Bowling Club at Montgomery Street

Bowling Club in Montgomery Street

Thank you to Richard Middlemiss for sending me this photograph of bowlers, near his home in East Thomas Street.

Richard's grandparents lived at 19 East Thomas Street from about 1914 to 1955.

Question

Bowling Green

The only bowling green in the area that I have been able to find on old maps, lies to the south of Montgomery Street, about 200 yards to the south of East Thomas Street.

Is that the bowling green in the photograph above?

Answer

Yvonne Cain (née Dorr)

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Yes, this photograph is probably is of the bowling green that lies to the south of Montgomery Street. However, that is not the only bowling green in the area. See below.

Yvonne Cain wrote:

Two Bowling Greens

"There were two bowling greens in Montgomery Street. My dad went to both to play cards. He played whist and the game where you use a peg-board. That sounds like Cribbage - Peter Stubbs)

a) There was a public bowling green next to the children's play ground . (That's the one in the photo above.)

b) There was another bowling green, belonging to a club. It was surrounded by tenements.

It was in Wellington Street. If I remember, you would walk past it and not notice it. You got into it by a metal green door. I think the door was in Montgomery Street."

Yvonne Cain (née Dorr), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: September 28, 2007

This view looks to the east. Elgin Street is on the extreme left. London Road Gardens are on the right

Answer

Kim Traynor

Tollcross, Edinburgh

Thank you to Kim Traynor for finding a photograph above of the 'hidden bowling green' mentioned by Yvonne Cain, and to RCAHMS for allowing me to reproduce the photo.

Kim wrote

Hidden Bowling Green

"I was rather mystified to read about the second bowling green, near Montgommery Street. But here is an aerial photo of it.

How sneaky is that?"

Kim Traynor, Tollcross, Edinburgh: December 7, 2009
Photo above added to EdinPhoto web site April 6, 2010

Answer

Douglas Bryce

Pilton, Edinburgh

Thank you to Douglas Bryce who wrote:

Hidden Bowling Green

"The hidden bowling club is Hillside BC. You can get into it from London Road."

Douglas Bryce, Pilton, Edinburgh: April 8, 2010

Thanks Douglas. I've now found the entrance in London Road, at 9a Brunton Place,, and taken a few close-up photos of the bowling green.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: May 18, 2010

Answer

Keith Grant

Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Thank you to Keith Grant who wrote:

Bomb beside Leith Junction Station

"Your posting of bomb damage beside Leith Junction Station, added in December 2014, brought back personal memories for me of when I used to deliver mail in Leith, as a Student during the Christmas Holiday’s, and had Largo Place as part of my round.

The bombed-out house on the corner was still a gap site in 1980-81 when I used to pass it on my round. I knew that it had been bombed during the war so it was extremely interesting to see the photographs that you posted."

Montgomery Street Bowling Club Connection

"I was interested the photo posted, a while back, at the top of the current page.

Photo

1955

Here is a very similar photo taken at the same top green in 1983 or 1984.

Photo

1983-84

The houses on Elgin Street looked in better shape than they do in my photo. Do you know when they were demolished? (I don't know that. - Peter Stubbs)

The bowlers in this photo were regulars at Middletons Bar, on the corner of Edina Street and Easter Road. This brings me to the connection between the Leith bombing and the bowling club.

The chap standing in the centre of the back row was Alec. (I’m afraid that his second name now escapes me.) He had for many years, before retiring, been a Police Officer in Leith. The story that I was told was that Alec, as a young Police Officer, was put on Guard Duty at Largo Place the night, after the bombing on April 7, 1941.

The bowlers in the photo are, left to right:

BACK ROW:
Davie Young, Ian Grant (my father), Alec, Malcolm Bell, Jock McKay

FRONT ROW:
Keith Grant (me), David Young, Colin Bell (on his knee), Harry Bell, George Hands

David Young had not long returned from the Falklands where he was serving with the Royal Navy."

Keith Grant, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland: February 1, 2015