Younger meets Yazov

Yazove and Younger

Pictured in 1989, another Minister of Defence, George Younger meets with General Yazov the highest ranking naval officer in Russia, on board the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible, in the Atlantic.

This was the first arms verification meetings between Russia and the UK.

Yazov was to return to Russia to organise the 1990 coup to oust Gorbachev.

Keep Nato Out

Helicopters

As with many peripheral areas, there’s a high level of military activity in the Hebrides. It is used regularly for military exercises and there are numerous military installations, including the UK’s main missile testing range.

In the early 1980s the UK government tried to expand Stornoway airfield into one of the largest airbases in the Northern Hemisphere. They had already spent £40 million on a runway, when Ronnie met Gorby and the plans were shelved.

The Islanders who had been fighting the expansion (through the group Keep Nato Out) didn’t complain, as they got the largest runway in the west coast of Scotland.

More photographs will follow on the struggles of KNO.