Canonmills since 1940s |
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1. |
Cornwall, England |
- Canonmills Hall |
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2. |
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
- Canon Street |
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3. |
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
- Whisky Bond - Monumental Masons - Restaurants |
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4. |
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
- Tanfield Shops |
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5. |
Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
- Morrison & Gibb - Scottish Daily Mail |
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6. |
Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
- Souness & Spiers |
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7. |
Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
- Whisky Bond and Cooperage - Distillery then Cooperage |
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8. |
Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
- Shops and Whisky Bond - Wilson's the Butcher - Howard Place |
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9. |
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
- Shops and Whisky Bond - Wilson's the Butcher - Howard Place |
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10. |
Pilton, Edinburgh |
- Barber's - Launderette - Chemist's - Whisky Bond |
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11. |
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
- Tanfield |
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12. |
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
- Shops - Tanfield Hall and Tanfield House |
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13. |
Edinburgh |
- Shops - Tanfield House - Tanfield Hall |
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14. |
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
- Porteous the Butcher - Cockburn's Hardware Shop - The Coop - Grocer and Newsagent - Brandon Terrace Toy Shop |
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15. |
Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland |
- Barber's Shop - Apprentices |
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16. |
Trinity, Edinburgh |
- Painting: View from Canonmills |
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17. |
Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
- Shop and Whisky Bond - Barbers - Warriston Playing Fields |
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Recollections 1. Robert Hepburn Cornwall, England |
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Thank you to Robert Hepburn, now living in Cornwall, England for his recollections below. Robert wrote: |
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Canonmills Hall "I lived in the area of Beaverbank Place up till 12 years of age and Canonmills Hall was the centre of my universe. Capt Tom Curr had activities going for the 46th Boys Brigade most nights. Hundreds of boys must have gone through the ranks. The Bible class on a Sunday Morning and the loud singing must have woken up the local residents!" Robert Hepburn, Cornwall, England: February 9, 2007 |
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Recollections 2. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Thank you to Allan Dodds who wrote: |
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Canon Street "When I was a child in Canonmills there were two distinct and opposite experiences for me in Canon Street (a slum in my day, inhabited by children who often wore cast-off clothes, who lacked shoes, and who sported 'candles' on their upper lips throughout the winter months). - Cold: One was the ice factory which periodically, in the summer, would dispose of excess ice by throwing it onto the cobbles of the street where it would soon melt away. We children would swoop upon these chunks of ice and suck them to cool ourselves down. They were also beautiful to behold, with long air bubbles internally gracing their smooth external shapes, and we used to vie with one another over whose was the best. - Hot: The other was the bonfire on Guy Fawkes night which was constructed out of detritus and waste such as old mattresses and large pieces of timber like pallets (if such things existed in those days). These bonfires were constructed in the middle of the road and traffic was unable to pass for about a week. One bonfire attained such a temperature that it caused the paint on the door of a nearby shop to blister. No authorities ever intervened in such activities which would not be tolerated now." Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: February 5, 2010 |
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Recollections 3. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Thank you to Allan Dodds for writing again with more of his memories of Canonmills in the 1940s. Allan wrote |
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Whisky Bond "When I was a child, living at Canonmills, we had a whisky bond at the foot of our drying green. There was also Morrison & Gibb's printing works (at the end of Tanfield Lane (now defunct) which became part of the Standard Life site." |
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Monumental Masons "McGlashen's monumental masonry works was located beside the bridge over the Water of Leith." |
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Restaurants "These premises became:
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a
very good Spanish Tapas restaurant
(recently defunct) The Loon Fung Chinese restaurant used to be a baker's shop in the 1940s. What used to be an electrician's shop to the left of the Northern Bar is now part of what is now called The Orchard Bar." |
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Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: |
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Recollections 4. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Thank you to Allan Dodds for sending me more memories from when he lived at Canonmills. Here are two photos of the building that is now on the south side of Howard Street (part of Inverleith Row) at Canonmills. - In the 1987 photo, the site behind the old building had been cleared to make way for the development of Standard Life's new Administration Offices. These would include refurbishment of the old building. - The 1993 photo shows the frontage of the completed development for Standard Life. The photo was taken three years after the Standard Life Administration Office opened. The building has now been sold by Standard Life and divided internally to create a number of separate smaller offices. |
