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Recollections - Edinburgh Old Town
Dumbiedykes
People and Play
Page 2
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Please click here for
recollections
1 to 32 |
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33.
from
Jim O'Meara
Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, Scotland
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Home
The
Embers
Jimmy
Hush
Folk
Singers
Schools
Pleasance Trust Youth Club
Arthur
Street
The
Chippie
Infirmary Street Baths |
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34.
from
Jim O'Meara
Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, Scotland
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Pleasance Trust Youth Club |
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35.
from
John Edwards
Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, Scotland
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The People of Dumbiedykes |
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36.
from
Lyndsay Montgomery
Old Town, Edinburgh
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Billy Anderson |
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37.
from
Lyndsay Montgomery
Old Town, Edinburgh
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My Father |
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38.
from
Andy Duff
Australia
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Maggie Martin's Mission
The Henny
Leaving Dumbiedykes |
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39.
from
Jean Bell
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Maggie
Martin's Mission
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40.
from
Bob Henderson
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh
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David
Bertram |
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41.
from
Eric
Gold
East End, London
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David
Bertram |
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42.
from
Eric
Gold
East End, London
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David
Bertram |
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43.
from
Tom Harrison
Buckstone, Edinburgh
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David
Bertram |
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44.
from
Margaret Miller (nee
Hanson)
Yarrow Valley, Selkirkshire
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Dumbiedykes Road |
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45.
from
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh
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The
Plantation |
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46.
from
James
Vandepeear
York, Yorkshire, England
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Arthur Street
Cats
Deaconess Hospital
Peas and Vinegar
Dairy
Dr Goldberg
School
Evacuation
War Years
Holyrood Park
The Meadows
Smallpox
Liberton
Boroughmuir School
Leaving Edinburgh |
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47.
from
Bill
Cockburn
Comely Bank, Edinburgh
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Regent Cinema -
Wedding
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48.
from
Iona Harms
Stevenson College, Edinburgh
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Dumbiedykes Project +
Interviews
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Recollections
33.
Jim O'Meara
Bonnyrigg, Midlothian,
Scotland
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Thank you to Jim O'Meara who
wrote: |
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Home
"My mother was divorced when I was
very young so in the 1940s and 1950s we
had to stay wherever we could with relatives and friends.
We
lived in Holyrood Road, The Dumbiedykes, Canongate, Cowgate,
Pleasance, Leith etc.
We lived at 65 Lower Viewcraig Row from
about 1963 to 1965."
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The Embers
"I used to pal about with Pete Bottomley
and Jimmy Cruikshanks of
The Embers, and
remember flying about on my old Lambretta that I bought from my
cousin Jackie Brown for £5.
©
I believe that Jimmy
Cruickshank is still in the area. A friend told me that he
sometimes gets up to sing at one of the jazz bars in the West End.
I well remember going to the Guild at St
Pat's and St Mary's Street Hall where the
Embers used to play sometimes at the start of their career."
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Jimmy Hush
"I remember Jimmy
Hush.
(He was another member of 'The Embers'.)
I believe he still lives locally.
I met him
again
in Bonnyrigg where he had a stand in the market selling
greeting cards. He also had card shops in Bonnyrigg and
Dalkeith"
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Folk Singers
"My wife and I were keen on 'The
Fureys and Davey Arthur' so when I read in the paper that they were
appearing for one night at the Pleasance we decided to go.
We met my old scout master Ronnie Inglis
(another local) who asked me if I was up to renew acquaintance with
Davey. This was puzzling as I didn't think I had ever met him.
It turns out that Davey was in my patrol
in St Pat's scouts and had gone off to Ireland to join the famous
Furey Brothers as their lead singer.
Ronnie more or less gave him his start
along with a great many folk stalwarts of the late 50's early 60's.
He ran folk concerts in St Mary's St Hall for a time and had people
like Barbara Dickson, The McCalman's etc.
A lot of them performed in Walker's bar
at the top of St Mary's St - people like the Corries, Robin Hall &
Jimmy McGregor etc"
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Schools
"I
attended
St Ann's school, then St Pat's and finally Holy Cross.
When I went to St Pats I remember a
scandal when one of committee of the Working
Men's Club across the road ran away with their money
- and I think somebody's wife."
