Wardie School in the 1950s |
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Please click on one of the links below, or scroll down this page:
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from the 'Wardie School Anniversary Booklet 1931-1981' |
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Recollections of the 1950s: At the start of the 1950s, books, writing paper and other resources were scarce so the infants wrote their schoolwork on slates. The older children used pens that dipped into inkwells. Pupils sat Swimming and Life Saving tests and the Moray House Intelligence Test. The 'Qualifying Class' sat their 'Long Sums Test'. The children were given three days' holiday in 1953 for Queen Elizabeth's Coronation. The school was also closed on occasions for 'Poling Day', snow storm, torrential rain and 'smog'. [Anniversary Booklet - Wardie School 1931-1981] |
© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Yvonne Cain (née Dorr)
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Recollections |
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1. |
Yvonne Cain |
- Wardie School Photo - School - Family and Homes - Grandparents - Uncle |
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2. |
Colin McGregor |
- Colin McGregor - Wardie School Photo - Names |
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3. |
Lynda Maine |
- Dorothy Davidson |
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4. |
Callum
Duff |
- Colin McGregor - My family |
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5. |
Phil
Wilson |
- Santa - Wedding - My family |
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6. |
Dorothy
Addison |
- Poor-oot: Question |
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7. |
George T Smith |
- Poor-oot: Answer - References to 'Poor-oot' |
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8. |
Bruce
Johnstone |
- Home and School - Teachers - 'Eleven Plus' - Primary 1 and 2 - Road Safety - Playground - Football - School Sports Day - Swimming Lessons - BBC - Museum - School Camp |
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9. |
Yvonne Cain |
- Train Outing |
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10. |
Linda Walton |
- 1957-64 - Miss Grigor - Miss Bescow - Mr Wallace - The Groundsman - Friends - The 'Qually Dance - Granton Road Shops - The Beatles - My Primary Class - Class Photos |
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10. Reply 1. |
Donald Grant |
- 1957-64 - Miss Grigor - Miss Bescow - Mr Wallace - The Groundsman - Friends - The 'Qually Dance - Granton Road Shops - The Beatles - My Primary Class - Class Photos |
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Recollections 1. Yvonne Cain Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
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Wardie School Photograph Thank you to Yvonne Cain (née Dorr), now living in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, for sending this photograph of a school class from Wardie, taken in 1959. Yvonne is third from the right on the front row: Yvonne Dorr |
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Yvonne wrote: "I remember: - some the names of some of the people at Wardie school -Dorothy, Isabella, Brenda Fraser, Sheila Fraser, Colin McGregor, David, Gill, and David Juner whose dad had a garage at Goldenacre. Please also see 'Recollections 3, 4, 5 below. - getting milk at school, free, and in the winter putting it next to the heaters to defrost. - the church on the left hand side of Granton school doing dancing. There was also the church on the other side, near the shops in Boswall Parkway." |
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"I used to live in a Prefab at West Pilton Broadway, then at 28 Boswall Terrace. She went to Wardie school in the 1950s, then to Ainsley Park school for about a year, then moved to Glasgow. I returned to Edinburgh at the age of 15, living in Montgomery Street, where my mum and dad who ran the Post Office there Then, in 1969, I emigrated from Edinburgh to Sydney, Australia." |
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"My granny was born at Croft-an-Righ, as her father was Head Gardener at Holyrood Palace. She later lived at 17 Royston Mains Crescent, next to the bowling green. My grandad had a great garden. He was a Boson in the navy and used to drink at the Anchor." |
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"My great uncle, Robert Malcolm was a horse dealer he had a place at Juniper green called Whitelaw, near the golf course. You could see the railway crossing from his front gate. His father was also a dealer in horses." |
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Yvonne Cain (née Dorr), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: July 7 to 24, 2006. |
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Recollections 2. Colin McGregor Canada |
