Operation Megalithic Lift - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 197

was telephoning NASA, ESA and other national and international
bodies on a regular basis, I was told for the first time (and chose
to disregard) that the rules did not allow calls outside Glasgow,
let alone overseas. Supposedly no official vehicle was to cross the
city boundary for insurance reasons - a nonsensical ruling that fre-
quently left people or equipment stranded on the wrong side of the
line and led to Beltmoss Quarry bringing the stones into Glasgow
with their own transport as a goodwill gesture. And because the
Jobs Creation Scheme was so politically sensitive, all the Special
Projects had to be conducted in secret.
In our case, the secrecy came to a sudden end when the Diary col-
umn of the Glasgow Herald published a reasonably accurate account
of the project, with a cartoon by Turnbull (Fig. 7.8 ) [ 4 ] . Angry calls
ensued from the Trongate headquarters of the Parks Department. I
was science fiction critic of the paper at the time, and Christopher
Small, the Book Page editor, had urged me to write a piece for the
Diary, but permission had been refused. Of course I came under sus-
picion. But I had known nothing of the piece that appeared. Thinking
over his movements in recent days, Gavin remembered a pub discus-
sion with Bill Ramsay and other members of ASTRA. Going back
to the bar, and thinking he recognized the eavesdropper, he accosted
him with the words, “I think you owe me a pint,” - and got one, with
the reply, “Yes, I got a good bung from the Herald. ”
Once the story was out, however, the Project had become a tar-
get. Some Scottish newspapers were campaigning against the Jobs
Creation scheme on political grounds, and the Daily Record was
seizing any stick with which to beat Special Projects in particu-
lar. They had a 'mole,' probably in the main Parks Dept. offices on
the Trongate, who was passing on telex messages sent down from
Buchanan Street. Since the telexes were passing between people
who knew what they were about, very often the reporters got the
facts wrong. Our friends at the Record usually spotted them and
spiked the ones about us, but one they missed was inspired by the
messages about the foundations.
Because the circle was to be on District Council land, it
didn't require planning permission , only the less formal planning
approval. But the story in the Record was all wrong, beginning,
“It seemed like a great idea to put up a Druid's Circle [sic] for the
benefit of amateur stargazers. But the organization was less than