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Allan wrote: Tanfield Shops "When I was a child, in front of this building lay a number of shops, similar to those of Pitt Street - no architectural merit, sheds almost. One was a shoemaker's shop; another was a tobacconists. At the age of eight I purchased a churchwarden's pipe there in order to smoke tea leaves, which was a fashionable activity among young children in the early-1950s. When I removed the pipe from my mouth, the best part of my lips was to be found hanging thereon . I was later informed that I should have rubbed the end of the clay pipe in butter to obviate the labial amputation. Ouch! These shops were subsequently demolished to reveal the building that we now see." Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: August 31, 2011 |
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Recollections 5. Danny Callaghan Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
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Danny Callaghan replied to Allan Dodds' comments above, giving more information about two of the buildings at Canonmills. Danny wrote: |
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Morrison & Gibb "The building that fronted onto Inverleith Row was Morrison & Gibb Tanfield Works. This was quite a nice building in red sandstone which had an arched gated entrance in the middle onto Inverleith Row. It was demolished at the time of building the Standard Life Complex. Behind it you can see part of the building that was refurbished by Standard Life. It is now referred to as Tanfield House." |
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Scottish Daily Mail "There was a lane that ran around the back of the Morrison & Gibb building. It went to the printing works and probably offices of the Scottish Daily Mail. I don't know whether these were part of Morrison & Gibb or totally separate. The Scottish Daily Mail used to be printed late in the evening before the paper was published. You could get a copy at about 11 pm from the works or news sellers in the city." |
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Danny Callaghan: September 2, 2011 |
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Recollections 6. Danny Callaghan Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
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Danny also sent more of his memories of Canonmills: |
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Souness & Spiers "I worked for Souness & Spiers on Warriston Road in the early- 1960s. They were a timber merchants. They felled their own trees at Newbattle Abbey, Dalkeith, and other locations. They then cut and 'naturally dried' them in large open timber sheds which ran along the wall opposite the Water of Leith. Their office was a small brick building, now the entry to Boat Green flats. The cottage to the right of entry road is now a photography studio. It was the original railway cottage and was occupied by our cleaner and yard caretaker." |
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Public Toilet "On the bridge over Water of Leith at bottom of Brandon Terrace was a public toilet. I believe still there. I always wondered if the waste just ran into the Water of Leith in the 1950s. I hope not, as that was one of my playgrounds, although still alive to tell the tale." Yes the public toilets are still there, as is the old Police Box beside them. |
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Outlet of Mill Lade "On Warriston Road, just past the car park used by the shops on the bridge, there was a large arched outlet into the river. We were always told this was the outlet of the Canon Mills lade." Yes, that seems likely. The mill with the water wheel was nearby, in Canon Street, beside the Esso filling station. |
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Barbers "On Brandon Terrace, about opposite Glenogle Road, there was a barber's where I was taken as kid. I continued continued to go to into my teens in the 1950/60s. As a kid, I had to sit on plank on the arms of the chair then, as I got older, I progressed to the seat. I got my first 'crew cut' and 'flat top' there, with a big wide comb with a spirit level bulb in it. One time, it was crooked as I had not sat up straight in the chair. I think that was the last time I went there. I believe that the barber had a very unusual name. Does anybody remember what it was?" |
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Launderette and Wash House "At the bottom Brandon Terrace, Huntly Street, on the corner was what I believe to be one of the first Bendix Automatic Launderettes in Edinburgh. No one had hardly seen washing machines in the mid-1950s, and here were these gleaming machines which you put your money in, I think 2/6 in the slot, and then sat in amazement and watched the whole washing programme. Once it was finished, you then loaded it into one of two huge machines at the end of shop and then went through the process again of watching the washing drying. My mother tried them a few times but decided there was nothing like the wash house in Henderson Row and went back there again. She used the wash house right up till it was closed, when she joined in the protest to 'Save the Wash House'. She appeared in an Evening News photograph of the protest, standing in the front row, wearing her head scarf." |
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Danny Callaghan: September 2+6, 2011 |
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Recollections 7. Danny Callaghan Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
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Danny Callaghan added: |
