Edinburgh History - Beaverbank area of Edinburegh

Recollections - Beaverbank Duncan's Chocolates © From 1940s
Recollections
1.	Matt Rooney Ayrshire, Scotland	- Free Sweets - Dundee - Glasgow - Powderhall - The Waverley
1.	with reply from David Greig London, Edinburgh and Falkirk	- Glengarry Biscuits
2.	Alex Dow Fife, Scotland	- Duncan's Lassies - ATC Summer Camp - Cocoa Butter
3.	Robert Hepburn Cornwall, England	- Raw Chocolate - City Mission
4.	Helen Stoddart Edinburgh	- 'Big Mary' - Chocolate Soldiers - Chocolate Mice - Friends
5.	Question Virginia Davis	- Duncan's Chocolate Tin - Date?
6.	Elizabeth Robertson	- Duncan's Chocolates Van
7.	Matt Rooney	- Duncan's Chocolates Van

Comments from

Matt Rooney

1940s

The Beaverbank area of Edinburgh is situated beside the Water of Leith, about a mile to the north-east of Princes Street.

Thank you to Matt Rooney, New Cumnock. Ayrshire, Scotland, for the recollections below of industries in the Beaverbank area, including Duncan's Chocolate Factory and Beaverbank Motors.

Matt
Aged 28, 1961

Matt wrote:

Free Sweets

"When I started at Duncans, I was told that I could help myself the sweets. This I was told to prevent the stealing of sweets, but I wasn't told at the time that too much sugar content is bad for us. I ended up having about 16 boils in a year. My Mum, who had been a nurse, had the task of bursting them with the aid of a milk bottle. I cannot remember how."

Dundee

"At Duncan's, I progressed from the inner workings to being a Van Boy. Andrew was the Foreman of the Vans as well as being a Driver. I was his Van Boy and spent a lot of time with him.

The routes varied from week to week. I travelled all over Scotland delivering not only Duncans Chocolate but Cadbury's and Other Manufacturers as well. We had to stay in Temperance Hotels, the reason being that Mr. Duncan didn't want the Drivers to be tempted with the Demon Drink or words to that effect.

I do know that on the Trips with Andrew I had to learn to drive extremely quickly, or else we would not have delivered our van-load in the 4 days allotted to us. I think that's the reason that I know so many roads in Scotland so well,

We seemed to spend a lot of time going to Dundee as Duncans had a Depot there, and on the road there and back we visited all the wee towns and villages that we had orders for.

The Forth Road bridge had not yet been built, so we caught the early ferry across the Firth of Forth at South Queensferry. If we didn't manage to get on the 7:30 am ferry, then we had to drive like mad to the Kincardine Bridge and hare along the shore road until we got back to where we should have been if we had caught the ferry. Then it was along the coast road going Via Kirkcaldy and Crail if that was our route that week, or the direct route to Dundee."

Stranraer

"Another time, we would be in Stranraer. I remember going to the cinema there, and it was like a nissen hut made of tin, but the place was packed out as it was the only entertainment in the village.

Another time, we got stuck because of the snow on the road called 'Rest and Be Thankful', which was really bad in winter and looks absolutely beautiful in summer."

Glasgow

"There was also a Duncans Depot in Glasgow in a Railway Goods Bay, I think it was near The Barrows.

Does anybody know which biscuit manufacturer made the Glengarry biscuit? "

Glengarry Biscuits

Reply

Thank you to David Greig for leaving a message in the EdinPhoto guest book. Here is an extract from David's message:

"Glengarry ... was a Macdonald of Glasgow brand, in common with Penguin, Yoyo, Taxi, and of course the Munchmallow, a superior version of other makers' Chocolate Teacake.

Apparently, United Biscuits, after WW2, merged Macdonald with Edinburgh firms McVitie and Price, McFarlane Lang, and two companies bearing the Crawford name.

For some time afterwards, the companies maintained their separate identities and brands. But Macdonald seems to have been the first to go, with McVitie, as it became known, taking on its brands and dropping the Glengarry at much the same time."

David Greig, London/Edinburgh/Falkirk, December 26, 2007

"I remember when working at Duncans taking about 20 x 1 cwt, of coverture chocolate to a biscuit manufacturer through to Glasgow.

Their place was at the back of where all the roads seem to meet nowadays, at the West End. We actually went along part of the road that takes you to Loch Lomond, (well, eventually).

Coverture is part of the Process from Beans into Chocolate Proper, but how far along the food chain it is, I have no idea. I do know that when it goes into the next process it turns either into milk chocolate or plain chocolate. I only got to sample the finished product. It was yummy then. Modern chocolate isn't quite the same - in fact I just can't eat it as it makes me ill, honest"

Powderhall

"When there was a Dog Meeting at Powderhall on a Wednesday afternoon, one of the lads from Duncans would be sent by the Gent who collected on behalf of a certain Bookie, to the wee pulley in the warehouse and would lower the bets to someone below.

