Edinburgh History - Canonmills

1.	Eric Sloan Emerald, Victoria, Australia	- Golden Wonder Crisps - Shops and Cinema - Fame - Tenements
2.	Richard Greenwood Ripley, Derbyshire, England and reply from Jim Duncan New Brunswick, Canada	- Jackie Dennis
3.	Betty McGill Edinburgh	- 'Oblah De'
4.	Clive MacKinnon Orpington, Kent, England	- La De Dah
5.	Jim Duncan New Brunswick, Canada	- Street Party Coronation 1953
6.	Danny Callaghan Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland	- Coronation Celebrations
7.	Danny Callaghan Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland	- Jackie Dennis
8.	Ian Scott Hazelmere, Buckinghamshire, England	- Ian Scott
9.	Sandy Sievwright Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland	- John Clephane & Sons
10.	Kathleen Lithgow Ratho, West Lothian, Scotland	- Canonmills Café
11.	Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England	- Canonmills Ice Cream Shops

Recollections

Eric Sloan

Emerald, Victoria, Australia

Thank you to Eric Sloane for his recollections below. Eric lived in the Boswall area of Edinburgh from the 1940s until 1963.

Eric wrote:

Golden Wonder Crisps

"In the mid 1950s my uncle, Ian MacDougall, worked for the then fledgling Golden Wonder crisp company. There was a factory down Canonmills in a row alongside the Water of Leith.

I used to go with him to the factory which was like a Heath Robinson machine. I was fascinated by the place. It worked automatically peeling and slicing the potatoes and dropping them into the fat vats for cooking, then out again for drying.

Ian drove a delivery van around the retailers and I used to help him dropping off the tin boxes containing the packets of crisps. Another job was pasting the labels on to the side of the boxes. That was kinda messy."

Shops and Cinema

"Later, around 1956 or '57, my Nan and Pop bought a shop in Rodney St. We were next to a milliner just north and across the road from Broughton Primary (which I attended for a while) and nearly opposite to the Ritz cinema.

I used to go to Saturday morning pictures there taking the tram from Granton Rd alone from as young as 8 year old.

The shop was a bit of everything, like an Australian milk bar. We sold sweets to the kids from the school and all kinds of groceries.

They bought a large van and Ian left Golden Wonder to come drive it. We operated a mobile shop going all over North Edinburgh."

Fame

"The last of that row of shops, at the southern end, was a chippie and next to that a block of tenements.

Jackie Dennis was brought up in the first of those tenements and went on to become a "one hit wonder" down in London appearing on the 'Six-Five Special' and 'Oh Boy' shows.

I remember everyone said what a nice lad he was. The hit song was called "Oh La De Dah" or something very close*.
Off Rodney St., just north of the row of shops was an old cobbled street leading up to an elevated waste ground."

* Please also see:

- Recollections 3 + 4 below, for the name of the song.

- Recollections 7 below, for more about Jackie Dennis.

- Peter Stubbs

Tenements

"The tenements in that street were very dilapidated, housing some fairly rough characters. I don't recall the name - it was Something Row.

The waste ground at the top was a great Cowboy and Indian playground and I remember one time when I was a captive. This kid from the street had me tied up to a clothes pole and was preparing to burn me at the stake! Somebody ran down for my grannie and I got rescued."

Reply

Thank you to Jim Duncan who replied:

"The primary school on Rodney Street was Canonmills, not Broughton Primary.

The cobbled street north of the shops 'leading to elevated waste ground' was Heriothill Terrace, and the waste ground was 'The Sandy Hills'.

Okay, the tenements were leaning a bit in the late-1950's but 'dilapidated' is a bit strong, and as one of the 'rough characters', I protest! It was a lovely street, full of very close community people

We had our drunk who loved to celebrate getting her pension, but she was our drunk and if she was ill, she was looked after!

No wonder they tied you to a clothes pole and prepared to burn you, and somebody had to get your granny to save you!

LOL (laughing out loud) is all I can say. I wonder if I was involved?"

Jim Duncan, New Brunswick, Canada: May 22, 2009
Thank you to Jim has for also sending some photos of the area.
See recollections 5 below.

Recollections

Richard Greenwood

Ripley, Derbyshire, England

Thank you to Richard Greenwood for following up on the 'Fame' paragraph above.

