Sir Charles Douglas visited Beckindale in March 1988. He was interested in having some of his clients take part in the pigeon shooting in the upcoming summer. Sir Charles's visit to Beckindale was quite memorable, he witnessed a slanging match between Jock MacDonald and Alan Turner in The Woolpack. Alan apologised to Sir Charles but Charles said he was promised some village colour and there it was. Alan Turner took Charles to a restaurant in Hotten and drunk too much. On the way home he was arrested by Sgt Ian MacArthur for drunk driving. Sir Charles had to also attend the police station. This put him off staying in Beckindale for a few more days and decided to take an early train back to London the following morning.