Hamilton Street, Leith - December 1976

Recollections
1.	Lennie Toshack Leith, Edinburgh	Playing in the street
2.	Jim Patience Alberta, Canada	Bonfires
3.	David Barrie Adelaide, South Australia	Wilkie Place
4.	John Cavanagh County Durham, England	Photo of Hamilton Street Bonfires Return to Hamilton Street
5.	Willie Hutton Edinburgh	Hamilton Street Bonfires Fort House
6.	Diane Bel Salford, Manchester, England	Shades Potatos
7.	Eileen Shearsby Canada	Shade's Potatos
8.	Gary Dempsey London	5th Birthday Celebrations Smells
9.	Jim Macfarlane Edinburgh	The Fort
10.	Isabel Baker (née Munro) Brooklyn, Connecticut, USA	Play Trams
11.	Alan Fairley Liverpool, England	My Family Photo Recollections
12.	John Cavanagh County Durham, England	Nos. 6 & 7 Cul-de-sac No.8 Memories
13.	Tam Corner	Remember Me? - Tam McLuskey, No.6

Recollections

Lennie Toshack

Leith, Edinburgh

Lennie Toshack replied:

Playing in the Street

"Many thanks to Kenny for sending the photo in.

I spent many days playing in that street in the late 1950s, and still have the scar on my leg from jumping over the bonfire, just slightly down from the white car on the left!

There was a wonderful chip shop that had a great juke box.

Of course, this photo gladly doesn't show the monstrosity that is Fort House, sadly a blot on the area's history and is rightly being pulled down soon."

Lennie Toshack, Leith, Edinburgh

Recollections

Jim Patience

Alberta, Canada

Jim Patience wrote:

Bonfires

"During the war, my dad was in the army and my mother was in hospital. I was shuttled between my Aunt Hannah Morton who stayed in the top flat at 6 Hamilton Street and my Gran's house at 5 Fort Place, just around the corner.

I also remember the bonfires at corner of Fort Place and Hamilton Street. Shade's potato merchant was just around corner. We used to get potatos from them to roast on bonfire.

My Gran, Kate Scott, was last person in Fort Place to convert to electricity. She had gaslight until she moved from there."

Jim Patience, Alberta, Canada: December 21, 2008

Recollections

David Barrie

Adelaide, South Australia

David Barrie wrote:

Wilkie Place

"Reading about Hamilton Street and the bonfires brought back memories of living in Wilkie Place, now long since demolished.

We had our bonfire too and it was set up in Bennett's' a large bit of waste ground within Wilkie Place. We were moved out of Willkie about in 1962 to Fort House. Then, Wilkie Place and part of North Fort Street were demolished to make way for the new Fort Primary School.

Although I believe Fort House is now a run down eyesore, it was bliss then compared with what we had lived in over the road. An inside bathroom and hot running water - sheer luxury."

David Barrie, Adelaide, South Australia, December 22, 2008

Recollections

John Cavanagh

County Durham, England

John Cavanagh wrote:

Hamilton Street

"This is the first picture I have seen of Hamilton Street on any site.

I lived in No 7 Hamilton Street, ground floor at the back of the tenement. The street was a magical place to live in as a youngster. It was a cul de sac as a result of the wall of Leith Fort enclosing one end, a safe place for kids to play football etc.

That all changed with the building of Leith Fort development in the early 1960s. The wall was demolished and Hamilton Street became another through road!"

Bonfires

"We (the Hammy Boys) used to store our bonfire materials in a space between the tenement and the Fort wall, known to all as the "wee hole", to keep it safe from the marauding hordes of raiders from Wilkie Place and Lapicide Place - it can just be seen on the right of the picture. We used to light our bonfires at Bathfield.

There was a co-op store at the bottom of the street, a great chip shop on one corner (I can't remember the name) and Fanny Malcolm's shop over the road on the corner of Fort Place and Hamilton Crescent. My mother used to clean for her."

Return to Hamilton Street

"Last time I was in Leith, I visited what was Hamilton Street. My name still stands out in blue paint from the mid-1960;s on what was our back green wall !!"

John Cavanagh, County Durham, England: December 27, 2008

Recollections

Willie Hutton

Edinburgh

Thank you to Willie Hutton, Edinburgh for leaving a message in the EdinPhoto guest book.

Willie wrote:

Photo of Hamilton Street

"I was born in Hamilton Street in 1964 and lived there until 1977 when the street was demolished. I lived in no.6 and moved to Fort House. It was a great place to grow up. It was a very friendly community and I always felt safe and happy there.

At the bottom of the street, on the left, was the chippy which always seemed good to me! Opposite, on the corner of Fort Place, was Seeley's grocer shop and on the opposite corner was Robertson's, the newsagent."

Bonfires

"We weren't allowed bonfires in the street but used to have a huge one on waste ground over from Shades (potato merchants) that we called Jackie's Backie."

Fort House

"Today, Fort House may not look so nice but it has a vibrant and thriving community. Many fine people there!

Thanks for the memories!"

Willie Hutton, Edinburgh: Message posted in EdinPhoto guest book: January 14, 2009

Recollections

Diane Bel

Salford, Manchester, England

Diane Bel read Jim Patience's comments on Shade's potato merchants near Hamilton Street (2 above) and wrote:

Shade's Potato Merchants

"My late mother told me that her grandmother, Isabella Shades, was related to Shades Potato Merchants at Davidson's Mains, Edinburgh.

