Happy Days In Sunny Leith; Some Recollections
From Eric Kerr
Let me start by saying I hope "The Leith Police Dismisseth Us" . Us being the people who have been caught writing on `The Wall`. Has this tongue twister stood the test of time or has it gone the way of the shilling and the half-crown coins?
An event that I recall is that of the children from Lochend Road school making their way to Leith Central station at the start of the evacuation early in the war years. Does anyone know when this was, and did they enter the station underneath the bridge at the foot of Easter Road?
I have memories of being wakened during the night and going to the air-raid shelters, most of the time it was not too long before the all-clear was heard and it was back to bed.
I remember the landmine and bombs that fell near the Leith Town Hall and the huge bomb crater at the intersection of North Junction Street and Commercial Street. Was that about the same time as the Clydebank raids?
My school years were spent at Lochend Road primary, 1939-44. For two years of that period I was evacuated to my grandfater, gamekeeper at Meiklewood Estate just six miles west of Stirling. At the `Big House` on the estate were about a dozen schoolchildrn from the Glasgow area, all evacuees. We all attended Gargunnock school that was about a two mile walk from the estate.
D.K. was my secondary school. How many people remember Ned Barnie (swimmer of the Forth and English Channel) the science teacher and his two straps? I think he called one of them Spitfire and the other was Bomber that he used for the more serious offences.
The other day I was reading Jack MacKenzie`s memories and he spoke of the wedding reception. Would this have been in the room above Smith of Hawkhill Bakers? (John - There was a Smith`s Rooms at the corner of Duke Street and Morton Street as well as the Baker`s Hall in North Fort Street. Both were used for wedding receptions, etc.)
The barber along the street was my local barber, I think a Mr Lindsay - his daughter also worked with him- owned it. When I started getting my haircut there they used hand clippers. The first time they used electric clippers (probably 1938-40) I thought I was going to be electrocuted when the cable touched me. Kinda scary for a seven or eight year old. At home at 96 Duke Street, we were still using gas and I don`t think we had electricity installed until after the war.
I delivered papers in the Lochend, Ryehill areas for Miss Longmuir the newsagent on Duke Street, and also delivered milk and rolls for the Leith Provident.
Those years that I was involved with the 10th Leith Lifeboys then on to the Boys Brigade and the youth groups at South Leith Church, were indeed happy times. The hikes, camp outings, badminton and the dances at the ex members` club rooms all produced good memories and lots of fun.
My wife Sheila and I met at one of those events around about 1949. We were married by the Rev. T D Stewart-Brown after I finished my National Service in July, 1955. We have three children, all born in Scotland, all of whom have married in Canada. They have two children each, the eldest being 23 in a couple of weeks, and the youngest was three last week.
We are still in touch with people from those days and do attend South Leith when we are in the UK on holiday. Browsing the Guest Book last weekend, the person at the top of the list was a name from the `old days`. Alice Lauder (nee Boyd) had just posted a comment a couple of days before. We have since exchanged e-mails - great stuff this internet and e-mail isn`t it?
It is Sunday morning this side of the Atlantic in St Catherines, Ontario and at 11.55 am while drafting these notes and watching TV, I have just seen the European golf team beat the USA in the Ryder Cup.
Great result and good to see Colin Montgomerie in such good form. Most people think that St Andrews is the home of golf, but are you aware that Leith Links played a big part in the very early years? The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers back in 1744 played at the Links. I believe there were only five holes and the rules were only thirteen in number.
Eric Kerr
