Edinburgh Recollectons - The Pleasance

Please click on the thumbnail image below to read about

Recollections of The Pleasance Back Greens

Please click on the thumbnail image on the right to view a page with:

- a photograph of the back green behind the Pleasance

- a map of the area.

- recollections of the back green.

Please click on one of the links below, or scroll down this page to read Recollections of The Pleasance
5.	from Ann Gowans Broxburn, West Lothian, Scotland	- 132 Pleasance - Q1. Bobby Croal - Q2. Photos of 132
6.	from Margaret Anderson nee Sutherland	- 132 Pleasance
7.	from Eric Gold East London	- Edinburgh University Buildings
8.	from Matthew O'Neil South Texas, USA	- My Wee Shop - Then Another Shop - The States - Salt of the Earth
9.	from Bob Henderson Burdiehouse, Edinburgh	- Shops
10.	from Cathie Bonthrone with replies from John Clark Ontario, Canada Bob Henderson Burdiehouse, Edinburgh Allan Dodds Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England	- Sun Ray Treatment
11.	from Bryden (Dunbar) Ritchie Edinburgh	- Dunbar & Co., Lemonade Works
12.	from John Dickson Edinburgh	- Dunbar & Co., Lemonade Works

Recollections

5.
Part 1

132 Pleasance

Anne Gowans, Broxburn, West Lothian, wrote:

Our Family

"I stumbled onto this site by accident but am very pleased that I did. I lived at 132 Pleasance with my mother Annie father Bill and two sisters Margaret and Moira Sutherland. My granny McNab had the house before us."

Friends and Neighbours

"Our next door neighbours were the Cockburns, "Auntie Nellie and her family, husband George, Maisie, Billy (who wrote 3 above) and Helen who was my friend for a while.

I had another friend Pat Armit who lived at 120 with the roof garden, who lived with her parents and sister Christine and two brothers Charles and Eric."

Anne Gowans, Broxburn, West Lothian: November 16, 2007

Recollections

5.
Part 2

Question 1

Anne Gowans, Broxburn, West Lothian, asks:

Bobby Croal

"Would the photographer Wullie Croal be any relation to my father's friend, Bobby Croal who lived in the Canongate?"

Anne Gowans, Broxburn, West Lothian: November 16, 2007

I don't know about that, but I've sent an e-mail to Wullie's son, Tam, to ask him.

- Peter Stubbs: December 6, 2007

Answer 1

Thank you to Tam Coral, son of Wullie Croal for replying.

Tam wrote:

Bobby Croal

"Robert Croal was my dads younger brother who is now sadly no longer with us , but was a great photographer."

Tam Croal: December 8, 2007.

Photos of Southside

Tam tells me that his uncle, Robert Croal, took a lot of photos of Edinburgh Southside, but neither Tam nor his dad, Wullie, knows where the photos are now.

If you know where Robert's photos might be now, or if you remember Robert and would like to make contact with Tam or Willie, please e-mail me and I'll pass your message on to them.

Thank you.

- Peter Stubbs: December 9, 2007.

Here are photos sent to me by Tam. They show:

- Wullie and Robert doing a 'cheap removal' in Holyrood Road.

- A photographic enlarger made by Wullie and Robert.

Peter Stubbs: December 9, 2007

Recollections

132 Pleasance

Please click the thumbnail image below to see a photograph of the front of the buildings facing on to the Pleasance, and to read what Bill Cockburn remembers of them:

Bill mentions several families living there, including the Sutherland family.

Margaret Anderson (nee Sutherland) has just contacted me to tell me more about the area.

Margaret writes:

Our Family

"I was surprised and really pleased to come across this site. I am one of the “McNab/Sutherlands” mentioned by Bill Cockburn (above).. My granny was McNab, and my mum and dad Bill and Annie Sutherland. I am one of 3 sisters, Anne (who has also written), Margaret (me) and Moira.

I remember all the occupants of the stair and often see Liz Walker on the passing. My Auntie Margaret also moved to Prince Albert Buildings (No 37)

I used to go along to my “Auntie Nellie’s” house and get Helen to school. If I remember right, she want to Darroch school and I went to Boroughmuir.

It really took me back to when we lived there (I moved when I was 12) and although it was over 40 years ago it just feels like yesterday now."

Mags Anderson (nee Sutherland): November 16, 2007

Recollections

Edinburgh University Buildings

Cobbles

For the past two days, I've been adding some of my recent photos of cobbled streets in Edinburgh to the web site, including some photos of the University buildings at the Pleasance:

Peter Stubbs: December 30, 2007

Soon after adding these to the web site, I received a message from Eric Gold (Eric McKenzie) now living in East London.