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Pleasance Trust
Youth Club
"I used to go to Pleasance Trust Youth
Club. It was run by a man whose name I forget but he had
something to do with a soap company, so we
were encouraged to keep our faces clean
The BBC used
to have a studio in the building. I
remember a recording being made with
Jimmy Shand. I was in the building with one
of my pals at the time, Decky Smith with
whom I shared a birthday. We were
chased for making a noise.
There was a basketball team
that used the gym.
They were quite successful at the time."
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Arthur Street
"I remember Harry Pederson
who stayed at the top of Arthur
Street next door to my uncle Paddy Dignan
who was a goalie.
He played in
the Scotchie with the Millar brothers who went on to pro football
with John Greig."
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The Chippy
"Mention of the chippy at the foot of
Adam Street brought back memories of the
biggest fish I have ever had from a chippy."
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Infirmary Street Baths
"We used to
to the chippy after 'the
baths' at Infirmary
Street.
There were
two attendants at the
baths to keep us in check. One of them
had a gammy leg. He used to
flash a black belt at us and threaten mayhem if we stepped out of
line.
One night, we
were jumping from the balcony when he wasn't looking when Sean
Connery came in with his wife (I
think it was Dianne Cillento) for a bath at what we called
The Plunge.
The
attendant came up with a big key and you got a measured amount of
hot water and a bar of carbolic soap (or
Palmollive if you paid extra)."
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Jim O'Meara, Bonnyrigg, Midlothian,
Scotland: February 2+4, 2008 |
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Recollections
34.
Jim O'Meara
Bonnyrigg, Midlothian
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Jim O'Meara wrote again
about the Pleasance Trust Youth Club that
he attended from around 1955 to 1957.
Jim wrote: |
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Pleasance Trust
Youth Club
Games
"For lads in the area from homes
where money was far from plentiful, the Pleasance Trust
Youth Club was a Godsend.
A group of volunteer workers (including
Bill Law, the Scottish diving champion at
the time) would supervise a wide range of games and activities and
try to instill the basics of good citizenship in what was really
quite a tough area."
Summer Trips
"In the summer we
were taken to Pease Bay near Cockburnspath in the Borders.
All the way down we would sing the latest
Rock & Roll hits and when we got there the first job was to go up the hill
to a farm and gather straw for our very basic mattresses.
For many of us it was our only chance to get
anything like a holiday and a break from the tenements,
so a great time was had by all. Games, swimming and treks during the day
and campfires at night made sure that we all went to bed very happy and
ready for sleep." |
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Jim O'Meara, Bonnyrigg, Midlothian,
Scotland: February 5, 2008 |
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Recollections
35.
John
Edwards
Sun City, Florida, USA
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Thank you
to John Edwards, Sun City, Florida, USA, for sending me the comments
below, despite never having lived in the Dumbiedykes area of Edinburgh.
John wrote: |
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The People of Dumbiedykes
"This is just
a word to let you know how much I enjoy reading about Dumbiedykes
and the people who lived there.
To me they seem like a very special
breed of people who take life as it comes and make the best of it..
They seem fiercely loyal to the place
and each other and, I believe,
having lived that experience have truly great character and true
grit.
My hat's off
to them."
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John Edwards, Sun City, Florida, USA:
March 7, 2008 |
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Recollections
36.
Lyndsay
Montgomery
(formerly Linda Montgomery)
Old Town, Edinburgh
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Thank you
to Lyndsay Montgomery for leaving a message in the EdinPhoto guest book.
Lyndsay
wrote:
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Billy Anderson
"There are a lot of you folks from
Arthur Street tuned in here. Can anyone remember a boy called
Billy Anderson coming to live in the area in about 1958 or 59?
He had come from Ghana where his Dad had
been serving in the army. He originally came to Niddrie Mill
Primary School, to my class, since he was staying with an auntie who
lived locally.
I met him one Friday night at the
Palais. He was in uniform, and it was like ships that pass in
the night."
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Lyndsay Montgomery, Old Town, Edinburgh:
Message left in EdinPhoto guest book: July 18, 2008 |
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Recollections
37.
Lyndsay
Montgomery
(formerly Linda Montgomery)
Old Town, Edinburgh
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Lyndsay
Montgomery asks a question below: |
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Question |
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Lyndsay wrote:
My Father
"Here's a
question for a southsider.
My father was born in 1898 in the Jewel,
and the family lived afterwards in the Dumbiedykes, I don't know
where.