I would have thought that Shades Potato Merchants near Hamilton Place would be the same family. The name 'Shades' is not a particularly common one.

I've been researching the family for ages without much success. I wonder if Jim or anybody else remembers anything about the Shades family."

Diane Bel, Salford, Manchester, England: January 18 + 26, 2009

Contacting Diane

If you'd like to contact Diane, please email me, then I'll pass your message on to her.

Thank you. - Peter Stubbs: January 29, 2009

Recollections

Gary Dempsey

Eileen Shearsby wrote:

5th Birthday

"Thank you for the photograph of Hamilton St, Leith. Like Willie Hutton, I too was born there in 1964. In fact I still have a photo of him and me celebrating my 5th birthday at no 1 where my family and I lived. We attended nursery together !"

Celebrations

"I have many fond memories of Hamilton Street, especially the night the Americans landed on the moon. I remember sitting atop my father's shoulders in the middle of the street, full of the kind of wonder only a five yr old can muster !"

Smells

"Whenever I think of Hamilton Street, I think of two smells, the chippie that Willie mentioned and the High Chaparral dollars and the bubble gum which came with them that we used to collect.

Gary Dempsey, London: Message posted in EdinPhoto guest book, June 13, 2009.

Question

Eileen: What were High Chaparral dollars?

- Peter Stubbs: June 13, 2009.

Recollections

10.

Isabel Baker
(née Munro)

Brooklyn, Connecticut, USA

Play

"My grandfather, James Green, lived at 5 Hamilton Street. My sisters and I were all born in a single-end on Lindsey Road. We had a great time playing in Hamilton Street with the Fort Wall at the back. It was like having our own play area"

Trams

"The trams ran just outside our door. My brother loved to put pennies on the tram tracks to see what shape they came up. That was until he got caught by my mother.

All great memories!"

Acknowledgement: Isabel Baker (née Munro), Brooklyn, Connecticut, USA: May 9, 2008

Recollections

11.

Alan Fairley

Liverpool, England

Thank you to Alan Fairley, Liverpool, England who found the comment above then posted a comment in the EdinPhoto Guestbook.

Alan wrote:

My Family

"A lot of my immediate family and close relatives including all those below were born at Hamilton Street, Leith

Who?	When?	Where?
*William Wright Goodman Fairley* (my dad)	*1922*	*No.6*
Margaret (my sister)	?	*No.7*
Peter (my brother)	?	*No.8*
*John Leydon*	*1920*	*No.5*
*Peter Goodman Leydon*	*1918*	*No.18*
*Margaret Wright Goodman Leydon*	*1913*	*No.5 or 8*
*Mary Rush Goodman*	*1925*	*No.5*
*Alexander Preston Munro*	*1922*	*No.8*
*Adam Young Munro*	*1927*	*No.6*
*Margaret Wright Goodman Preston Munro Leydon*	*1937*	*No.6*

Photo

"I've always wanted to see Hamilton Street for myself, so when I visited the area, a few years ago, I was really heartbroken to discover that thee street had been demolished!

I've now found this photo of Hamilton Street on the EdinPhoto web site.

It has changed vision of what the street would have been like!"

Recollections

"I'm now hoping to maybe get in contact with anyone who has lived there, or has any more info about the street - perhaps even long-lost relatives. That would be great because I've done a lot of family history research, and they may be in my family tree!"

Alan Fairley, Liverpool, England: Message posted in Edinphoto Guestbook, November 10, 2013

Reply to Alan Finlay

If you'd like to send a reply to Alan, please either post your reply:

PLEASE: click on this link to the Guestbook, then post your reply to the message that he left in the Guestbook on 10 November 2013

OR send an email to me, then I'll pass on Alan's email address to you and you can try sending a message direct to him.

Thank you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: November 10, 2013

Recollections

John Cavanagh

County Durham, England

Thank you to John Cavanagh for writing again about Hamilton Street.

Here is a message that John posted in the EdinPhoto Guestbook:

Nos. 6 & 7 Hamilton Street

"I was born in 1953 and brought up in Hamilton Street. We lived in the ground floor flat in No. 7. My best pal was Richard Munro who lived in the top flat of No. 6 with his Brother Alex and parents Alex & ? .

Cul-de-sac

"The street was a cul-de-sac because of the wall of Leith Fort closed off the top of the street so it was a safe place for children to play in.

The street was (unusually) concreted so it had a smooth surface for playing football on. The wall was the goal!

The street had everything we needed:

- Chip Shop

- Leith Provi grocers

- Butchers

- General Merchants

- Corner Shop (Celia Malcolm's)

When the flats at Leith Fort where built, the wall was demolished for access for vehicles and the street was never the same after that."

No. 8 Hamilton Street

"No. 8 was demolished some time in the late 60's and this left an ugly space in the street. See the photo:

Memories

The name 'Fairley' is familiar to me, but time has diminished my memory somewhat.

I left Leith in 1970 to join the Army never returned. I have great memories of my childhood spent in Hamilton Street brought up in a room and kitchen.

As an aside: my name in blue 3 ft. high letters is still visible on what was our backgreen wall - painted in 1965!"

John Cavanagh, County Durham, England: Message posted in EdinPhoto Guestbook, Nov 11, 2013