in Viewpark, and we would determine what goodies all the kids at Braidhurst would get … and it would have been remiss of us not to take a few free samples whilst out. We even managed to get a pool table for our Common Room with the profits from the tuck shop.
So, all warm memories at Braidhurst. I made some great pals … one became my best man at my wedding, and I was his; some really good pals I still sit with at Fir Park to this day when we go to watch Motherwell.
I always get a wee glow when I come back.’
How much has the school and local community changed since you were a pupil here?
‘The local area here is now much more attractive, there’s clearly been a lot of good stuff done. When I first got told I was coming to Braidhurst, the first thing I thought of was Forgewood, and some areas were quite hairy. But it’s been completely transformed over the generations.
As for the school: to the naked eye, there is not a lot of changes. When you’re driving down to the school, it’s a bit like Blackpool: when you get about 20 miles away, and you first see the Blackpool Tower from the motorway. It’s a wee bit like that when you first see the school’s tower and you think “God! The number of hours I spent in there doing History, Modern Studies, Art, etc.” They had a bit of English on the first floor, but English, for me largely, was in the huts. They had huts up on the grass which were big stand-alone portacabin type of things.
The layout of the school is pretty much the same. You can never forget that it’s those stairs in the foyer that take you up to the staff room and the library.’
Did your time at Braidhurst have a significant impact on your aspirations to become a journalist and a broadcaster?
‘First of all, I’ll always be appreciative of what the school gave me. I wasn’t a swot. I wasn’t brilliant with exams. But the school gave me so much more: the personal things like how to conduct yourself, how to engage with others and how to express yourself – that’s what the school gave me.
But as for my career aspirations? It did, absolutely. In my 6th year, Mr Tom King, who was the head of English when I was here, got me and my big pal, Graham, to go along to a writer’s work shop the school held for the local community once or twice a week. We would encourage the adults that came in. But while we were sitting there and some of the adults were writing short stories or wee poems, me and my pal were writing jokes, sketches and topical things that had been in the papers and in the news. Tom King sent some of the material, the topical stuff, away to a couple of radio shows in London. One was on BBC Radio 4 called Week Ending, and one on Radio 2 called The News Huddlines – both kind of topical sketch shows. They ended up using some of our material, and this was a big deal at the school. Before you know it, they had me and my mate front page of the Motherwell Times. So, making those stories at school gave me a real impetus to continue writing.
If you fast forward a year, I didn’t last long at college because I really enjoyed the writing, and I was doing a lot more of that. I was writing for many radio sketch shows between BBC Scotland and the BBC in London, if you like. Through doing all this stuff with the BBC, I got a start with The Evening Times newspaper in 1990 as a columnist, and I was writing wee jokes about Scottish fitba. For me, as a Motherwell fan, it was great being able to take pops at the Old Firm in a newspaper which was pretty much a PR machine that talked Rangers and Celtic up.
Then, in 1994, I got a call from the BBC about a new radio programme they were doing called Off the Ball. The producer of the show had seen my work in the newspaper and gave me a chance. When I originally got involved in the show, it was also hosted by Greg Hemphill and Sanjeev Kohli – both of Still Game fame. So, I was the only one who never got a gig in Still Game out of it!
The show eventually got revamped and they brought in Stuart Cosgrove, and this year, we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of the show.
I believe everything stemmed from the encouragement I got from Tom King and the English department here at Braidhurst.’
Any advice for the pupils currently at Braidhurst?
‘Try your very best at your exams because its always a very good thing to have. If you get a chance to go onto higher education, grab it with both hands because Scotland is still a great country in which to do that. But, if you think you have a wee skill bubbling under the surface, that the English Department was able to bring to the fore with me with creative writing, have a go at it. If you are a good guitar player, if you fancy yourself as an actor, if you are good at doing your pal’s makeup – great! Get even better. Try to explore the other things inside you. The school curriculum and results are obviously important, but getting straight-As in your exams is not the be-all and end-all.’
Tam later took a nostalgic tour around the school, he thoroughly enjoyed it, pointing out what had changed since his time, whilst reminiscing about features of the school that remained the same, such as the old wooden benches in the Technical Department workshops.
Tam Cowan is just one of many Braidhurst success stories, others include former footballer, and current Rangers assistant manager, Gary McAllister; actor and comedian, Elaine C. Smith; and FIFA listed referee, John Beaton. The success of Braidhurst alumni is across a range of careers, and these people serve as a reminder of what we can do when we put our minds to it.
Words by: Jay Blakeway (School Captain) 2019/2020
