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'Single Ends'
and
'Room and Kitchen' Houses
"I was interested to see the photo of High
School Yards that was sent in by Linda Montgomery.
Lyndsay Montgomery said that the houses were
were all single ends. In fact, they were not all single ends.
In fact, there were also some 'room and kitchen' houses.
My Dad and his brother and sisters lived in 20
High School Yards - the name of Dolan. The houses at either
end of the balcony were single ends and the houses facing the yard were
room and kitchen. The Dolan family lived in a room and
kitchen.
My grandparents also rented a single end where
their grown up daughters slept. My Dad and his brother and sisters were
all born in 20 High School Yards. My Dad was born in 1916."
There were also two single ends in the
passageway before stepping onto the balcony. Tammy McIntosh lived in one
of them. He was my grandparents' neighbour. And the Dignan
family lived in the single end to the left of my grandparents' house.
There were also houses in the basement of the
blocks. My Grandmother cared for an elderly lady, Mrs McKay, who
lived in one of the basement houses in the same block.
My Grandmother continued to live in her room
and kitchen house until her death in the early 1970s. The room and
kitchen houses were never converted into single ends.
Any conversion of the houses would have only
taken place after this time. When I visited Edinburgh in 1991, the
houses had all been changed. They looked as they do in this picture
that Linda Montgomery sent in.
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