Richard wrote:

Jackie Dennis

"Just a recollection of the 'one hit wonder', Jackie Dennis.

He actually had a hit with 'Purple People Eater' circa 1958. It was released on a 78 and the flip side was 'Yoo Hoo'. It was one of the first records I ever bought. Sheb Woolley also had a hit with the same song.

Maybe Jackie was a '2 hit wonder'. I've never heard of him since."

Richard Greenwood, Ripley, Derbyshire, England: March 26, 2008

Recollections

Clive MacKinnon

Orpington, Kent, England

Clive MacKinnon did not agree with the comments above. Clive wrote:

'La Dee Dah'

"The song title was not 'Oblah De, Oblah Da'. It was 'La Dee Dah', a No.4 UK hit on the Decca label (F.10992).

It is also quoted as being featured in the film 'The Six-Five Special'.

Betty (3 above) is obviously thinking of the Beatles/Marmalade song from 11 years later."

Clive MacKinnon, Orpington, Kent, England July 30, 2008

Clive added:

'La Dee Dah'

"My daughter has a collection of '1950s 78s on You Tube under the name 78junkee. She has Jackie Dennis' La Dee Dah playing on there!"

Clive MacKinnon, Orpington, Kent, England July 30, 2008

Recollections

Danny Callaghan

Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland

Thank you Danny Callaghan, who wrote:

Coronation Celebrations

Coronation Party

"I looked at this photo of the street party for the Coronation, in Heriot Hill Terrace , Broughton, with great interest.

I remember also going to a Coronation Party but it was held in the Church Hall in Rodney Street, near the Ritz cinema.

The party was funded by the Maran family who had the ice cream Café at 22 Rodney Street. I think they won large sum on the football pools and treated the kids to the party. I don't know why we in Broughton Road were invited and not the kids in Heriot Hill Terrace. Maybe they were the 'keelies'!"

Television

"My dad had brought a television in late-1952, a Cossor 12", for the princely sum of £64. It was 64 guineas (guinea = £1.05p) but for cash he got a discount, a fortune in these days. We were the first people I knew with television.

On Coronation Day, our family and neighbours were invited to watch the Coronation. They had to bring chairs. It was a full house. I remember the chairs being lined up like a cinema and my mother no doubt would have been dishing out cups of tea."

Coronation

"The party I went to finished before the Coronation, so I was back in house to see the Queen getting crowned.

I still have my Coronation mug and still use occasionally, and also the commemoration crown (5/-) we were given. The following week we were taken by school to see the Coronation film at the Gaumont at West End

It was great time and I don't think there was a house which did not have flags flying from their windows."

Danny Callaghan, Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland: November 16, 2009

Recollections

10.

Kathleen Lithgow

Ratho, West Lothian, Scotland

In his recollections of working for John Clephane & Sons, Sandy Sievwright wrote:

"On the left of Canon Street, opposite our main entrance was a Café. I remember the owner was called Ted and I can still taste the fish and chips lunch that I got once a week on pay day."

Sandy Sievwright, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland: May 20, 2012

Now Kathleen Lithgow, Ratho, West Lothian, Scotland has posted a message in the EdinPhoto guest book in response to Sandy's comments above.

Kathleen wrote:

Canonmills Café

"I read, with interest, the reference regarding a Café in the 1960s. It belonged to my grandad, Frederick Burns, and was called Canonmills Café.

The writer had fond memories of being served a mean fish and chips from my uncle Ted, who later took over from my grandad. I have great memories from visiting the Café as a child."

Kathleen Lithgow, Ratho, West Lothian, Scotland
Message posted in EdinPhoto Guestbook: June 13, 2012

Recollections

11.

Allan Dodds

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Allan Dodds who wrote:

Canonmills Ice Cream Shops

Two Shops

"There were two Italian ice cream shops near us in Canonmills:

- One was Mr Coia's shop in Howard Street (now part of the Loon Fung).

- The other was opposite my grandmother's sweetie shop in Pitt Street (now Dundas Street). It was situated very close to Clark's Bar. Its owner was Mr Moran."

No customers!

"Neither of these shops appeared ever to have any customers just after the War. Their proprietors would often stand in the doorway most of the day with their arms folded, watching the world go by.

Raymond Faccenda may be able to supply more details because of his Italian and ice cream connections!"

Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: October 29, 2011