He
used to tell me stories about the place and keep me enthralled with
his deeds of daring, I know he went to Milton House (Royal Mile
Primary School) but I have never quite worked out what he did
afterwards.
Would he have been in the same school
until he left at 13? Can anyone tell
me? I know he was in the First World War,
having joined up at 16.
The family was
a large one, with 3 children including my Dad, then another 6 to a
second wife since the first died.
Unhappily, the brothers and sisters are
now all dead, I think, so I can't ask any of them.
I know his
father had a carter's business, and he had been in the war in
the Crimea."
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Lyndsay Montgomery, Old Town, Edinburgh:
July 24, 2008 |
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Recollections
38.
Andy Duff
Australia |
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Andy Duff
wrote: |
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Maggie Martin's Mission
"I loved Catherine
McKinsley's bit on Maggie Martin's Mission and the Grassmarket.
Boy, did it bring back memories as I, too,
attended both.
At the mission, I
always remember getting penny for collection plate and going
to paper shop and getting 2 half pennies one for me one for
Maggie, so to speak.
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The Henny
"Like
you, my wife also played in the henny. She
was Jean Dalgleish of 4 Heriot Mount. |
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Leaving
Dumbiedykes
"We
used to live in the stair down from Catherine
in the early 1940s,
then moved to St Leonard's Hill.
we live in Australia have done so since
January 1971." |
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Andy Duff, Australia: July 29,
2008 |
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Recollections
39.
Jean Bell
nee
Bottomley
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Jean Bell,
sister of Peter Bottomley, the lead guitarist in
The Embers group, wrote: |
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Maggie Martin's Mission
"There were six
children in our family (I am the eldest) and we were well
known in the Dumbiedykes.
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My Granny Kelt lived in
Holyrood Square.
- My
aunts and uncles, McMillans and the Kelts,
lived nearby
-
Auntie Aggie lived in the Square too
- The
Hunters and Auntie Nell Dickson lived in Holyrood Road.
So you see, we were weel kent in that
area..
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Jean Bell (nee Bottomley); August
29, 2008 |
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Recollections
40.
Bob Henderson
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh
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Thank you to Bob Henderson who wrote:
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David Bertram
"It was with great sadness that I read in
tonight's News of the
passing of David Bertram of Middle Arthur Place.
He has been mentioned many times in the
recollections of Arthur Street and the
Dumbiedykes."
Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh:
September 2, 2008
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Recollections
41.
Eric Gold
East London
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Thank you to Eric Gold who also read the
announcement of David Bertram's death:
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David Bertram
"I heard, last night,
that Davie (Dade) Bertram
died last Friday with cancer and will be cremated this Friday at
Mortonhall crematorium.
Dade was from Middle Arthur Place and was a
real character around the Dumbiedykes area especially with his pigeons. He
was mentioned a few times on your website .Countless people knew him,
especially in Rutherford’s and Stewarts pubs, so could you put a wee bit
on your web site.
Dave was a social drinker, but the pigeons
came first. He had a younger sister Anne and brother my mate Donald.
His parents now deceased were called Dave and Maisie. It came as a shock
to me even although I have never seen or spoke to Dade in years. He
lived in the Inch, behind the Rob Roy pub, now demolished."
Eric Gold, East London:
September 4, 2008
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Recollections
42.
Eric Gold
East London
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Thank you to Eric Gold who wrote:
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David Bertram
"My sister told me that (Dade) Davy
Bertram had a wonderful turnout as his funeral as the whole of the
Southside were there, as Dade was a very popular
man. I still can’t get over his passing as
he was only 67 years old."
Eric Gold, East London:
September 6, 2008
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Recollections
43.
Tom Harrison
Buckstone, Edinburgh
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Thank you to Tom Harrison who wrote:
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David Bertram
"I recently attended
the funeral of the much loved and respected David
Bertram. He was brought up in
Middle Arthur Place, then moved to the Inch
along with his Mum and Dad.
It was a fitting
tribute to his family that there was so many
friends from Arthur Street. It showed the
love and friendship that flourished in the community.
There will never be another place like it.
We
all had a drink and a good old blether about the days gone by.
To you all,
many thanks to the memories we shared.
God Bless."
Tom Harrison, Buckstone, Edinburgh:
September 7+ 10, 2008
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Recollections
44.
Margaret Miller (nee
Hanson)
Yarrow Valley, Selkirkshire |
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Thank you to Margaret Miller (nee Hanson) for
leaving a message in the EdinPhoto guestbook.
