Crewe Toll

North Edinburgh

Recollections

1.

Rab Lettice
Leith, Edinburgh

Church

Shops

Rab Lettice
Leith, Edinburgh

Ice Cream Vans

Rab Lettice
Leith, Edinburgh

Home

Ice Cream Vans

Winnie Liddell (nee Thomson)
Canada

Shops

Rab Lettice
Leith, Edinburgh

Barrow

Do You Remember

Yvonne Cain
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Rev Ian Reid

Winnie Liddell (nee Thomson)
Canada

Shops

Old Kirk

Homes

Dorothy Finlay
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Ladies' Basketball

Dorothy Finlay
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Ladies' Basketball

Brian Alexander
Prestonfield Edinburgh

Mobile Shop

Findlay Smith

Home and School

Ironmonger

Friends

Dorothy Finlay
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

TV at Crewe Road North

Graeme Charles Munro
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Under the Railway Bridges

Recollections

1.

Rab Lettice

Leith, Edinburgh

Thank you to Rab Lettice who wrote:

Church

"There used to be a church at Crewe Toll.  It was knocked down and rebuilt at Pennywell Road.  The Minister there was Rev Reid.  He looked like Hitler, and had the moustache too.  I was told that he had shellshock.

All the kids at Pennywell Primary School went to the church when King George VI died in 1952.  Then in 1953, we all got Coronation Mugs.  I still have mine."

Shops

"At the bus stop at Crewe Toll, Mr Thomson sold newspapers and fresh rolls from his kiosk.  His son, Jackie had a fruit shop in Ferry Road Drive in the 1950s.  Before he had it, it was a butcher's shop."

Rab Lettice, Leith, Edinburgh:  March 22, 2011

Recollections

2.

Rab Lettice

Leith, Edinburgh

Thank you to Rab Lettice who wrote:

Ice Cream Vans

"The ice cream vans that were about in our area, West Pilton, Crewe and Muirhouse sold Polar Ices.  The vans were owned by the Dobbie brothers who had a factory in Stockbridge.

Here is a photo of Dougie Walker, aged 14, leaning out of the ice cream van:

©

Once, another company tried to muscle in with their Capaldi van, but when that van turned up, there were two Polar Ices vans beside it.  It got chased out of the area."

Rab Lettice, Leith, Edinburgh:  March 23, 2011

Recollections

3.

Rab Lettice

Leith, Edinburgh

Rab Lettice added:

Home

"We lived at 8 West Pilton Grove until 1974 when we bought a flat in Leith for £1,700."

Ice Cream Van

"Here is a photo that I took of Jimmy Dobbie's 'Polar Ices' ice cream van in West Pilton Grove in the late-1950s.  Jimmy gave us all a cone if I took a few photos of his van."

©

Rab Lettice, Leith, Edinburgh:  March 28+29, 2011

Recollections

4.

Winnie Liddell (nee Thomson)

Canada

Winnie Liddell (nee Thomson) replied to Rab Lettice's memories of the shops at Crewe Toll in Recollections 1 above.

Shops

"I am Jackie Thomson's daughter.  I probably served you in my Dad's kiosk at Crewe Toll."

Winnie Liddell (nee Thomson):  January 19, 2012

Recollections

5.

Rab Lettice

Leith, Edinburgh

Rab Lettice replied:

Barrow

"Yes, Winnie Thomson's father also went round the streets afterwards with a barrow selling rolls etc.

Do You Remember?

"The Pennywell School has sadly gone, but does anyone remember the shows at the top of Pennywell Road?   The school that was there has moved and the spare ground looks like it looked in the 1950s.  The part where I played was called 'The Corn Field'.

Does anyone remember the RAF huts over the corn field?  When we were kids, we could see search lights, but they are gone now."

Rab Lettice, Leith, Edinburgh:  January 19, 2012

Recollections

6.

Yvonne Cain

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Thank you to Yvonne Cain for responding to Rab Lettice's comments in Recollections 1 above.

Rev Ian Reid

"I was christened by a  minister, Ian Reid, on the 19 July 1950.  I don't remember what he looked like.

I also have a postcard  from the Old Kirk of Edinburgh  with 'Birthday Greetings from your Parish Church'.

We lived at 6 West Pilton Broadway.  I can remember  where the church was.  It was on the main road - could it have Pennywell Drive?

I can remember the minister coming around.  We had a budgie that swore only one word, and only at him.  It had to be covered up as my mum was embarrassed at that."

Yvonne Cain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia:  January 21, 2012

Recollections

7.

Winnie Liddell (nee Thomson)

Canada

Winnie replied to Rab's comments in Recollections 5 above:

Shops

"Rab is close. After the kiosk, before the store, was a wee dot truck, a motorbike vehicle that did the job."

Old Kirk

"I remember The Old Kirk with the minister Mr Reid."