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Colin McGregor wrote: Colin McGregor "Greetings from Canada. I’m the Colin McGregor mentioned in the Wardie school photograph which I still have a copy of in a box somewhere in the basement. I lived at 2 Fraser Grove." Wardie School Photo "David Gill lived on Fraser Avenue. I just don’t recollect which face is David Gill. David Cowan lived in the Boswells and Alan March lived close to Crew Toll." "A lot of the faces are still familiar, so I’ll have a go at identifying them. There still are a bunch of question marks so maybe someone can correct my mistakes and fill in the blanks. Names BACK ROW (left to right): Alan Marsh, George Hall, Thomas Sommerville, ?, ? Martin, David Cowan, ?, Peter MCafée, Robert Linton MIDDLE ROW (left to right): ?, James Johnson, Sheila Fraser, Patricia ?, Jennifer ?, ? ?, Isobel Turnbull, ? Warick, Colin McGregor FRONT ROW (left to right): Alicia ?, ?[see recollections 3 below], Dorothy ?, ?, Catherine ?, ? Brenda Fraser, Yvonne Dorr, ?, Linda Black Our teacher was Mrs Hume. Not bad for a 47 year recollection!" |
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Colin McGregor, Canada: November 19, 2006 |
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Recollections 3. Lynda Maine Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Lynda Mine for identifying another girl in this photo. Lynda wrote: |
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Dorothy Davidson "l've just had an e-mail from my friend Christine. She confirms that the girl, third from the left on the front row in this photo is her sister, Dorothy Davidson. Dorothy became a school teacher and at one point became assistant Head Mistress of Wardie Primary School." |
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Lynda Maine, Edinburgh: Posting in EdinPhoto guest book, January 29, 2008 + email January 30, 2008 |
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Recollections 4. Callum Duff Royston, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Callum Duff who wrote: |
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Colin McGregor "Phil Wilson refers to a Colin McGregor who lived at the corner of Boswell Crescent & Boswell Drive. That Colin is actually my uncle." My Family "My mother also attended Wardie School from 1945 to 1952 and then David Kilpatrick’s until 1956. My fathers parents operated a Hardware & Dry-Salter’s from a shop in Granton Road, which is now Noah’s Ark pet shop. My parents married in 1962 at Wardie Church and moved to the town of Saltburn-by-sea in what was Yorkshire, now Cleveland. I moved to Edinburgh in 1999. I used to live in Netherby Rd and now live in Royston. It's funny how things turn out!" |
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Callum Duff, Royston, Edinburgh: August 17, 2007 |
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Recollections 5. Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
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Thank you to Phil Wilson, for these recollections. Phil wrote: |
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Santa "Here is my brother Billy Wilson, aged 7, with a rather crafty-looking Santa in his tartan outfit at Christmas 1954. My brother wearing Wardie Primary School uniform, but without the tie (as usual). Either Santa went to the school (unlikely), or perhaps it was taken on a special school trip, or in one of the stores. Is that 7/6d he's holding up? If my brother actually got it (which I suppose he ought to have), that would have been a nice little prezzie in those days. Billy Wilson was known as Bill Wilson after he left school. He died in 1994" Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Scotland: January 16, 2007 |
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Wedding "Yvonne Cain mentions Colin McGregor. I remember a Colin McGregor who lived on the corner of Boswall Crescent and Boswall Terrace. When he got married, we younger children followed the car (or carriage) for the 'poor-oot'. I remember actually getting something for once." Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Scotland: August 1, 2006 |
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Phil later wrote: Colin McGregor "Apparently, the Colin McGregor that Yvonne remembers lived in Fraser Crescent. He was not the same person as Colin McGregor whose wedding I remember." Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Scotland: August 8, 2006 |
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Recollections 6. Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada |
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Question Poor-oot Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins) who used to live in Joppa, Edinburgh, remembers a 'poor-oot' at a wedding in 1942 when she was aged only five. Dorothy wrote:
If you can answer Dorothy's question, please e-mail me and I'll pass on your answer to her. Thank you. - Peter Stubbs: August 5, 2007 |
