Edinburgh Old Town
Around
Cowgate
and
St Mary's Street
|
Around 1950
©
peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
- based on a sketch provided by Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse,
Edinburgh.
Around
Cowgate and St Mary's
Street
|
Schools and Church
This sketch shows some of the some of the schools
and a church that have been mentioned in the 'Recollections' section of
this web site. They are:
-
St Patrick's Church
-
St Patrick's School
-
St Ann's
School with Junior and Senior Playgrounds.
Thank you to Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh,
who attended both St Patrick's school and St Ann's school for telling me
where all the buildings on this plan were located. |
Around 1950
Most of
the places shown on this plan are as they would have been known to
children attending St Ann's school or St Patrick's school around 1950.
These include:
- Bowling Green
- Salvation Army
- Dunbar & Co
- