Edinburgh History - Recollections of Stockbridge

Recollections

Eddie Duffy

Fox Covert, Edinburgh

Eddie wrote:

Home

"I grew up in a tenement at 38 Bedford Street in the 1950s and early 1960s. We were just up from the bottom of Dean Park Street

There is a street there now called Bedford Street, but this was built after the original tenements were pulled down in the late 60's.

We lived on the first floor, my Aunt lived in the basement. My grandmother lived at No: 32, her sister at 24, a 2nd cousin at 26 and my Grandfather eventually moved from over the Water of Leith at Saunders Street to Bedford Crescent, so we were all within 50 yards of each other.

We moved away from there in 1967."

Horses and Carts

"There were plenty of characters in Stockbridge in the at that time:

- Jimmy "the milkman" delivering for St. Cuthbert's (with his horse Falcon) as shown in your Leslie Place picture, having his lunch and a wee nip at 38 Bedford Street on Saturdays. I was sometimes allowed to help Jimmy on a Saturday and the seat on the Cart seemed very high up to a 10 year old."

Milk deliveries by horse and cart in Leslie Place - early 1960s

- Jimmy Simpson, the Rag 'n' Bone man, who seemed to live around the bottom of Dean Street on the left hand side past Di Angelo's Ice Cream Shop. The houses there were mostly derelict at the time, with boarded-up windows and open doorways and I am pretty sure he kept his horse in one of them?"

Other Businesses

"I remember:

- Dora Noyce at 17 Danube Street, who ran a very well-known house of "ill repute". I delivered milk here until the early 70's when I worked for Forrest's Dairy in Deanhaugh Street.

- Madame Doubtfire's on the corner of N.W. Circus Place and Howe Street. I often wondered if the film, Mrs Doubtfire, was named after her. (It was: see 5 below.)

- The Home Bakery and Preacher's in Raeburn Place, where everything was freshly made and the hot rolls were great.

- Johnny's Fish Van, which came to Saunders Street every Saturday morning. I had to travel there from West Granton Crescent each and every week as my mother said that his was the best - fresh!

- Nan's wee shop, down a basement in Dean Street (just up past the Dean Bar), where you could buy a "fourpit" of tatties, but only if you brought your own bag for them."

Fourpit

"Eddie mentions a fourpit of tatties. I thought an explanation of this measure might be of interest to our younger readers.

A fourpit = 3 ¹/2 lbs = 1 fourth part =1/4 of a stone.

1 stone = 14 lbs.

1 kilo = approx 2.2 lbs (lbs = pounds)

Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh: April 22, 2008

Sunday Walks

"I remember my Grandfather taking my sister and me walking along the Water of Leith on a Sunday morning, ending up at the sweet shop in Huntly Street for a "wee bottle of juice" which had to be finished on the premises.

Then the long walk home again, as my grandad never got the bus anywhere!!

Those were the days."

Return to Stockbridge

"I am in Stockbridge quite a lot still, going to Bert's Bar for the Scotland Football Games, especially. I keep trying to move back there, but it's now so expensive.

The Old Homes

When I lived there, you could not give property away. No-one wanted to live where we lived. Only one flat out of three on each floor had inside toilets. The other two had to share one on the landing.

There was no central heating or bathrooms. These flats were known as "room 'n' kitchens". Literally a kitchen with a bedroom recess off, divided by a curtain.

I was totally unaware how underprivileged we were.."

Eddie Duffy, Fox Covert, Edinburgh: February 20 + 24, 2007

Recollections

Dorothy Land (nee Jeremy)

Suffolk, England

Stockbridge in the 1930s

Thank you to Dorothy Jeremy, now Dorothy Land, who wrote about Edinburgh in the depression of the 1930s

Dorothy wrote:

The Depression

"My Grandfather had a light engineering works ASPEY & SONS, in Leith, which did badly during the Depression in the 1930's.

I imagine the Depression was felt by most people throughout Britain from all walks of life.

My grandparents lived in Leslie Place, Stockbridge, and had expectations of a good standard of living."

