Some Memories of Leith via New Zealand
Jack MacKenzie, ex Kemp`s Corner
I wasn`t born in Leith, indeed, I wasn`t even born in Scotland but I count myself a Leither by association. My mother was born in Leith and her uncle was `Swan the Builder` of Pitt Street. My father and his brother were both merchant seamen and Leith was their home port for many years. I had aunts that worked in the Buttercup, Crawfords Biscuits, BOCM and the Rope Works.
My earliest memory of Leith was about `38 or `39 attending a wedding reception at the Store Rooms in Duke Street, or were they Smith`s Rooms (?) I can never remember. A little further on there was a hairdresser where I had my first haircut, yelled my head off, I was told. My son treated me to the same performance when I took him for his first haircut some twenty years later.
Round about the time I was four, my mum took my brother and me to Jeromes for a picture session (that shop must have made a fortune in its day). One of the pictures she chose remained on her living room wall until the day she died. A happening I can recall is low flying Spitfires chasing Geman planes over Leith after the attack on the Forth Bridge. According to my mother we were about Manderston Street at the time.
Woolworths in the very early forties on a Saturday afternoon was hectic to say the least. Those were the days when assistants were surrounded by display counters, and these surrounded by milling throngs of shoppers, not a place for a little boy to let go his mother`s hand, which of course I did. I had no success in finding mum so I decided to walk home to Kemp`s Corner, no mean feat for a five or six year old. It never crossed my mind that my mother would be going frantic. Its a day that has stuck with me ever since.
The optician in Constitution Street next to the Palace cinema is where I got my first pair of glasses. The frames were flesh coloured, heavens knows what I was thinking about when I chose them. Many of the shops mentioned in other articles are familiar to me, Doig`s the pork butcher, Keirs for shoes, and of course Leith Provident.
I had a short stay in Leith Hospital when I was ten. On walking behind a tramcar, I was met by one going in the other direction, result one broken tooth and nose like a butcher`s shop. The person I felt sorry for when I found out, was the tram driver, it was his first day out on his own.
As we got older, my friends and I used to go and watch the Hibs play. The first team I could recite was Kerr, Govan, Shaw, Howie, Aird, Kean, Smith, Finnigan, Linwood, or Milne or Reilly or Johnston, Cuthbertson and out on the wing Aitkenhead. There was the `famous five` of course plus many more talented players. Sometimes we would go to the Links to watch games; the big crowd puller was Edinburgh Thistle against Edinburgh Waverley, a real derby game. Other times we would play cricket or have our own games of football.
My mum`s sister lived in Granton and we visited fairly regularly. Our usual route was a No 5 bus to Charlotte Street, the fare for adults was three ha`pence and a penny for kids. We waited for the tram (the number I can`t recall) [Nos. 10, 13, - John] at Spence & Spence; nominated by another contributor as his favourite shop, a view that is fully endorsed by my brother and I. If we were lucky, our tram ride would be interrupted by the bridge at the Shore being swung around to allow a ship passage in whichever direction. During the War, on approaching Newhaven and looking north, one could see what looked like large concrete constructions. I think I`m correct in saying that they were part of the Mulberry Harbour used after D Day off the coast of France.
While our route to Granton was constant, the return journey was anything but. The first ride was always a tram and depending on what tram was in the Square at the time, that determined our way home. Nos 8 and 9 proceeded up the Higher Granton Road to Goldenacre and Picardy Place. Nos 13 and 16 also went to Goldenacre but carried on down Ferry Road, the 13 turning off at Newhaven Road and up to Pilrig. The 16 went on down to Great Junction Street. The Nos, 2, 10 and 14 went along Lower Granton Road to the Caledonian Station at Portland Place. The 2 turned up into Great Junction Street while the others went towards Bernard Street. We would finish up waiting at either Henderson Street, top of Bonnington Road, or Bonnington Toll for our bus connection. For some reason, Bonnington Toll was my least favourite bus-stop.
Dancing at the `Rooms` featured largely in our late teens, going two or three times a week. Alexander`s and Baxter`s were the bands that I heard playing there. I noticed that one of the sax players was common to both bands, and later I saw him playing in the Plaza band in Morningside.
As time passed, my visits to Leith became less and less. After National Service in the RAF, I moved down south for a few years, and on returning home, I was married and moved to Penicuik. I stayed there until one day in 1974 a workmate threw me the Daily Mail and said there was a job in New Zealand I might like. End of story.
Jack MacKenzie