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Whisky Bond and Cooperage "Allan Dodds makes mention of a whisky bond. I cannot remember this. However, there was a cooperage on Glenogle Road, just down from Brandon Terrace, were Standard Life had their car park entry, I'm sure it was called William Lindsay & Sons. When I worked at Souness & Spiers in Warriston Road we used to supply them with American White Oak which is very water-resistant and rot- resistant, and ideal for barrel making. We used to ship in the logs, cut to the thickness required then cut into short lengths." Danny Callaghan: September 6, 2011 |
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Hi Danny: I certainly remember passing the cooperage in Glenogle Road, on my way to work in the mid-1960s. There appeared to have also been a distillery on this site in the 18th century. I don't know for how long it survived. I have an atlas that includes a map showing 22 mills and works situated beside the Water of Leith between Balerno and Leith Docks. Its entry for Canonmills reads:
Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: September 7, 2011 |
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Recollections 8. Danny Callaghan Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
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Danny Callaghan wrote again: |
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Shops and Whisky Bond "After reading Allan's comments in 'Recollections 4' above: 1. I cannot think what he was meaning about the shops in front of the now Tanfield House, and them being like sheds. 2. I don't know where the whisky bond was. I suspect it would have been next to the cooperage. I can recall some other blank building along Glenogle Road, possibly where there is now new housing. I hope Allan comes back with info." |
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Wilson's the Butcher "Wilson's the Butchers was on the corner of Inverleith Terrace and Summer Place. It's now a solicitor's and estate agent's office. My mother often bought her butcher meat there. What I remember most, and still even taste as I write this, is their mutton pies, they had a wonderful taste." |
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Howard Place "For a number of years in the 1950s, my mother used to clean a house in Howard Place in the mornings. I think it was No 14, which was a few doors down from Robert Louis Stevenson's house. Occasionally, probably in school holidays, I would go with my Mum. I remember that the house was owned by an old lady who lived there on her own. It was 3-storey with basement, ground floor (up a few steps) and first floor. The house seemed to me to be full of lots of big old furniture. The one thing I remember well was a huge curved chair with no back, which I imagined came from an Egyptian tomb or similar. The lady then moved to a flat in Brunton Place on London Road and think my Mum worked there for about 6 months." |
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Danny Callaghan: September 8, 2011 |
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Recollections 9. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Thank you to Allan Dodds who wrote again about the area around Brandon Terrace. Allan wrote: |
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Barber's "I too attended the barber's in Brandon terrace, although the name is long forgotten. On one occasion the 'product' was of such poor quality that my father dragged me back to the shop to have the 'handiwork' rectified: a mortifying experience. An Edinburgh Street Directory of the day would reveal the name of the barbers." Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: September 8, 2011 |
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Barber's Reply Allan: I've checked a couple of Post Office Directories that I have at home (1950 and 1961). They both list a hairdresser at 10 Brandon Place named Cecile. Was that the place? Peter Stubbs: September 12, 2011 |
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Launderette The launderette is still extant. My mother's first washing machine, a Bendix, came from there via the offices of our neighbour, John Kerr, the service engineer. He had it reconditioned before writing it off as scrap and selling it to my mother at a knock-down price! He said that Bendix bearings were made out of phosphor-bronze. That machine gave service for about twenty years and was still working when my mother upgraded it! Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: September 8, 2011 |
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Launderette Reply Allan: You are right. The launderette is still there. It can be seen in the background of this photo taken last year: Shortly after the photo was taken, the launderette caught fire, and had to close for several months, but there is now a large sign at the door saying that it has re-opened, Peter Stubbs: September 12, 2011 |
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Chemist's "At the foot of Brandon Terrace was the chemist's shop owned by Miss Bryson. It had these huge glass vases in the window, filled with different coloured liquids. Inside the shop lay a vast range of mahogany drawers and cases with Latin names on the drawers for the contents. Gregory's Powders were bought there by my mother on a regular basis to keep me 'regular'! The shop; is now a trendy cafe." Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: September 8, 2011 |
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Whisky Bond "The whisky bond was at the end of our drying green, at No.7 Howard Street. I watched with awe one week during the school holidays as joiners fitted a huge, heavy door to it. They told me that the wood was lignum vitae, the densest wood available, and that it would sink if placed in water. Presumably this was designed as a fire precaution. My father always said during the war that if one of Gerry's bombs landed in our drying green, we would be blown to kingdom come on account of the whisky bond." Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: September 8, 2011 |
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Recollections 10. Dougie Bryce Pilton, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Dougie Bryce for providing some of the answers about the buildings at Tanfield. Dougie wrote: |