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Recollections 7. Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada |
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Answer Poor-oot Thank you to George T Smith who replied, after searching the Internet. George tells me that one of the references he found dates back to Mary Queen of Scots' wedding, so the tradition has a long history. Here are two more references that George found: |
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References to Poor-oot 1. As at most traditional Scottish weddings, a 'poor oot' - coins being thrown to crowds in the street - was in order. They scattered gold and silver." 2. The bridegroom and his attendants carried small change to throw to the children, in return for their making a noise to scare off the devil. Still observed, this custom is called the ‘hize’ in Arbroath, the ‘scrammle’ in Forfar and the ‘poor oot’ in parts of Fife. It also symbolized new beginnings." |
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George T Smith, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada: August 5, 2007. |
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Recollections 8. Bruce Johnstone Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland |
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Thank you to Bruce Johnstone who wrote: |
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Home and School "I attended Wardie Primary School from 1950 to 1957. I have a vague recollection of attending an entrance test and of the fees being possibly £3 per term or per year? I lived in Pilton Crescent and, along with others from this area, would walk to school, up to 4 times a day if no school dinners were taken." |
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Teachers "One of my early school teachers was a Miss Beskow, followed by an elderly Miss MacDonald, and for the final 2 years Miss Mackay, an excellent teacher. She prepared us for Secondary School by teaching us the algebra which totally mystified me. My first Headmaster was Mr Hunter. We all had to stand whenever he entered a classroom." |
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'Eleven Plus' "The 'Eleven Plus' exam was the arbiter in determining the level of Secondary education, and it was sad to see friends fail to get to Trinity Academy as the natural destination. Broughton, Bellevue and Ainslie Park took the rest. Several sat Entrance exams for Royal High, Heriots and James Gillespie's. Where are they now?" |
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Primary 1 and 2 "In P1 and P2, we used slates with lined areas on on side for 'sums'. In summertime, classes would sometimes be held in the central garden area as those classrooms had French windows." |
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The Gym Hall "The Gym Hall had a large mural at one end with scenes from Alice in Wonderland. I believe it was still there a few years ago. There were also glass display cabinets down one side containing, amongst other things a stuffed alligator(?) and birds' eggs. I remember Prizegivings when we would be addressed by the local Councilor, and participating in a P1 Nativity play. The Hall was used for Gym classes and Scottish Country Dance practice for the 'Quali' dance. What would 'Health and Safety' think of glass cases alongside PE exercise nowadays? |
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Road Safety "We had a visit from the Police with their motorbikes and cars in the playground. Despite there being few cars on the road, it was still important. I remember being led by the hand by this 'copper' at the back of the van as the motor cyclist roared past me ensuring I got the message! I think there was always a Crossing Patrolman on Granton Road." |
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Playground "The playground on the north side of the school was divided by a low wall separating P3+. Girls in P3 upwards used the south side areas. A dinner hall is now on the northern side, replacing a wooded dinner hall that was close to the playing fields." |
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Football "The playing field or football pitch rivaled Easter Road with its slope. A coincidence is that during the 1980/90's, Hibs were to use the same area for training. I was delighted when chosen to play for the 'wee team' at age 8, later captaining the 'big' team. Several of my class mates played football every playtime: - Kenny Murray - Kenny Sutherland - Bernard Milne - Ian McGregor - Roy Oliver - Martin O'Neill - Gordon Skene (my cousin). Our school football team never won any trophies as the skills of other schools were better, including Bonnington who had Peter Cormack (later Hibs FC) at outside left. Holy Cross were excellent, with future Hibs players in their team too." |