The Management at Duncans turned a blind eye to this practice - "a contented workforce etc!" I think was the motto.

I was one of the Lads that was sent, and of course after the Meeting the reverse happened and the winnings if there were any."

'The Waverley'

"I first encountered The Paddle Steamer 'Waverley' when I worked at Duncans. Either Duncans or their Social Club had hired the 'Waverley' for their Annual Do. That's when I learned how to do the Hokey Kokey.

This type of dance could be a bit hazardous, collapsing in a hail of either laughter or embarrassment on the decking. I think perhaps the odd noggin had something to do with it."

Matt Rooney, ( now aged 73): Ayrshire, Scotland, August 2005.

The notes above now include additional material provided by Matt on March 7, 2008.

Please click here to read about some of Matt's other jobs including Beaverbank Motors.

Please click here to see an example of Matt's verse and rhyme.

Comments from

Alex Dow

1940s

Thank you to Alex Dow, Fife Scotland for his memories of Duncan's Chocolates in Edinburgh.

Alex wrote:

Duncan's Lassies

"The notes about Duncan's brought back more memories.

The No's 8 & 9 trams passing up Rodney Street from Granton etc, just before the change of shifts, would be jammed with Duncan's lassies in white overalls and turbans, getting off at the Rodney St stop, to make their way along Broughton Road to the factory.

The trams would be filled with the aroma of chocolate - but on an industrial scale, not quite the same."

ATC Summer Camp

"Travelling to my first ATC Summer Camp at RAF Locking, Weston-Super-Mare in 1949, one of the other cadets had a block of this scrap chocolate, weighing about 5 pounds; and looking huge in the circumstances.

We left the Caley Station at about 01:00 hours on the Saturday morning, arriving in Weston some 14 hours later, travelling by a special "troop train".

The chocolate didn't last long, being hacked to bits by our eating irons (cutlery)."

Cocoa Butter

"That same year, I encountered cocoa butter, the main ingredient of chocolate, for the first time - this strange white material. Was it really the starting point for Duncan's Hazelnut Chocolate?"

Alex Dow, Fife, Scotland: September 8, 2006

Comments from

Ella (Helen) Stoddart

Thank you to Helen Stoddart (nee Gold) for the recollections below.

Helen wrote:

'Big Mary'

"My mother's best friend was Big Mary (Mary Mclaughlin). She lived in East Arthur place and they were mates from childhood. She was one of the supervisors at Duncans chocolate factory and she got me a job there."

Chocolate Soldiers

"Every week all the workers got a big box of chocolate, little soldiers and the little mice full of cream. My wee brother Eric would get the soldiers and take them on a Saturday morning to the New Victoria kids' cinema club and smuggle them in (ha ha ha ha). There, he would share them with his mates."

Eric, mentioned above, is Eric Gold, He has provided many recollection of Edinburgh for the EdinPhoto web site. Eric now lives in East London.

Chocolate Mice

"I would give Toodils, the cat, a little mouse which he loved and when Easter came I got a huge Easter Egg full of chocolates."

Friends

"We had a great staff there at Duncans and I met and made a lot of friends who also worked with me at the Whiskey Bonds and on the buses."

Ella (Helen) Stoddart, Edinburgh: April 28, 2007

Message from

Virginia Davis

Thank you to Gin Davis who wrote:

Question

Duncan's Chocolate Assortment Tin

"I have a very old tin. It is (and written on the bottom) a “1 lb. net weight Chocolate Assortment made by W. & M. Duncan Ltd Edinburgh Scotland”

I learned the M. was for Margaret. So it is a very early tin. I can not find when she died though or when the name changed, so I am not certain of its date. And I could not find any design samples to compare it to.

W & M Duncan Ltd

I've checked some old Edinburgh & Leith Trade Directories and discovered that Duncans used the name 'W&M Duncan Ltd.' over a long period.

The company was listed under that name in the trade directories for 1930-1, 1940-1, 1950-1 and 1961-2. I've not checked other years.

- Peter Stubbs: January 29, 2008.

My tin has a hinged top. It is 1 and 3/8 inches tall, about 9 and 1/8 inches wide and about 7 inches deep. It is mostly red and has fancy gold trim on the top and sides.

At the bottom of the lid is written in italicized script, 'Duncan Chocolate Assortment'. Featured in the center is a pretty white doily with 12 assorted chocolates on it."

Date?

"Do you, by any chance, know anyone who would know about this tin design and its date? I have a feeling it was one of their first one pound tins…it looks very old…physically and in its design."

Virginia (Gin) Davis, Barboursville, Virginia, USA: January 29, 2008

If you think you can help to answer Virginia's question, please e-mail me and I'll pass on your message to her.

Thank you. - Peter Stubbs