Recollections

2.

Yvonne Cain (nee Dorr)

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Thank you to Yvonne Cain (nee Dorr), now living in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, for the following recollections.

Yvonne wrote: 

Baby Clinic

"I remember  Royston Baby Clinic where you got orange juice and cod liver oil - yuck."

Schools

"I remember:

-  the library at the back of Granton School.
It's still there.  - Peter Stubbs

-  the Children's Group at the church.  They picked up neighbours' kids from Ainsley Park school and took them home for lunch.

-   rushing back to school on my bike.

-   teacher, Miss Molly Wells or Walsh

-   teacher, Mrs Maureen Simes.  She retired about six years ago."

Shops

"I remember:

-  the chemist and the hardware shop where you got paraffin for the heater, in Boswell Parkway.

-  my sister having a paper run from the shop at Boswall Parkway."

At Work

"I went to Abbeyhill School to learn about hairdressing, then  worked in hairdressers, 'Candusso' in Easter Road  then 'Madeline' in 'Manderston Street, Leith, opposite the old bingo hall.

I worked part-time in the Lochview Hotel and went there (or perhaps to the Calton Hotel in Royal Terrace) to hear the folk group 'Cotters'."

At Play

"I remember:

-  swings in the park in the Terrace and  putting, on the back green.

- concerts that we put on at the house of a friend who lived at 90 Boswall Terrace.

-  the push-bike speedway at Ferry Road, past Telford Road (beside the old railway bridge at Davidson's Mains, I believe).  I had a couple of goes at that as well.

- going to Inverleith church the one at the top of Granton road to Brownies and Guides.  I was involved  in the 'Edinburgh Gang Show'.

-  We used to pass the Scout Hall in Boswall Parkway, and make sure it was on a night when the Scouts were on.  But the boys were not interested in girls.

Granton Pier

    ©

"My grandad threw my mum off the end of Granton Pier, probably Middle Pier, and telling her to swim.  She did."

Yvonne Cain (nee Dorr), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia:

July 7 to 24, 2006 + October 15, 2007

Recollections

3.

Phil Wilson

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Thank you to Phil Wilson, for the following.

Phil wrote: 

Shops

"I've just been remembering some shops in the Granton Road area in the '50s.

- Alonzis: There was the shop that eventually became 'Alonzi's' but which before had been run by a nice couple called Mr & Mrs Gunning.

- McGoldrick's: There was 'McGoldrick's' on the corner by the bus stop (which used to be further up nearer Alonzi's originally) at  the north side of the end of Fraser Avenue, which we continued to call by that name many years after the McGoldricks had left.  It was taken over by a Mr Rostand, who I believe was originally from the French West Indies.

- McLaughlin:  Near Alonzi's was the grocery run by Mr McLaughlin (or similar spelling).  He always wore a blue plastic overjacket in the shop, and was rather taciturn.

-  Leask: I also remember Mrs Leask, who ran a grocery shop in Boswall Green, round the corner from Boswall Drive Post Office which was then run by Billy Duncan, the son of the original Mr Duncan."

Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland:  August 1, 2006

Garage

"Yvonne also mentioned Juner's garage at Goldenacre. I believe at least part of the Juner business is still there.  (Graham Juner was in my class at Wardie and I know he's still going as he has signed on to Friends Reunited)."

Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland:  August 1, 2006

Yes:  The Juner name is still on the garage at Goldenacre, though I believe that Juner, the owner, retired probably about a year ago.

 - Peter Stubbs:  August 6, 2006

Recollections

4.

Alex Dow

Fife, Scotland

Thank you to Alex Dow, for the following recollections of Granton, and for his recollections of Granton in the 1930s and 1940s.

Alex wrote: 

142 Squadron

New Headquarters

"Although I have never lived in Granton, I got to know that area quite well in the summer of 1950,  when 142 Squadron moved into its new HQ at the top of the path from the Square up to the Crescent.

The HQ was two typical Service wooden huts, surplus from WW2. There were toilets and running water laid on to one; but at that time, no electricity."

Storage

"Some rooms including an armoury had been erected in one of the huts; but the remaining two-thirds of it and all of the other hut were empty.

So as well as the normal ATC Syllabus of Drill, Air Navigation, Meteorology, Wireless etc, we had to learn joinery, plaster boarding, Ames taping, wiring etc."

Lighting

"For a time, candles and hurricane lamps were used; but later one hut acquired an early petrol-electric generator. Later still, mains electricity appeared."

Food

"The building work was done on Sundays; and we survived on a combination of canned soups and fish suppers from the chip shop on West Granton Road. The old proprietor would speak to me in Italian and I would try to reply in Latin."

Flight Simulator

"About 1951, we were given an early form of Flight Simulator, a Link D. Basically this had been removed from an airfield by sawing through the many cables. So the Sunday work was extended to include re-wiring this Link and getting it to 'fly'."

Girls' Nautical Training Corps

"Unofficially we had contacts with the Girls' Nautical Training Corps down on the Middle Pier, then later, a Women's Junior Air Corps Squadron was officially attached to us."

Squadron Hut

"Incidentally, the "First City of Edinburgh" ATC Squadron had disbanded some years earlier, so 142 Squadron became the senior squadron of the Edinburgh Wing, and remains so at its HQ in Fraser Avenue*."

Alex Dow, Fife, Scotland:  September 10, 2006

REPLY

Thank you to Donald Grant who replied:

Squadron Hut

"Alex Dow states that 142 Sqn Air Training Corps remains at its HQ in Fraser Avenue.  In fact, the squadron hut is in Clark Road and has been for  a long time.  I remember a school friend being an Air Cadet and going to the hut at Clark Road in the mid-1960s.  He eventually joined the RAF.

 I can't recall there having been an ATC hut in Fraser Avenue at any time, but I may be wrong.

Donald Grant, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland:  June 3, 2008

Recollections

5.

Phil Wilson

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Thank you to Phil Wilson who added:

Killin's Shop

"Another shop in Granton Road has just popped into my head tonight, for no apparent reason. It was the mini-mart, run by Mr & Mrs Killin who had originally bought over a single shop unit just opposite Wardie School on the north side of the entrance to Boswall Green, sometime in the late 50s/early 60s.

They did quite well and eventually took over another shop, next door, to make what would nowadays qualify as a small general store. They were still going long after I moved schools in 1965. I still remember Mr Killin clearly."

Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland:  August 1, 2006

If you have comments that you would like to add, relating to any of the recollections on this site, please email me.

 Thank you.   - Peter Stubbs

North Edinburgh

Cramond - Granton - Royston - Trinity -  Wardie

Maps

Granton:  transport map 1932

Granton:  small map 1870

Granton:  large map 1870

Recollections

Cramond:                         1940s

Cramond Island:              1970s

Granton:                           1930s   1940s   1950s   1970s

Granton, Trinity, Wardie:  1940s   1950s - 60s

Pilton:                               1940 bomb

Royston:                            From 1930s

Royston Beach                  1970s

Wardie School:                 1930s    1940s   1950s

                                         1960s    1970s   1980s

History

Granton, Trinity, Wardie:  from 1544

Recollections  -  More Pages

Recollections  -   Contributors