Margaret wrote:
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Dumbiedykes Road
"My name is
Margaret, sis Sheila, and bro George. We
used to live at 34/6 Dumbiedykes Road, two doors
from Jean Aithie.
I knew:
- Rhoda and Hannah
Mcghee
- Craig Mitchell
- the Grahams
I went to
school at Drummond Street,
then South Bridge,
then Jimmy Clarks. Bring back the good old
days!"
Margaret Miller (nee Hanson), Yarrow
Valley, Selkirkshire: October 20, 2008. |
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Recollections
45.
Frank Ferri
Newhaven, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Frank Ferri who wrote:
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The Plantation
"As a kid, although from Leith, I used to
hang out at Dumbiedykes with the late Eddie Kelly, later in become
infamous, but that's another story.
We both attended St Anthony's school. He had two sisters.
We would play in the area known as
The
Plantation, a group of trees near the sports grounds at Holyrood Palace."
Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh:
October 21, 2008. |
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Frank:
'The Plantations'
that I've been told about at Dumbiedykes was beside 'The Big Green'
off Dumbiedykes Road. Here is a photograph of it. Please click
on this thumbnail to enlarge it.
©
Is this
the same Plantation as you remember?
Peter Stubbs: October 22, 2008 |
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Frank replied:
"Yes.
That is the Plantation, close to Holyrood Palace, to the left of
the picture were the sports grounds which I think included a bowling
green. Obviously, the
foreground of the picture taken in 1960
has changed, possibly due to demolition of
buildings."
Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh:
October 23, 2008. |
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Recollections
46.
James Vandepeear
York, Yorkshire, England |
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A couple of years after sending me his recollections
chimney sweeps at his home in East Preston Street, James Vandepeear
sent me his recollections of Dumbiedykes in the 1940s.
James wrote
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Arthur Street
"I
remember Dumbiedykes and Arthur Street in
the period 1939-1952.
I had a great aunt lived in Arthur Street.
I think she was a Miss Galbraith, known as ‘Auntie Eeze’ to us. We
visited her occasionally in her dark flat, which was the middle one of
three on a landing, all at the top of a gloomy
spiralling stair with handrails which were dangerously low for the child I
then was.
Her small windows looked out on to the grey
walls of the tenement which had an angle in it at that point." |
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Cats
"I recall that the
whole tenement was infested by cats. Later when my aunt died, I went to
help with clearing out her property. By then, the windows to the flat
had been smashed and there were cats in every corner of the flat.
They had been there for about two weeks by then." |
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Deaconess Hospital
"I remember being
taken to the Deaconess Hospital to be treated for some kind of blood
poisoning, and having ‘hot fomentations’ applied to my arm over a period
of weeks, and the resulting inflamed swelling being lanced.
I recall a mask
impregnated with ether being placed on my face to put me out while the
staff got on with it. I still hate the
smell of ether.
The Deaconess was a popular medical centre, so
I suspect it must have been either free or very cheap." |
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Peas and
Vinegar
"On a corner,
across from the Deaconess, towards St Leonards, there was a small shop
where, usually on a Sunday, one could buy a plate of peas and vinegar for
a halfpenny.
As we were always hungry during the war, peas
and vinegar were a treat. I still remember the vinegar being so strong
that I could not speak for a while - and the
peas, allegedly boiled, were frequently like bullets." |
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Dairy
"In East Preston
Street, Bill Walker’s dairy sold bread rolls which might have been made by
angels - and sweets, sometimes." |
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Dr Goldberg
"I remember Dr
Goldberg. He lived at 27 East Preston
Street. He was
always happy to have a quick word with the local children as he did his
rounds. With Homburg hat and Gladstone bag, he
went everywhere on foot. He must have
walked miles each day.
Anyone who recalls the doctor will remember
his two sisters, who drifted, arm in arm, up and down the streets, talking
to each other, but not to anyone else. They were always
dressed in 1920 style clothes, cloche hats, pointed shoes with
straps, and grey coats and stockings." |
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School
"I had just started
school in 1939, and had no idea of anything happening like a war. I was
just five, and one morning I was given a small case by my grandmother, who
was my guardian, and sent to school." |
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Evacuation
"I had got to like
our teacher, Miss Clarke, but that day she tied a label to my coat, and we
all marched to Newington Station to get on train, to Armadale.
