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Thank you to Matt Rooney, New Cumnock. Ayrshire, Scotland, for the
recollections below. Matt had many jobs in and around
Edinburgh, here he tells of working on the roads at Carfraemill in the
1950s.
Carfraemill is situated at the junction of the A68 and A697, 21 miles
south of Edinburgh.
Matt wrote:
The A 68
"I worked with King's of Glasgow at Carfaemill to aid
the stopping of a waters flow. The contract that King's of Glasgow had was to
re-route the A68 at Carfraemill by cutting off the bad bend.
I and an older gent were given the task of building
the drystane dyke that supports the car park. We must have done a good job as
its still standing to this day."
The A 68
"We worked on a Bonus and time was precious to us as
each delay cost us money. I had to move my digs and ended up in one of those
wooden caravans similar to the one that Fred Dibnah trailed after his Traction
Engine.
I paid a £1;00 a week dig money and for that they
supplied the caravan with pots, pans, a kettle, blankets, pillows, slips and
sheets which were changed by the Company every week. Even coal and sticks
for the fire were supplied.
It was great inside. Even in winter it got so
that we had to open the wee window to allow some fresh air in at night, The
Caravan was in a field about half a mile away from the Hotel on the Coldstream
road."
The A 68
"I even got myself a sort of part time job as the
Night Watchman because in those days we didn't have traffic signals as they have
on the roads today. It was those paraffin lamps with the red paint on
them, and they had to be filled then trim the wicks and lit as soon as the light
started to fade."
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