Look back – act forward: There could perhaps be no more apt way of capturing how the 30th anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing should be symbolised.

For, out of the terrible events have come unbreakable bonds; friendships forged out of tragedy that prove good can emerge even from the most evil of acts.

A group of cyclists have shone a light on that.

Look back – act forward was their motto as they embarked on a mammoth memorial challenge to remember those lost in the atrocity, recognise emergency services and others who responded and all those who suffered in its aftermath.

Four emergency service cyclists were joined by the headteacher of Lockerbie Academy to complete the journey that was never finished, that by the 35 students of Syracuse University who lost their lives.

It was a 3,238-mile challenge and one which had special significance for Colin Dorrance, who spearheaded it.

As an 18-year-old probationary police officer, he was one of those who found himself at the scene of the tragedy.

Thirty years on, both of his children have studied at Syracuse on scholarships from Lockerbie Academy, experiences which have proven to have a profound effect.

Off-duty officer Colin was heading to a Christmas party at Lockerbie’s Queens Hotel – meeting friends from Carlisle - from his home in Kirkpatrick Fleming, about 12 miles south of the town, when the Pan Am flight 103 came down on December 21, 1988.

He recalled: “I remember leaving home at about 6.45-6.50pm. For the first time in my life, I was early. The event wasn’t starting until 7.30pm. I thought I’d go into the town, get some cash and go to the hotel.

“As I drove along the A74 and approached Lockerbie, I could see the explosion from Sherwood Crescent, about half a mile away.

“I got to Sherwood Crescent and there was a duty sergeant, Drew Young. He said there was a huge hole in the road and that I better go to the police station and sign on. I did that, grabbed a police anorak and that was me.

“I spent that night going from place to place, doing whatever I could do.”

As the scale of what happened became clear, police and other emergency services from across Scotland and northern England arrived at the scene.

Colin remained on duty until 8.30am the next morning, his duties having included being one of the officers on duty in a temporary mortuary established in Lockerbie Town Hall.

In the immediate aftermath, he remained part of the policing team in the town and was there as the procurator fiscal opened an office in one of his former classrooms at Lockerbie Academy as Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary - which was Britain’s smallest police force – mounted their investigation into the tragedy alongside the American FBI and CIA.

“It was a surreal time, but there was a sense of duty; a sense that this was my home town and wanting to do your best for it,” he says.

Colin’s involvement with the policing side of the disaster ended there as he returned to what was his then post in Newton Stewart.

In 1995, he was posted to Lockerbie. It would be where he and wife Judith would set up home with their family, daughter Claire, now 24, and son Andrew, 19.

It was they who would bring the legacy of the disaster home for Colin, who retired from Police Scotland as a sergeant after 30 years’ service in August.

A scholarship was established in 1990 between Lockerbie Academy and Syracuse to give two sixth year students from Lockerbie the chance to spend a year studying in the USA, honouring the connection between the institution and the town.

Claire won that scholarship in 2012/13. Her decision to pursue this that brought the events of 1988 back into Colin’s life.

He said: “The kids knew as they were growing up that there had been a plane crash, but we had never talked about it in any great detail.

“Out of the blue, Claire said she felt, at 17, she was too young to go to university, but wanted to do a gap year and applied for the Syracuse scholarship.

“If thought that if she was doing that, she should know more about what had taken place. There was no requirement for that in the application, but it was at that point where she showed an interest. I took her around the town and showed her what happened.”

Syracuse holds a remembrance week each November to honour the lives of those students who died.

The scholars play an important part in that, and it was this which appeared to bring the enormity of the disaster home for Claire.

“She was really struck by what had happened. She had just turned 18 and I was 18 when it happened,” Colin said. “She Skyped me one day in tears. It brought us closer together.”

That scholarship brought Claire into contact with some relatives who, in turn, she put in-touch with her dad.

Colin and Judith visited their daughter at Syracuse, which further strengthened their personal connections, and they have since met many of victims’ relatives who have visited Lockerbie, some of which have had profound effects.

Andrew also decided to make an application, winning the scholarship in 2017/18.

It was during his scholarship year at Syracuse that the memorial cycle, and something which quickly gathered pace as Colin and his family again visited the USA.

Support grew both in Lockerbie and Syracuse, efforts since praised by Prime Minister Theresa May.

There was a mass turnout for an initial memorial ride from Lockerbie to Edinburgh Castle.

The US leg saw five cyclists – Colin, Lockerbie Academy headteacher Brian Asher, firefighter Paul Rae, RAF mountain rescue veteran David Whalley, and paramedic David Walpole – ride 600 miles over seven days from Washington to Syracuse, arriving at the university in time for the annual memorial service.

For Colin, it was the final time he would wear his police uniform, which he has donated – along with his service medals – the university’s museum.

The disaster also, by coincidence, ended up bookending his career – from being on the scene when it happened, to remembering those who died at the end of it.

“What the event ended up doing was creating a direct thread from person to person. That made it all worthwhile,” he added.

The Syracuse connection has undoubtedly been one of the shining lights to come out of the disaster.

And, as time passed, it has perhaps let townsfolk open up about the experiences of December 1988 as the next generation as questions about what happened.

Many people at the time – and in the years since – chose not to talk.

“But in the last five years alone I think people have opened up the way in which they’re prepared to talk about what took place,” Colin said. “There will still be people who don’t want it brought up.”

He added: “The scholarship has brought about building relationships. It’s opened new opportunities.”

Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell has also paid his respects at Syracuse this year and his hugely supportive of the scholarship.

“Fifty-eight scholars have been now,” he said. “At Syracuse’s memorial week, they don’t just remember the 35 students who died, but all 270 victims.

“For Lockerbie and Syracuse there is a shared impact. What happened involved Syracuse and what happened, happened at Lockerbie, both so randomly. Syracuse had nothing to do with the Middle East and neither did Lockerbie.”

The Cycle To Sycacuse raised £23,000 which is being used to support Dumfriesshire-based mental health charity Soul Soup. You can still make a donation at www.cycletosyracuse.com.