Memories From South of the Border
Susan Mickleborough
(Aldershot)
My Memories of Life in Leith
I lived from time to time with my nana and `Pops` in Bangor Lane. They had a tiny tenement flat, which consisted of two rooms with a toilet in between. The living room had a cooker and table at one end, a gas fire with a fold down grill for toast, and a settee and chairs.
They lived on the top floor, which was reached by endless flights of very worn stone stairs. There was a great view of Leith from the windows and I would lean out as far as I could (risking life and limb) to look down at the lane and hear the one-o-clock gun from the castle.
On Saturdays, while Pops was at the wrestling, my Nana and I would venture up Leith Walk to get cod roe (Pop`s favourite) from the fishmonger near the railway viaduct. I remember so well the toy shop with the double-fronted windows, boys` toys on the right and girls` on the left. They had a doll`s hospital on the girly side where I would buy white plastc shoes for my dolly. My greatest fascination, though was the window display on the boys` side where they had Lego and Meccano models. (Harburn Hobbies? - John)
A visit to Woolworths was always made and then, on the way back to Bangor Lane, we would go into the co-op where I would watch in fascination as the money was screwed into a wooden container and then whizzed up to `the room on the ceiling` and then whizzed back with the change.
When Nana was short of money, which was almost always, we would sometimes go to the woollen mill beside the Water of Leith with old jumpers. The waters then were very black and oily but there were usually swans to be seen gliding on the surface.
I remember the rag and bone man, who had balloons on sticks in exchange for junk, with his horse and cart, and the milk dray. The horses` hooves used to sound very loud on the cobbles and echoed between the buildings.
One of my uncles, who lived in Pitt Street, worked as a crane driver at the docks, and we would sometimes visit him there. The tram lines could be quite dodgy for a small child to step over!
Nana and Pops eventually moved to Granton in the `60s where their new home seemed like a palace compared to the old tenement in Bangor Lane but both the new flat and the area lacked the character and atmosphere of Leith.
Warm memories!
Susan Mickleborough
Aldershot
