Recollections

East Thomas Street

East Thomas Street and neighbouring East William Street, both now demolished, were to the west of Easter Road and to the north of London Road.

Please scroll down this page, or click on one of the links below.

1.

Margaret Hawker

Livingston, West Lothian

-  Neighbours

-  Band of Hope

-  Back Greens

-  At Home

-  Happy Time

2.

Irene Day
(nee Sharrock)

Wigan, Lancashire, England

-  Neighbours

3.

Frances Brown
(nee Barnum)

New Bern, North Carolina, USA

-  3+4 East William Street

-  Friends

-  School

-  Guising

-  Return to Edinburgh

4.

Christine Anderson
(nee Keith)

-  2 East William Street

-  3 East William Street

-  4 East William Street

-  6 East William Street

-  Backgreen Concerts

-  Abbeyhill Baptist Church

-  The Streets

-  School

Recollections

1.

Margaret Hawker

Livingston, West Lothian

Margaret wrote:

Neighbours

"I lived at 4 East William Street with my sister Rae.

- On the top flat were Doris Marion & Jimmy the Macdonald.

- Opposite our door were Billy, Norman and Evelyn Clark.

- On the ground floor lived the Norma. Anne & Robert Smith.

Other people in the street were the Sands and the Barnums.  We had to share the outside loo with the Gibsons."

Band of Hope

"We all used to go the the Band of Hope on a Friday.  Sometimes we had slide shows and we had to recite the pledge which I can still remember to this day."

Back Greens

"There was a back green and we used to walk along the walls. I think, at one time there was front gardens but all the railings had been taken away to help the war effort and only the stumps remained."

At Home

"We used to make toast using a fork held up against the fire and my dad had a last where he used to sole & heel our shoes."

Happy Time

"I also remember Learmonths, the shop at the corner. I remember living in East William Street as a very happy time. Although we had nothing, everyone was in the same boat."

Margaret Hawker, Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland:  March 13, 2008

Recollections

2.

Irene Day (nee Sharrock)

Wigan, Lancashire, England

Thank you to Irene Day who wrote

Neighbours

"Margaret Hawker (above) mentions some neighbours who lived at 4 East William Street.

Two of the people she mentions  Doris Macdonald and Marian Macdonald are on this Leith Walk school reunion photograph"

©

Irene Day, Wigan, Lancashire, England:  March 15, 2008

Recollections

3.

Frances Brown (nee Barnum)

New Bern, North Carolina, USA

Thank you to Frances Brown who wrote

3 and 4 East William Street

"I'm Frances Barnum (Brown), one of the Barnums mentioned above by Margaret Hawker.  I lived in 3 East William Street, right across from Abbeyhill Baptist Church.  Margaret Hawkers lived at No.4

Friends

I remember all of the names that Margaret mentions, and also:

-  Mary and Helen Keighren.

-  Jean Clark.

-  my dearest friend, Irene Archibald (now deceased).

-  Christine Keith, now Anderson, a childhood friend.

-  Dale and John Sands

-  the Smiths, Clarks, McDonalds, etc.

My sister is Marie.  She lives in Drylaw.

School

These were good old days when we were kids.  Especially on late summer nights when we could all get out to play.  Most of us went to Leith Walk school, so we knew each other well. 

I also went to Band of Hope on Friday night.  We had a great time.

Guising

I remember the guising, going out dressed up on Guy Fawkes' NIght.  The saying we used to say was:

'Please help the guisers, and we'll sing you a Bonnie wee song.'

They would give us a penny, a fruit or a sweetie.

Return  to Edinburgh

We visited Edinburgh every year from 2000 to 2005 and are looking to come again very soon.  It would be great to see some of the folk mentioned on the site."

Frances Brown (nee Barnum), New Bern, North Carolina, USA:  March 20, 2008

If you would like to contact Frances, please email me, then I'll pass on your message to her.

Thank you.

Peter Stubbs:  March 2008

Recollections

4.

Christine Anderson (nee Keith)

Thank you to Christine Anderson for sending me the message below. Christine  seems to have a very good memory of her neighbours in East William Street.

Christine wrote:

2 East William Street

"I stayed at 2 East William Street.  In our stair there lived:

-  John and Mary Ferrier

-  Charlie, Mary, Sonny and Carol Munro

-  Terry and Elizabeth Philston

-   Mrs Tait

-   Amy Martin

-  Peter and Irene Menzies

-  Alan  and Charlotte Kinnaird"

3 East William Street

"At stair No 3, there lived:

-  Mrs Black

-  Jean, Francis and Marie Barnum

-  Sandra Thomson(

-  Norma and David.McQueens

-  Nan Grant

-  George and Moira Williamson"

4 East William Street

"At stair No 4, there lived:

-  Norma, Robert and Ann Smith

-  Mrs Gordon

-  Margaret and Rae McCauley

-  Evelyn and Norman Clark

-  Doris, Marion and Jimmy McDonald"

6 East William Street

"At stair No 6, there lived:

-  Dale and John Sands

-  The Alcorns"

Backgreen Concerts

"We played in the street and held concerts in the backgreen.  Jacky Dennis who lived round the corner in Elgin Terrace would sing and Maisie Stewart from East Thomas Street would help us put it together !!   Our backgreen backed on to hers."

Abbeyhill Baptist Church

"At Abbeyhill Baptist Church there were the Brownies and Girl Guides and we went to the Band Of Hope on certain Sundays. We loved to go in to  watch the Baptisms.

The Streets

"I remember:

-  London Road Gardens.  We gathered conkers and slid down on tin trays!

- The fishwife with her creel, selling buckies / mussels outside Middleton's Pub in Easter Road

-  The Cooperative (Store) where you would take your ration book and get it stamped

-   Eastway Picture House ("the fleapit "!!)

-  The Rag Store.  Later on, it became the Hibs Club.

-  Going to to 'Woolies' at the fit o' the walk, just to smell 'Evening in Paris' and 'California Poppy'." 

Schools

"I also have memories of East Thomas Street and Elgin Terrace. I attended Leith Walk Primary School, then then went on to Norton Park Secondary School."

©

"This photograph of a Leith Walk school reunion, held in 2007. It includes Doris and Marion McDonald from 4 East William Street and myself."

Christine Anderson (nee Keith):  September 8, 2008