Flowers laid at graves of Dunblane victims as town marks 30 years since massacre

Floral tributes have been laid at the graves of the victims of the 1996 Dunblane massacre as the town marks the 30th anniversary of the worst mass shooting in UK history.

Mourners gathered at Dunblane Cemetery on Friday morning to pay their respects to the 16 children and their teacher who were murdered at Dunblane Primary School on March 13 1996.

Many laid flowers or lit candles at the graves, which are grouped together in the Garden of Remembrance, and some became visibly emotional and hugged each other as they remembered the events of three decades ago.

Flowers were also laid around the rim of the memorial fountain, which is engraved with the names of all those who were shot dead when Thomas Hamilton entered the school gymnasium armed with four handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

A number of the bouquets had cards with messages expressing grief and sorrow at the incident.

One read: “Forever in our hears and minds and you are missed every single day.”

Another had the inscription: “Time passes but the memories stay. 30 years in our hearts. Never forgotten.”

Residents of Dunblane had been encouraged to put candles in their windows to mark the anniversary and a special mass is being held at the Church of the Holy Family.

Flags are being flown at half mast at the Stirling Council headquarters at Old Viewforth.

The Dunblane Centre has also put up a display of some of the tributes sent in after the incident, including cards, letters, blankets and a miner’s lamp from Aberfan in South Wales.

Among the items are two letters from the late Diana, Princess of Wales, to the school’s headteacher Ron Taylor.

The first, dated March 13 1996, read: “Like millions of others, I was deeply shocked to learn of the tragedy that your school has suffered.

“I know my words are inadequate but I just wanted you to know that everyone who heard this news today will silently share in your grief.

“I hope you will feel comforted and strengthened by their prayers – and mine.”

The second was dated exactly a year later and said Mr Taylor’s “unfailing determination and dedication” to helping the children return to school had been “a wondrous example to us all”.

Many of the items were sent from the UK but some came from further afield, including a quilt from Anchorage in Alaska and cards from Canada, Australia and Ireland.

Jenny Stirton, chairwoman of trustees of the Dunblane Centre – which was paid for with funds that were donated following the shooting – said the items on display are just “the tip of the iceberg”.

“That’s just a tiny, tiny fraction of everything that exists in terms of gifts and letters and cards that were sent to Dunblane after the shooting,” she said.

“It ranges from everything from cards and letters to benches and grandfather clocks, and the quilts that were sent mostly from North America.”

Ms Stirton said: “People all over the world were affected by what happened.

“They were so shocked and saddened. I think they wanted to express that grief somehow.”

She added: “We wanted to put those items out on display to start to tell the story of the outpouring of compassion and support and love that was sent into the town after 1996.”

A project has recently been launched to track down and document everything that was sent in and Ms Stirton said she hoped the display would “jog people’s memories”  about the items.

She said the ultimate aim is to find a permanent home for the collection “so that people know about what happened”.

“Obviously we know about the events of that day, but what happened afterwards is a big part of the story as well, in terms of the sheer quantity of really beautiful and heartfelt items that came into the town.”

To find out more about Dunblane Centre, or to make a donation, visit https://dunblanecentre.co.uk/