Homes

"Like Rab,  I also lived in West Pilton Grove.  Then I moved to West Pilton View.  Isn't it amazing after all these these years technology brings us this close amazing, cheers."

Winnie Liddell (nee Thomson):  January 20, 2012

Recollections

8.

Dorothy Finlay (nee Cossar)

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Thank you to Dorothy Finlay (nee Cossar) who wrote:

Ladies' Basketball

"When I lived at Crewe Road West in the 1950s, there was an Army Sergeant who started the Shooting Stars ladies' basketball team.

I was one off the first to join.  We trained at some facility in the Pleasance.  Mary Davis played for Scotland and also a team called Auld Reekie.  Do they still exist? *
 * I think the answer is 'No'..  - Peter Stubbs.

The other players were Cathie Duncan and Betty Desousa.  They came from around the Boswall area."

Dorothy Finlay (nee Cossar), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Message posted in EdinPhoto Guestbook:  February 20, 2012

Recollections

9.

Dorothy Finlay (nee Cossar)

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Following her comments in 'Recollections 8' above, Dorothy posted this message in the EdinPhoto guestbook:

Ladies' Basketball

"Do you remember me asking about a ladies basketball team called Auld Reekie?  Well, while reading the Evening News, I came up with the obituary of Cathie Preston, nee Duncan, who played for Shooting Stars, Auld Reekie and Zephyrs' ladies basketball teams.

Like me, she was a founding member and was in the first international team which went to Prague in 1956.  I was 16 and trained with the team, with Mary Davis, Betty de Sousa and Anna Herman.

Cathie married the Hibs player, Tommy Preston, and like me in her later years was a bowls champ.  I was a Queensland State Champion in 2004.  She lived in the Wardie area.

If anyone remembers the team I'd love to hear from them.

Thank you."

Dorothy Finlay (nee Cossar), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Message posted in EdinPhoto Guestbook:  April 8, 2012

 Recollections

10.

Brian Alexander

Prestonfield, Edinburgh

Thank you to Brian Alexander who read Alistair Rankine's comments about mobile shops in the streets at Colinton, and added:

Mobile Shops

"Alistair Rankine's comments on mobile shops and Martin's Bakery certainly brought back memories of the late-1950s and early-1960s.  I lived in Telford Drive at that time.

- One of the mobile shops was a converted Bedford OB single deck coach, known as 'Johnny's'.  He sold almost everything!

- We also had the SCWS bread van and a fruiter but I can't remember the name of the company.

During school holiday, we kids would be sent to the vans with the shopping list."

Brian Alexander, Prestonfield, Edinburgh:  July 17, 2012

Recollections

11

Findlay Smith

Thank you to Findlay Smith for posting a reply to Dorothy Finlay's message (West End, Recollections 2 above) in the EdinPhoto Guestbook.

Findlay wrote:

Home and School

"Dear Dorothy:  I remember you from the old days in the 1940s.  I was brought up at 204 Crewe Road North, opposite Crewe Path.  I had a brother called Andrew.  I was at Ainslie Park School from 1951 to 1954.  I notice from your previous comments that you also used to live in the Crewe area."

Ironmonger

"I used to work after school hours for Mr Irvine the ironmonger in Crewe Road North, delivering wireless batteries etc. on an old fashioned bike with a huge holding bay on the front."

Friends

"My good friend was Billy Stevenson.  He married Eleanor Irvine who I also knew very well.  We were the same age.  Sadly, Eleanor died at an early age."

Findlay Smith:  Reply to Dorothy Finlay's Message of September 9, 2012
posted in EdinPhoto Guestbook on October 5, 2012

Recollections

12.

Dorothy Finlay (nee Cossar)

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Dorothy Findlay has posted a reply to Findlay Smith (Recollections 11 above).

After reading that Findlay used to live at Crewe Road North, Dorothy wrote:

TV at Crewe Road North

"Findlay:

I remember a couple who lived at the corner of Crewe Road North and Crewe Path.  Their name was Dalziel.  It was in their house that I first saw TV.

'Bill & Ben, The Flowerpot Men'

We sat with the curtains closed.  It was magic.

I guess there have been many changes in the Crewe area."

Dorothy Finlay (nee Cossar), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Message posted in EdinPhoto Guestbook:  October 12, 2012

Recollections

13.

Graeme Charles Munro

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Thank you to Graeme Munro who wrote:

Under the Railway Bridges

"I've just been reading about the White Warden in the 'Ghosts' paragraph on this Royston page.  We had one too, at Crewe Toll.  He was not a nice man!

He used to stand under the bridges on Ferry Road at Crewe Toll in the war years.   He wore a white coat and grabbed ladies as they passed under the bridges when it was dark.

Some men got together and went along and took him to task in the end."

Graeme Charles Munro, South Australia, Australia:  March 29, 2013

Recollections  -  More Pages

Recollections  -   Contributors