Eric wrote:

Cobbles

"The cobbles speak for themselves as every stone has a different character and personality.

I loved the Pleasance photos too as my nursery was in shot. It is now the Pleasance Fringe Theatre.

The close in the Pleasance with the big siver (drain) was great too. I bet that siver has been there for nearly 200 years. My dear old mum told me that the bogyman had relatives there.

We will have to send your photos in to the Edinburgh council planning department and put a header saying “Don’t touch the Cobbles” (ha ha ha ha ha)."

Eric Gold (also known to many as Eric McKenzie), East London: December 29, 2007

Recollections

Shops in The Pleasance

Thank you to Matthew O'Neill, now living in South Texas, USA, for sending his recollections of the Pleasance.

Matthew wrote:

My Wee Shop

"I bought a little newsagent / grocery store in the Pleasance when I was 19, from a lady by the name of Mrs. Sharp. This would be around 1963.

- To my immediate left was a little store that sold pre-packaged coal.

- Directly across the road was a butcher's shop.

- To my right, up the Pleasance a few yards, was a grocery store on the corner of Pleasance and Drummond Street."

Then Another Shop

"I think the name of the guy who owned the grocery store on the corner of Drummond Street was Ian or Stuart. I'm not sure. He lived out of town and had a car accident, so he offered me the opportunity to buy his store. I was glad to accept. I loved the Pleasance.

Well, here I was, a young kid with two stores and working from 5am until 9pm, seven days a week. I don't know where I found the time, but I found my first true love in the Pleasance. It really was a unique neighborhood. Even after all these years she still crosses my mind on occasion.

I sold the shops a couple of years later. I think the grocery store at the corner of Drummond Street ended up back with the guy I bought it from. I hope so. He was a really decent guy."

The States

"For those who remember me, I went to the States and, other than an interlude back in Edinburgh, I have spent my entire life either in the States or overseas in American uniform. I retired from the American army as a senior NCO and went on to develop and sell real estate here in my beloved Texas.

How many of us that have the Pleasance as part of our young lives now find ourselves scattered all over the world? I'm now retired, playing cowboy on our ranch in South Texas (where the snow never falls)."

Salt of the Earth

"When I bought that little store from Mrs. Sharp all those years ago, she told me "You will find the salt of the earth in the Pleasance" She was so correct. I look back on my time there with the fondest of memories."

Matthew O'Neil, South Texas, USA: January 8, 2008

Recollections

Shops in The Pleasance

Thank you to Bob Henderson for adding:

Tenement on the Grassy Slope

"The shops Mathew is talking about (8 above) were the ground floor of the tenement that stood on the grassy slope at the Flodden wall.

I do not know Mathew but I remember the shops. There were shops all the way up from the recess at the Sally Ann (Salvation Army building) where the alcoholics sat all the way up to the corner of Drummond Street.

Then when you crossed over the end of Drummond Street. to continue up The Pleasance there were another couple of shops."

Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh: January 9, 2008

Bob added:

"This photograph shows the row of shops on the grassy slope."

The photograph above was taken around 1961-63.

Matthew O'Neil replied:

"The picture highlighted by Bob is of my little Newsagent/ Grocery shop. If you have the opportunity please thank him for me."

Matthew O'Neil, South Texas, USA: January 11, 2008

I've thanked Bob.

Here is how the grassy slope in front of the Flodden Wall looks now (photo taken December 2007) with the old tenements and shops demolished long ago:

Peter Stubbs: January 11, 2008

Recollections

10.

Sun-ray Treatment

Others have written about sun ray treatment in Leith and in Royston.

Here, Cathie Bonthrone writes about her experience in The Pleasance.

Cathy wrote:

Sun-ray Treatment

"I had sun-ray treatment at the Edinburgh University Medical Centre in the Pleasance around 1945.

I too have often wondered about this treatment and why I was selected

I have never met anyone who attended this Clinic or had even heard of it. I would be interested to learn if there are any records concerning this treatment."

Cathie Bonthrone, Fairmilehead, Edinburgh (formerly Leith): July 17, 2010

Reply to Cathie?

If you would like to send a reply to Cathie, please email me, then I'll pass on your message to her. Thank you.

Peter Stubbs: July 18, 2010

Recollections

10.

Reply

Sun-ray Treatment

Thank you to John Clark, who replied to Cathy:

Around 1942

"Like yourself, I had never heard of any other person who had received sun-ray treatment, as I had, until I read your comments above.

