Shoes and Boots in front of the Fireplace at Wullie Croal's house, 6 Heriot Mount, Edinburgh

© Wullie Croal. Thank you to Tam Croal (Wullie's son) for sending this photograph to me.

1950s to 1960s

Shoes at the Fireplace

Thank you to Tam Croal for sending me several of his dad's photos taken in Edinburgh, mainly around the Dumbiedykes district and Holyrood Park, between the 1950s and 1970s.

The photograph above is of shoes and boots in front of the fireplace at Wullie's home.

I originally thought that this photo had been taken at the family's home at 44 West Richmond Street, Southside, Edinburgh - but see 'Recollections 1' below.

Recollections

Joyce Ritchie (née Croal)

London, England

Thank you to Joyce Ritchie who wrote, after seeing one of Wullie Croal's photos:

6 Heriot Mount

"I am one of Wullie Croal's daughters. I've just seen the photograph of our fireplace that my brother Tam sent to you. I think my poor brother's memory is worse than mine, as the photograph was taken at our home in 6 Heriot Mount.

The shoes (from left to right) belonged to:

- my father Wullie

- my mum May

- my sister, June

- myself

- our little sister, Linda.

Tam can be forgiven for the error, as neither he or my brother Brian were born at the time.

Joyce Ritchie (née Croal): March 5, 2009

Recollections

Eric Gold

East End, London, England

Thank you to Eric Gold who saw this photo of the shoes in the fireplace and wrote:

Fireplace

"At Dumbiedykes, we all had one of these Victorian grates (fireplaces). I remember ours well, with the gas poker and two chairs, one either side, were one could sit and get warmed up especially in the cold winters.

My mother would bake a great steak and kidney pie and the crust was great, I have never tasted a pie as good as hers, not because she was my mother. The old Scottish recipe was handed down from generation to generation.

I told the head chef on the Queen Mary about the pie and he agreed with me as when you’re cooking for a family and not thousands the pie will always be best, home cooked.

On Friday nights, my ma would blacken the fireplace with Zeebo, a paste for fireplaces, then burnish the silver handles, I don’t know what you call the thing but it was like a wire wool ball. My friend who has an antique shop said these fireplaces are worth a few quid nowadays. I only wish I knew what happened to all those fireplaces when Arthur Street met it fateful end."

Eric Gold, East End, London: March 6, 2009

Recollections

John Devlin

Sun City, Florida, USA

John Devlin wrote

Boots and Shoes

"Wonderful photo of the fireplace at Heriot Mount. What I note is seeing how the shoes, for the most part, have been carefully polished."

John Devlin, Sun City, Florida: March 7, 2009

Recollections

Eric Gold

East End, London, England

Eric Gold added:

Skillet

"I forgot to mention that those grates had an old cast iron skillet (frying pan) and ours was very old.

My ma struck a deal with my Auntie Marion who also stayed in East Arthur Place, and changed hers for an electric one.

My Auntie Marion gave the pan to her daughter, Rena, who is going to let me have it, as long as it stays in the family and will not be sold, as the pan has been passed from generation to generation"

Eric Gold, East End, London: March 8, 2009

Recollections

Joyce Ritchie (née Croal)

London, England

Thank you to Joyce Ritchie who replied

Boots and Shoes

"John Devlin in America left a nice comment about our fireplace photo, mentioning the shine on the shoes lined up in front of it.

Well, every night my dad would polish these shoes to within an inch of their lives, and mum would iron our hair ribbons, which would hang on the brass rail above the fire (just out of shot in the photo.)

Mum and dad slept in the bed recess (just left of the fireplace) while my sisters and I slept in the bedroom, which also doubled as dad's dark room.

Happy, happy days"

Joyce Ritchie (née Croal): March 9, 2009