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Hamilton Street
Near Fort Place, to the south of Lindsay Road,
Newhaven
(now demolished) |
December 1976
©
Reproduced by courtesy of Scotsman
Publications Ltd. Click here
for web site details.
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Hamilton Street |
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Thank you to Kenny Paterson, formerly from Fort area and now living in
Hawick, Scottish Borders, for sending me the photograph above.
This photo was taken on December 14, 1976. Hamilton Street has
since been demolished. |
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Kenny wrote:
"Behind the photographer would
be Fort House. I believe its days are numbered too!"
Kenny Paterson, December 19, 2008 |
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Recollections
1
Lennie Toshack
Leith, Edinburgh |
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Lennie Toshack replied: |
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Playing in the Street
"Many thanks to Kenny for
sending the photo in.
©
I spent many days playing in that
street in the late 1950s, and still have the scar on my leg from jumping
over the bonfire, just slightly down from the white car on the left!
There was a wonderful chip shop
that had a great juke box.
Of course, this photo gladly
doesn't show the monstrosity that is Fort House, sadly a blot on the
area's history and is rightly being pulled down soon."
Lennie Toshack, Leith, Edinburgh |
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Recollections
2
Jim Patience
Alberta, Canada |
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Jim Patience wrote: |
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Bonfires
"During the war, my dad was in
the army and my mother was in hospital. I was shuttled between my
Aunt Hannah Morton who stayed in the top flat at 6 Hamilton Street and my
Gran's house at 5 Fort Place, just around the corner.
I also remember the bonfires at
corner of Fort Place and Hamilton Street. Shade's potato merchant
was just around corner. We used to get potatos from them to roast on
bonfire.
My Gran, Kate Scott, was last
person in Fort Place to convert to electricity. She had gaslight
until she moved from there."
Jim Patience, Alberta, Canada: December
21, 2008 |
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Recollections
3
David Barrie
Adelaide, South Australia |
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David Barrie wrote: |
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Wilkie Place
"Reading
about Hamilton Street and the bonfires brought back memories of living in
Wilkie Place, now long since demolished.
We had our bonfire too and it was set up in Bennett's' a large bit of
waste ground within Wilkie Place. We were moved out of Willkie about in
1962 to Fort House. Then, Wilkie Place and part of North Fort Street
were demolished to make way for the new Fort Primary School.
Although I believe Fort House is now a run down eyesore, it was bliss then
compared with what we had lived in over the road. An inside bathroom and
hot running water - sheer luxury."
David Barrie, Adelaide, South Australia,
December 22, 2008 |
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Recollections
4
John Cavanagh
County Durham, England |
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John Cavanagh wrote: |
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Hamilton Street
"This
is the first picture I have seen of Hamilton Street on any site.
I lived in No 7 Hamilton Street, ground floor at the back of the tenement.
The street was a magical place to live in as a youngster. It was a
cul de sac as a result of the wall of Leith Fort enclosing one end, a safe
place for kids to play football etc.
That
all changed with the building of Leith Fort development in the early
1960s. The wall was demolished and Hamilton Street became
another through road!"
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Bonfires
"We (the Hammy Boys) used to store our bonfire materials in a space
between the tenement and the Fort wall, known to all as the "wee hole", to
keep it safe from the marauding hordes of raiders from Wilkie Place and
Lapicide Place - it can just be seen on the right of the picture. We
used to light our bonfires at Bathfield.
There was a co-op store at the bottom of the street, a great chip shop on
one corner (I can't remember the name) and Fanny Malcolm's shop over the
road on the corner of Fort Place and Hamilton Crescent. My mother
used to clean for her."
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Return to Hamilton Street
"Last time I was in Leith, I visited what was Hamilton Street. My
name still stands out in blue paint from the mid-1960;s on what was our
back green wall !!"
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John Cavanagh, County Durham, England:
December 27, 2008 |
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Recollections
5
Willie Hutton
Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Willie Hutton,
Edinburgh for leaving a message in the EdinPhoto guest book.