When I received the sun-ray treatment, I was very young, so it would probably have been be about 1942. I'm guessing my age as around five. I also know that my treatment was in the area of the Pleasance, so it was probably the same clinic."

Childhood Illness

"I don't know why I received this, but I do know I was very ill on more than one occasion as child. I had spinal meningitis as a very young child, then I had rheumatic fever as a young boy.

I don't know if they played a role in my sun-ray treatment. I remember I quite enjoyed going for treatment, as I got to play with great toys (while wearing dark goggles).

To this day, I am in the dark as to the reason for it all. I wish I had asked my Mum when she was alive."

John Clark, Ontario, Canada: July 18+19, 2010

Recollections

10.

Reply

Sun-ray Treatment

Bob Henderson replied:

Pleasance Trust

"Cathie was not alone in receiving sun lamp treatment at the Pleasance Trust. I remember my mum taking my young sister there when she had jaundice. It was also recommended for the treatment of rickets."

Lamps

"I can still picture the room where the treatment took place. It was one of the upstairs rooms. The child was stripped and laid on a large table with very large lampshades over it.

These looked like the lamps you used to get over snooker tables. The child was fitted with a pair of red glazed goggles and the ultra violet lamp turned on for the prescribed amount of radiation."

Cod Liver Oil

"This clinic was also where we collected our cod liver oil, orange juice and Virol. Virol was a malt syrup. It was great stirred into a cup of hot milk. I still love hot malted milk to this day.

Gas Masks

"Another service provided here was the fitting of gas masks. I had one of the Mickey Mouse ones. The fitting comprised having the mask fitted with the straps tightened; we were then told to breathe deeply and a piece of paper was placed over the bottom of the filter if you could not breathe whilst the paper was in place your mask fitted properly."

Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse Edinburgh: July 19, 2010

Recollections

10.

Reply

Sun-ray Treatment

Allan Dodds replied:

Royal Infirmary

"I also attended the sun-ray treatment centre as a child, although I have no real recollection of where it was. I thought that it was in the old Royal Infirmary, but I could be wrong. The 23 tram went from our home in Canonmills to that area of the city.

Rickets

"The rationale was that rickets was caused by lack of sunlight, hence the need for ultraviolet ray treatment as rickets was a common disease in the 1940s."

Dark Glasses

"I distinctly remember the dark red glasses that I had to wear to protect the retinae of the eyes from the UV radiation."

Cod Liver Oil

"I also remember attending a Clinic in Henderson Row, directly opposite the Academy, where my Mother used to obtain cod liver oil and orange juice.

Polio

"As well as rickets, polio was greatly feared in those days. I remember two of my friends being struck down by it.

Verruca

"When I contracted a verruca, I was referred to the Royal for radiation treatment. My foot was wrapped in lead sheeting with a hole cut out around the verruca and an X-ray machine with a glass tube was placed against the hole for several minutes. A few days later the verruca fell out in the shape of a minute carrot. I still have the foot and have not subsequently developed cancer, so the dosage must have been spot-on!"

Allan Dodds: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Recollections

11.

Bryden (Dunbar) Ritchie

Edinburgh

Thank you to Bryden Ritchie for answering a question about the Edinburgh lemonade companies, named Dunbar.

Bryden wrote:

Dunbar & Co., Lemonade Works

"There were TWO lemonade firms in Edinburgh called Dunbar; Dunbar & Co and James Dunbar."

Dunbar & Co

"Dunbar & Co's works were in the Pleasance, down from what is now the University Sports Club.

The owner of Dunbar & Co was an Alexander Dunbar. But, to the best of my knowledge, he was never a member of the Edinburgh Photograpic Society. In fact, I can't ever remember him having a camera, and as he was my Grandad - and that's not his photo!

Dunbar & Co was wound up in the late 1960s, and the assets, such as they were, were sold to James Dunbar.

Jimmy Dunbar, the last scion of that family, used to work at the Edradour distillery about ten years or so ago. One of the James Dunbar side was Lord Provost at one time, I think."

James Dunbar

"James Dunbar had the factory in Albion Road."

Bryden (Dunbar) Ritchie, Edinburgh: August 29, 2010

Recollections

12.

John Dickson

Silverknowes, Edinburgh

Thank you to John Dickson who wrote:

Dunbar & Co., Lemonade Works

"I thought you might like to see this stopper from a stoneware bottle that I bought at Meadowbank Antique Fair."

John Dickson, Silverknowes, Edinburgh: September 17, 2010