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Tanfield "I worked in Morrison & Gibb 1962-1982. Although M&Gs and The Scottish Daily Mail occupied the same buildings, they were separate companies. The Mails presses were at the foot of Tanfield Lane and the Editorial and other departments were on the second and third floors of the building in the photograph that was taken in 1987. There was a whisky bond, also in Tanfield Lane, to the left of Morrison & Gibbs. Further down, there was Morrison & Gibb’s paper and printed sheet store. This was built on the site where the First General Assembly of The Free Church of Scotland was held in 1843 - 'The Disruption Assembly'. No, Peter I wasn’t there!" Dougie Bryce, Pilton, Edinburgh: September 8, 2011 |
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Recollections 11. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Thank you to Allan Dodds who replied to Danny Callaghan's comments about the buildings at Tanfield, in his 'Recollections 5' above. Allan wrote: |
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Tanfield "Thanks for the clarification. I used to play around these buildings when I was young but could not recognise them in the photo. They were accessed via a lane running down the side of Morrison & Gibb which no longer exists." Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: September 9, 2011 |
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Recollections 12. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Thank you to Allan Dodds for writing again, replying to the question about shops, asked by Danny Callaghan in 'Recollections 8' above. Allan replied: |
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Shops "The shops in front of Tanfield House lay to the north of Morrison & Gibb's red sandstone building. I believe that there were only the two: the tobacconist's and the cobbler's, but I could be wrong. (Again, the Street Directory will correct this). These shops are not figments of my imagination because my parents used to take their shoes to one and I bought a clay pipe at the other! The cobbler and his wife were very aged. Every morning, one could see them hobbling arm in arm along the road to open the shop. The cobbler wore a large leather apron and his wife lacked a number of teeth. Her name was Margaret, but I never found out her husband's name. (They could even have been brother and sister, for all I know.)" |
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Tanfield Hall and Tanfield House "There seems to be some confusion about Tanfield Hall and Tanfield House. The Disruption was ratified at one of them but not the other." |
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Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: September 13, 2011 |
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Recollections 13. Peter Stubbs Edinburgh |
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Shops "I've checked the Post Office Directory for 1950. It lists the following all under the heading 'Tanfield' ** : - Tanfield Bonding Co - Edinburgh Corporation Gas Department - Morrison & Gibb Ltd Printers, Tanfield Works - Turnbull & Spears - Scottish Daily Mail No.5, Arthur Simpson, No.6, George A Burns, Tanfield Dairy No.7, A G Sinclair No.7, Miss J Archibald No.7, Mrs S Ratcliffe No.8, Daniel Budge, Newsagent No.9, DS Johnston, No.10, James Wallace, Plumber & Gasfitter"
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** Note Most entries in the Post Office Directories are listed under street names. However, I think that 'Tanfield' was probably not the name of a street, but was the name of the district. This would be the district around Howard Street and further back from the main road, where Tanfield House (see below) now stands. Update On closer inspection of street names on old photos and street signs still in place, I see that Tanfield was, indeed, a street name. Tanfield was a short section of the western side of the road from Canonmills to Goldenacre. These were the three sections of road immediately after leaving Canonmills: - Howard Street (starting at Canonmills junction) - Tanfield (starting in front of Morrison & Gibbs building) - Summer Place (from the junction with Inverleith Terrace Lane) The road then became Inverleith Row, all the way from the junction with Inverleith Terrace to Goldenacre. |
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Tanfield House "Tanfield House is the building that now faces onto Howard Street, part of Inverleith Row, i.e. This is the building that was restored to become part of the Standard Life Administration Office in 1991. Tanfield House was sold by Standard Life in the early 2000s, and has been refurbished internally to create a number of smaller offices." |
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Tanfield Hall "The Disruption was ratified at Tanfield Hall. That is the building with the two round towers a short distance further upstream, seen in this old engraving. Tanfield Hall has been demolished." |
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Maps "This page has two maps and a recent aerial view of Canonmills. Tanfield is upper-centre in each of the images. They are: - 1844 map: Tanfield Hall (named Tanfield on the map) can be seen here on the north bank of the Water of Leith. - 1925 map: Tanfield has been developed for industry. Gas works appear to have been built on the site of Tanfield Hall and on the opposite bank of the Water of Leith. - 2001 Aerial View By the time this photo was taken, all industry had vanished from Tanfield. In this view, the area is dominated by the outline of the new Standard Life Admin Office with its three domes and roof-top garden. Another Standard Life building, a Computer Centre, can be seen immediately to the SW of the Admin Office, on the opposite bank of the Water of Leith." |
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Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: September 13+16, 2011 |
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Recollections 14. Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England |
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Thank you to Allan Dodds for writing about the shops in Howard Street, the short stretch on the west side of Inverleith Row between the junction at Canonmills and where the Morrison & Gibb office used to stand. Allan wrote |
