Inside Lockerbie now - rebuilt streets, scarred residents and chilling reminders

15 November 2023 , 19:55

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Lockerbie pictured on December 22, 1988, after the fatal bombing (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The destruction in front of her eyes will be etched onto her brain forever, but it’s the smell that Lorraine Kelly remembers the most.

In a documentary commemorating the Lockerbie plane bombing in 1988, one of the UK's most well loved TV presenters takes us back 35 years to the 21 of December 1998, when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded mid-air, killing all 259 people onboard and 11 on the ground. That day was the last Wednesday before Christmas and Lorraine was a young reporter and one of the first people to arrive on the scene before police cordoned off the area.

Some 35 years later, Lorraine returns to the small Scottish border town of Lockerbie to find out how the residents have been coping with the aftermath of Europe's deadliest terror attack. The aircraft had departed Heathrow for New York's JFK airport when, shortly before 7pm, a small cassette player packed with powerful Semtex explosives and hidden in baggage, ripped through the plane. Recalling how she felt arriving at the scene that grim December day, Lorraine said: “It was horrendous, eerie, really quiet, with lots of weird smells. But it is the aviation fuel that I remember most.”

Lorraine remembers the day of the Lockerbie bombing clearly as she was sent there as a young reporter

Lorraine revealed how it's something you never get over. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, She told Susanna Reid and Ed Balls: "A lot of people have forgotten it was the worst terrorist atrocity in Europe. It was surreal, like a warzone," she said. "I remember driving down and we had to stop the car because of shrapnel. Very quickly, you realise this was huge, this was enormous. I was just doing my job. Nobody I loved was murdered – and they were murdered as far as I am concerned," she said. "For years, I always said, 'I do not have the right to this, to have these feelings.'"

Retired police officer Colin Dorrance is still struggling with the same memory. He was just 18 and the youngest police officer at the scene the night Pan Am 103 was bombed.

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Since that day he has been haunted by one particular image of a farmer driving a pick-up truck carrying debris from Pan Am 103 and, in the front seat, was the body of a young girl.

The now-retired police officer said: "It was the body of a child he'd found in a field at the back of his farm. It looked as though they were asleep, it wasn't obviously injured, and it was just a shock to realise it was a passenger from Pan Am 103. At the time it all happened so fast. There were hundreds of passengers brought into the town hall. It was just a case of moving on then, but in years since it was something that bothered me. It was such an extreme, intense moment."

Bryony was travelling to the United States with her mother Yvonne Owen from Wales, to spend Christmas in Boston.

Since then, Colin has been taking relatives of the American victims on tours of the area so they can find out what happened to their loved ones and has spoken to the farmer whose dad moved the child's body that day. "He said it was a child by the name of Bryony Owen who was 20 months old and it had affected his father very badly over the years," reports The Scottish Sun. "The mystery if that's what you want to call it was laid to rest."

Bryony was travelling to the United States with her mother Yvonne Owen from Wales, to spend Christmas in Boston. Mother and daughter were laid to rest in a single coffin in the Welsh village of Pendine in Carmarthenshire. Former Libyian security officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001, the only person found guilty of the bombing. He was jailed for 27 years but died of prostate cancer aged 60 in 2012 after being released on compassionate grounds in 2009.

Areas of the town were destroyed by the impact (AFP via Getty Images)

What's Lockerbie like now?

Sherwood Crescent in Lockerbie was badly damaged when Pan Am flight 103 exploded and crashed into the town. The force of the impact blasted a 26-foot deep crater in the ground on Sherwood Crescent where bungalows were destroyed and others caught fire.

Now, the road and surrounding areas have been rebuilt. The small market town north of the Scottish Border has a selection of shops and places to eat, drink and stay. At the Dryfesdale Cemetery, on the outskirts of the town, there is a memorial garden that commemorates the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie Air Disaster.

In total, there are five memorials around the town, but there are no plaques or signs to mark where the wreckage fell.

You can take a Classic VW tour of Lockerbie and the surrounding area in a chauffeur driven VW camper or convertible beetle. The Love Bug D&G will tailor make the itinerary of your choice be it castle hopping or star gazing in the Galloway Dark Sky Park.

House prices in Lockerbie

Some 35 years later the area has been rebuilt

Properties in Lockerbie had an overall average price of £192,035 over the last year, much less than the national average of £291,000 in August 2023. Overall, sold prices in Lockerbie over the last year were 7 per cent up on the previous year and 4 percent up on the 2010 peak of £184,527 (as of October 2023). Despite its rural location, Lockerbie is well-connected to major cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow, making it an ideal choice for those seeking a peaceful retreat without sacrificing convenience. When it comes to safety, Lockerbie boasts a low crime rate and a tight knit community who look out for each other.

Jackie Annett