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School Sports Day "School Sports Day was the only day that school uniform was not worn. I was in Craighall House. (Other houses were Bangholm, Royston and Warriston.) Naturally, all races were down the slope with awards only to the the first three finishers. It was competitive and, despite never being placed, it does not seem to have had any profound effect on me. Take note, today's educationalists." |
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Swimming Lessons "Swimming lessons were available at Doctor Bell's School in Junction Street, Leith. This involved a journey on a No 10 bus. No teacher accompanied the group of us and we boarded the bus with our Edinburgh Corporation tokens. My recollection is of: - a small pool - warm water - swimming a few lengths - diving for a brick - and gaining a Certificate 2 years later. Pocket money was spent in the Toffee Doddle shop afterwards." |
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BBC "The BBC broadcast schools programmes. The 'janny' would bring in this enormous valve-wireless and we would listen to 'Exploring Scotland' with reference to BBC produced booklets and photographs. Last year when browsing at the Car Boot sale in Greenside Car Park, I came across 2 of the booklets - memories, eh!" |
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Library Books "In P5 upwards, there would be a fortnightly delivery, in a large padlocked wooden box, of library books - most quite boring as I recall." |
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Museum "As further parts of our education we made several trips to the Chambers Street Museum. The exhibit is long gone now, but who can recall being lectured on the Firth of Forth beach scene with the birds and beach life there. The Museum visit often contained a film in the studio at the rear of the building. There was no Café there in those days." |
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Music "Music lessons consisted of two classes squeezing into one classroom, that of the teacher who could play the piano. Similarly, we would have joint religious and hymn signing classes. I recall being voice tested for a School Concert. It's embarrassing when you can't sing and 59 others laugh. |
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School Camp "The major trip was School Camp. We went to Dounans Camp in P7, No-one had any idea of its location, as other classes had gone to either Middleton or Broomlea. We were at Dounans, Aberfoyle for 2 weeks with 3 or 4 other schools. Our only school male teacher was in charge of the dorm. He was fairly severe. While there, we had lessons in the mornings and outings in the afternoons An abortive attempt was made to climb Ben Lomond but the weather was atrocious. Not to be outdone it was rearranged in better weather. In the evenings, there were inter-school quizzes, beetle drives, fancy dress completions and of course, dancing with the girls!" |
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Bruce Johnstone, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland: November 5, 2010 |
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Recollections 9. Yvonne Cain Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
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Thank you to Yvonne Cain (née Dorr), for writing again in response to a question that I asked about school rail outings:
Murrayburn Rail
Outing |
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Yvonne wrote: Wardie School Rail Outings "Wardie school went on train outings to Calendar. I remember going a couple of times. I think that would have been around 1959 and 1960. The train had a close-circuit TV on board. You went to a special carriage where you could sing. I went there. I remember that it was very loud. It was a lovely trip. I think we left from Granton Road Station." Yvonne Cain (née Dorr), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: July 7 to 24, 2006. |
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Recollections 10. Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Linda Walton who wrote: |
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1957-1964 "Apart from living and working in London for several years, I have lived most of my life in Edinburgh. I remember my primary school, Wardie 1957-1964." Miss Grigor "My first teacher was a Miss Grigor who was small – she must have been very small because she looked tiny to a 5-year-old, me. She always wore black. I thought she was about 90 but she was probably in her 60s. I think she was also Headmistress at the time. She had white hair and a little toy black dog called Toby. Toby was kept on a glass shelf behind her and if you were good and got all your sums right, you got to give him a dolly mixture. I got into serious trouble one day because I tried to ram the dolly mixture down his (sewn up) throat and couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t swallow it. Maybe she shouldn’t have pretended he was real