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Porteous the Butcher "Next door to our home at No.7 Howard Street was Porteous the Butchers. Their back-shop fronted onto our drying green. One summer when I was playing in the green I looked into the back- shop through an open window to see, with a child's curiosity, what went on in there. I was rewarded by a good hosing down from one of the backroom butcher's boys. My mother immediately went downstairs and read the riot act to the butcher and never went into his shop again. The shop is now an Indian takeaway, and a good one too the last time I tried it when up in Edinburgh." |
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Cockburn's Hardware Shop "Next door to the butcher's shop was the Cockburn's shop. It was run by two brothers, but was always known as 'Jimmy Cockburn's'. One could purchase almost any conceivable item of hardware there. I think a piano shop now occupies that site, but you'd better check that." |
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The Coop On the other side of our home at No.7 was the Co-op where one queued endlessly during the War for the little fresh produce they had. They never had any bananas, as I recall. Then came Tanfield Lane. |
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Grocer and Newsagent "Still in Howard Street: coming from Brandon Terrace, the first shop across the bridge was Mr Murray's grocer's shop, now an Italian restaurant. Next door was Mr McDonald's, the newsagents, which is still there, though it is no longer Mr McDonald's. I remember buying a yo-yo there when the craze first came over here. They also sold Dinky toys so that shop was always popular with us lads." |
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Brandon Terrace Toy Shop "There was a proper toy shop in Brandon Terrace which has now become a coffee shop. I cannot recall its name, but my 'rich' uncle from London bought me a very expensive toy car there when he visited us in his Austin Sheerline limousine which was immediately surrounded by envious lads, much to my satisfaction." |
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Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: September 13, 2011 |
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Recollections 15. Jim Cairns Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland |
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Thank you to Jim Cairns who wrote: |
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Barber's Shop "References above to the barber at Brandon Terrace brought back memories of when I was an apprentice in R & R Clark printers in 1959-65. The local barber (in Henderson Row or Pitt Street) was always referred to as ‘The Indian’, due to his ‘scalping’ tendency." |
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Apprentices "The apprentices would only use this barber in desperation, and usually regretted it immediately! The youngest apprentices were regularly sent to the sawmill to buy a bag of sawdust. It was nice to be reminded that the firm was Souness and Spiers." |
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Jim Cairns, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland: September 13, 2011 |
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Recollections 16. Alan Wilson Trinity, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Alan Wilson who wrote: |
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Painting View from Canonmills "I've been reading with interest the recent Canonmills Recollections. They reminded me of this painting in National Gallery of Scotland by John Knox (1778-1845), showing a view of Edinburgh from Canonmills. I thought it might interest you if you haven't already seen it." Alan Wilson, Trinity, Edinburgh: September 14, 2011 |
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Recollections 17. Danny Callaghan Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
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Danny Callaghan wrote again: |
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Shops and Whisky Bond "Thank you to Allan Dodds for confirming the position of the shops and whisky bond. I'll have a closer look at what is left next time I'm down that area." *
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Barbers "The name 'Cecile'' (in Reply to 9 above) does not ring bells. A friend has just told me that there used to be a barber there who called himself 'Mr Smokey', but that would be after my time. His real name was Gordon Rankin." |
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Warriston Playing Fields "When I was at St Mary's York Lane Primary School in the 1950s, we used to be taken down to Warriston playing field behind Brandon Terrace for sports days. The football team also played school league games there. At that time there used to be a pavilion with a terrace out the front at the eastern end of the park. It backed onto the railway line. You can just see the pavilion and a bit of the terrace balustrade in the background in this picture: As I remember the park was gated and used only by schools." |
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Danny Callaghan: September 15, 2011 |
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Recollections 18. Gordon Rankin Portobello Edinburgh |
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The name, Gordon Rankin, was mentioned by Danny Callaghan in 'Recollections 17' above. In fact, I know Gordon. He is still an active member of Edinburgh Photographic Society. On reading the comments above, Gordon wrote: |
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Hairdresser "Barbers? Hairdressers, please! I ran a hairdressers at Nos.13/14/15 Brando Terrace from 1970 as Mr Smokey's, later just Smokey's The gentleman who ran it before me was Harry Ormonde who had it for the previous thirty years. He originally lived in the back-shop at No.13, before moving to Swanston.*
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Other Hairdressers "I only remember there being three hairdressers in the area when I started. The other two were in Rodney Street and Henderson Row. I don't remember their names." |
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Brandon Terrace Shops "I also remember Sports Tune, a few doors further down (now Forth Furnishings?) and the motorcycle shop at the other side. It was a coffee shop last time I looked., " |
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Gordon Rankin, Portobello, Edinburgh: September 16, 2011 |