Stale Bread and Bruised Fruit

"During the Depression my grandmother fed her four sons and daughter with great ingenuity.

- She would send out a son in the early hours with a pillowcase to call at the baker for stale bread. She would cut off the dry crusts, sprinkle the loaf with water, wrap it in a tea towel and then heat it through in the oven to soften it.

- Another son would be sent to the fruiters (greengrocer) to collect "bruised" fruit. She would then slice off the bruises, peel away any mould and make a fruit salad."

Broken Biscuits

"My mother's task was to collect a paper bag full of 'broken biscuits'. These were the damaged ones left at the bottom of the manufacturer's tin.

Biscuits were not sold in packets in the 30's but scooped out with an aluminum scoop from a large square tin behind the counter.

The kindly shop keeper would sometimes give my mother a couple of whole biscuits as a treat. All the children felt humiliated by having to do the rounds of the shops - but at least they ate well."

Shivery Bite

"The children had no sweets so, as a treat, my mother would save the bullet-hard peas she found at the bottom of her mother's pea and ham soup, twist them in a bit of paper and save them to suck on later.

If you took these to the swimming baths and ate them afterwards, as you were getting dressed, this was called your "shivery bite", she told me.

The local fleapit cinema would let children in for the price of a handful of empty jam jars. Inconceivable!"

Apples

"Despite the hardship my mother was acutely aware there were some even worse off than her own family. Her most poignant memory of Edinburgh poverty was always having a handful of children hanging around her on the school playground while she ate an apple, all begging her to "gie us yer stump hen" (give me your core).

She would leave a few bites on the apple, and reluctantly hand it over.

Clothes

"As for clothes, (apart from hand-me-downs), the women would laboriously unpick woolen knitted garments and re-knit them.

My grandmother cleaned for a few well-to-do ladies and they gave her their old coats. She would then cut them down to make coats and jackets for her children and the neighbours' children.

Everyone helped everyone else out. They were all in the same boat."

Dorothy Land, (nee Jeremy), Suffolk, England: June 3, 2007

Recollections

Shirley Thomson (nee Canale)

Yorkshire, England

Shirley wrote:

Bedford Street

"I was born at home at 26 Bedford Street and lived there until 1951. My Granny and Grandad lived in the street as well.

My house is long pulled down now but reading other peoples recollections brought it all back:

- Neighbours who were always there to lend a hand

- No secrets due to the fact we all lived on top of each other.

- Mothers who sat out on their stools and gossiped in the street (on fine days)

- The street cleaner who turned on the water so we could splash about."

Raeburn Place

"I remember Raeburn Place with all it’s shops:

- Remos, where we got our rations of sweets and cigarettes, during and after the war.

- A shop where we got our accumulators which ran the 'wireless'.

- Trams up to Princess street, but having to walk back because Mum would only give us fares one way."

Around Stockbridge

"I remember:

- Glenogle Baths

- Inverleith Park

- Bonfire Nights

- 'Guising'.

- Trams up to Princess street, but having to walk back because Mum would only give us fares one way.

Happy days indeed."

Shirley Thomson, Yorkshire, England: July 7, 2008

Recollections

Allan Dodds

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Allan wrote:

The Steamie and Washing

"In Henderson Row, just before the Edinburgh Academy, there was a place my Mother used to call "The Steamie". Women in headscarves and a 'fag' (cigarette) hanging from the lower lip, wheeling pram (perambulator) frames containing tin tubs full of dirty laundry, used to frequent it.

My Mother used to refer to them as the 'hoi polloi', ie the low life who lacked any form of practical skill whatsoever, as she herself used to take pride in doing her own washing at home - a scrubbing board followed by squeezing out on the Acme Wringer - the vanguard in technology!

I was allowed to operate such equipment at the tender age of five. We were obviously 'posh' and 'with it' as is the revamped 'steamie'."

Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: October 21, 2008

Allan added

The Steamie

"The 'steamie' was the municipal wash-house where scores of Canonmills women took their dirty laundry.

The building has been revamped by the addition of ornamental railings and it now looks quite attractive."

Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: October 21, 2008