Photographs of Dumbiedykes around 1961-63 - Pleasance

Recollections

Bill Cockburn

Comely Bank, Edinburgh

Thank you to Bill Cockburn for sending the following comments.

Bill wrote:

Young Brothers' Bakery

"In this picture, the shop with the large frontage is Young Brothers. Just to the right is the tenement (No.120) with the roof garden.

Young Brothers was quite a big bakery business, which became part of the 'Sunblest' Group, along with 'Martin's The Bakers' of Grove Street, and 'Smith's' of Hawkhill.

All the boards that were used to transport bread, cakes, pies, etc. were of a standard size and slotted onto rails in the delivery vans. The boards which were timber framed with a plywood base, constantly had to be repaired or replaced. Mr Linton whose workshop was at the basement of 120 The Pleasance, (just next door to the bakery) had the contract to undertake this task.

The yard where the bakery vans were loaded/unloaded was at the rear of the bakery, and was accessed from The Pleasance via Arthur Street and West Arthur Place."

Mr Linton's Workshop

"You will notice a noticeboard above the stair entrance. This board advertised Mr Linton's workshop which was below street level. When you entered the stair you had to go down a flight of steps to the workshop.

To the left of the stair entrance, there is a small window. I'm not sure if this was for lighting purposes, or if it was used to load/unload breadboards."

Newsagent, Pub and Church

"To the right of 120 Pleasance there is a painted facade. This was Jamieson's the newsagent, and to the right of Jamieson's is the pub at the corner of Salisbury Street."

To the extreme right of the picture is The Charteris Church on the corner of Brown Street."

132 Pleasance

"My old home, No.132 Pleasance, was situated in the gap between Salisbury Street and Brown Street and was above Jimmy Mc Clelland's Dairy. This was obviously demolished before this photo was taken. There were 4 families living at 132 Pleasance.

On the first floor were:

- Mary & Alfie Walker and their family, Arthur (Tam), George, Sally and Liz. Mary was my mother's sister.

- the Erskines, who had 1 daughter, Jean.

On the top landing were:

- the McNabs / Sutherlands

- our family, consisting of my mother Helen (Nellie), my father George (Geordie) my big sister Mary (Maisie) and my little sister Helen(e).

There were 2 outside toilets, one on each landing. There was no hot water, or inside toilet. We were fortunate to have electric lighting, though the stairs were still lit by gas, and were quite eerie. My mother used to tell me that this tenement had been condemned since before the second world war.

Prince Albert Buildings

"We moved to Prince Albert Buildings about 1955/6 but the tenement in the Pleasance lasted a few more years.

Ah the memories linger on!"

Bill Cockburn, Comely Bank, Edinburgh: May 7, 2007