Evacuees had varied experiences. Mine were
not happy, and I was rescued after a few months by my sister, who came out
to Armadale and took me back to Preston Street. But Miss Clarke had gone
to the forces.
I think most of the children were back home
within a year, except for a few who had been sent to Canada or elsewhere
abroad." |
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War Years
"My memories of the
war years in Edinburgh are of nothing happening, but lots of static water
tanks and blast shelters being placed around the city
- and the blackout, but double British Summer Time saved us
having to put the blackout curtains up for those months.
The Meadows had allotments, and I think there
were some in Holyrood Park." |
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Holyrood Park
"We played in
Holyrood Park mostly. In summer,
we went to Duddingston Loch or up Arthur's
Seat. In winter there was sledging down from Echo Rock,
even late in the evening when it was dark.
The park has been sanitised now, no sheep or
rocks. But I broke a tooth after sledging
right into a rock in the dark." |
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The Meadows
"At the Meadows
there was a swing park, with steel see-saws and
parallel bars and roundabouts, all set in concrete, to make us hardy, and
ensure a regular supply of scraped knees and elbows and bruised heads." |
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Smallpox
"One year,
there was a smallpox outbreak. We all had
a vaccination at school, and were told not to knock the scab off. Many
of us wore red ribbons round the vaccinated arm to ward off blows to the
healing scab, but one lad, name of Nicol, I
think, got his knocked so often that in the end he had a scab from
shoulder to elbow." |
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Liberton
"Preston Street
school was partly closed about then, and we had lessons at a hall in
Gifford Park.
Liberton Dams was a good day out, playing in
the Braid Burn and guddling for sticklebacks and minnows. There was a
dairy farm, not too far from the tram stop, and
once I had some very fresh milk there, still warm." |
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Boroughmuir School
"I went on to
Boroughmuir in 1944, left there in 1949.
In 1947, before the National Health Service or
ambulances on call round the clock, I broke my arm in the gymnasium at
Boroughmuir - ulna and radius, so I
had two elbows for a while.
My form teacher came to the gym, and fitted a
sling made from a dish towel, which I wore, with my outdoor clothes on
top, and was sent by tram to the Royal Infirmary, on my own, where I was
plastered up and sent home, again on my own.
I was very late home and got into trouble for
that, and had to go back to have the arm reset a few days later." |
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Leaving
Edinburgh
"And then into the
army, and I never came back to Edinburgh except to visit." |
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James Vandepeear, York, Yorkshire,
London: November 16, 2008 |
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Recollections
47.
Bill Cockburn
Comely Bank, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to
Bill Cockburn who wrote |
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Regent Cinema -
Wedding
"I stayed in the Pleasance and then
Prince Albert Buildings from 1948 to 1963. I met
my wife, Irene, who
worked part-time as an usherette in the Regent
Cinema at the end of 1961.
I took a part time job as an usher just to be
near her.
We married on 26 November 1963, just 4 days
after President Kennedy was assassinated.
We had 3 children by the end of that
decade. Sadly, Irene passed away a few
weeks ago on 22 October." |
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Bill Cockburn, Comely Bank, Edinburgh:
November 14, 2008 |
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Recollections
48.
Iona Harms
Stevenson College, Edinburgh |
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Iona Stevenson sent in the request below. If
you'd like to contact Iona,
please email me, then I'll pass on your message to her.
Thank you. -
Peter Stubbs: November 19, 2008 |
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Dumbiedykes Project and
Interviews
"I am a student at Stevenson College and
am currently carrying out some research around the area of Dumbiedykes.
My task is to complete a community profile
giving an overview of the history of the area and looking at the current
facilities and services in relation to this. I also need to carry out some
discussion looking at inequality and discrimination in the area.
I have come across your website which has a
vast amount of information which has been very useful in my research.
I am also looking for people to interview about Dumbiedykes
and note that on your website a number of people connected with the area
have volunteered information. I was wondering if it would be possible to
make contact with any of these people in order for me to interview them
for my research."
Iona Harms, Stevenson College,
Edinburgh: November 18, 2008 |
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Replies
Thank
you to Ian Mycko and Eric Gold for replying to the request above.
Ian and
Eric:
I've passed your message on to Iona Harms
-
Peter Stubbs: November 19, 2008 |
Dumbiedykes -
People and Play
Please click here for
recollections
1 to 32 |
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