to a bunch of impressionable five year olds." Miss Bescow and Mr Wallace "My next teacher was a Miss Bescow who was pleasant enough but a bit stern. However, she was Mother Teresa compared to Mr Wallace who came next, His ice-blue eyes could laser right through you and chill you to the bone if you got in his bad books. I remember being in a school play that Mr Wallace produced and it was an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I was Peaseblossom, one of the three fairies. It was great fun until my Mum’s homemade wings fell off. Mr Wallace thought he would inject a bit of a 1960s flavour into the play. The fairies were to misbehave and dance to the Beatles ‘She Loves You’ until Queen Titania butted in and stopped us. Great fun! Because of this I became star struck and decided that my future lay in the media where I worked for many years." The Groundsman "I remember Mr Reading, the groundsman at Wardie, being furious with a group of us who ran across part of the grass where, unbeknown to us, he had just sewn some new seeds. We all owned up to it when 'Ice-man' Mr Wallace had been told by My Reading that some of his pupils had trampled on his soil. I got the belt for the first and only time, and it stung like mad!" Friends "My best friend throughout primary school was Valerie Philips who lived round the corner from me in Grierson Square. I lived in Wardie Crescent. Lynda Black (now Mills) was also a friend who lived in Wardie Crescent. Lorna, Clare, Fiona and Kenneth McLean lived a few doors along from us in Wardie Crescent. They also went to Wardie School. The 'Qually Dance' "The 'Qually Dance' was fun and my partner was Christopher Lawrie. I think Ian Drysdale asked me first but he was cute and I was so shy that I stammered like the village idiot and turned him down. But Chris was very sweet and on the night of the dance arrived at the door for me with a bunch of flowers." Granton Road Shops "Shops that I remember, across the road from school on Granton Road, were: - Hepburn's which was a grocer. - Petrie, a grumpy old man who smoked like a chimney and served you sweets with his nicotine-stained fingers. When you asked for 3d worth of ‘sports mixture sweets and no black ones’ he would almost always give you mainly black. His fag ash was often mixed in with the boxes of loose sweets. - Killin's grocery store then came along and took over most of the other shops. We used to spend our pocket money on Penny Dainties, Puff Candy, Floral Gums, Parma Violets, Sherbet Dabs, Lucky Bags and Jubilee Ices. - There was a chemist but I can’t remember the name – Nimmo? He lived at the junction of Granton Road and Wardie Crescent." The Beatles When the Beatles became famous we all had a massive crush on a boy called Michael Peaseland because he looked like (a very young) Paul McCartney! Where are you now Michael?!! My Primary Class Names that I remember from my primary class are: - Valerie Philips - Linda Sewell - Louise Wilson - Ruth Wishart - Eleanor Sanderson - Eileen Flanagan - Jennifer Ward - Fiona Leslie - Vida Laird - Anne Herd - Joan Brown - Vivien Stewart - Jim Herd - Ian Drysdale - Brian Swanney - Brian Duff - Ronald Aitken - Ronald Duff - Julian Vaughn - Christopher Lawrie - Ian Brash - Gordon Peters - Gordon Chalmers - Ronald Greig - Kevin Hale. Rochelle Brody came to our class for only about a term or so. We all thought she was very exotic as she came from South Africa. Some girls weren’t too happy with her though when she landed the plum part of Titania in our school play. There was a bit of juvenile envy going on for a while!" Class Photos "If anyone has a class photo then, I would love to see it. Here is a photo of me in Primary 1 at Wardie:
© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Linda Walton (nee Wilson), Edinburgh I remember the photographer had a sooty puppet to put us at our ease while he took the photos. We weren’t the confident 5 year olds of today ." Linda Walton (nee Wilson), Edinburgh: 20 October 2013 |
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Reply to Linda? If you remember Linda Wilson and would like to send a message to her, please email me to let me know, then I'll pass on her email address to you. Thank you. Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: 18 August 2017 |
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North Edinburgh Cramond - Granton - Royston - Trinity - Wardie |
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Maps Granton: transport map 1932 Granton: small map 1870 Granton: large map 1870 |
Recollections Cramond: from 1940s Cramond Island: 1970s Granton: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1970s Granton, Trinity, Wardie: 1940s 1950s - 60s Shops Lower Granton Road all dates Muirhouse from 1930s Pilton: 1940 bomb Royston: from 1930s |
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History Granton, Trinity, Wardie: from 1544 |
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