Willie wrote: |
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Hamilton Street
"I was born in Hamilton Street in 1964 and lived there until 1977 when the
street was demolished. I lived in no.6 and moved to Fort House. It
was a great place to grow up. It was a very friendly community and I
always felt safe and happy there.
At the bottom of the street, on the left, was the chippy which always
seemed good to me! Opposite, on the corner of Fort Place, was Seeley's
grocer shop and on the opposite corner was Robertson's, the newsagent."
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Bonfires
"We weren't allowed bonfires in the street but used to have a huge one on
waste ground over from Shades (potato merchants) that we called Jackie's
Backie."
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Fort House
"Today, Fort House may not look so nice but it has a vibrant and thriving
community. Many fine people there!
Thanks for the memories!"
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Willie Hutton, Edinburgh: Message posted
in EdinPhoto guest book: January 14, 2009 |
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Recollections
6
Diane Bel
Salford, Manchester, England |
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Diane Bel read Jim Patience's
comments on Shade's potato merchants near Hamilton Street
(2 above) and wrote: |
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Shade's Potato Merchants
"My late mother told me that her grandmother, Isabella Shades, was related
to Shades Potato Merchants at Davidson's Mains, Edinburgh.
I would have thought that Shades Potato Merchants near Hamilton Place
would be the same family. The name 'Shades' is not a particularly
common one.
I've been researching the family for ages without much success. I
wonder if Jim or anybody else remembers anything about the Shades family."
Diane Bel, Salford, Manchester, England: January 18 + 26, 2009 |
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Contacting Diane
If you'd like to contact Diane, please email
me, then I'll pass your message on to her.
Thank you.
- Peter Stubbs: January 29, 2009 |
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Recollections
7
Eileen Shearsby |
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Eileen Shearsby wrote: |
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Shade's Potato Merchants
"I lived in Balfour Street and went to Bellevue SS school. There was
an Ian Shade in our class. He would be about 70 now. I'm sure
he was related to the Shade potato merchants.
His name was
Shade, not Shades."
Eileen Shearsby, Canada: April 28, 2009 |
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Recollections
8
Gary Dempsey |
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Eileen Shearsby wrote: |
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5th Birthday
"Thank you for the photograph of Hamilton St, Leith. Like
Willie Hutton, I too was born there in 1964. In fact I still have a
photo of him and me celebrating my 5th birthday at no 1 where my family
and I lived. We attended nursery together !"
Celebrations
"I have many fond memories of Hamilton Street, especially the night the
Americans landed on the moon. I remember sitting atop my father's
shoulders in the middle of the street, full of the kind of wonder only a
five yr old can muster !"
Smells
"Whenever I think of Hamilton Street, I think of two smells, the chippie
that Willie mentioned and the High Chaparral dollars and the bubble gum
which came with them that we used to collect.
Gary Dempsey, London: Message posted in
EdinPhoto guest book, June 13, 2009. |
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Question
Eileen: What were High Chaparral dollars?
- Peter Stubbs: June 13, 2009. |
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Recollections
9.
Jim Macfarlane
Edinburgh |
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Leith Fort lay at the southern end of Hamilton Street and .
Jim Macfarlane wrote:
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The Fort
"The Fort wall has been preserved
as has the guard house, but this was always out of bounds to me and not an
area I ever entered inside. "
Jim MacFarlane, Edinburgh: September 9 +
16,
2009
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Recollections
10.
Isabel Baker
(nee
Munro)
Brooklyn, Connecticut, USA
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Play
"My grandfather, James Green, lived at 5
Hamilton Street. My sisters and I were all born in a single-end on Lindsey
Road. We had a great time playing in Hamilton Street with the Fort
Wall at the back. It was like having our own play area"
Trams
"The trams ran just outside our door. My
brother loved to put pennies on the tram tracks to see what shape they
came up. That was until he got caught by my mother.
All great memories!"
Acknowledgement: Isabel Baker (nee Munro), Brooklyn,
Connecticut, USA: May 9, 2008 |
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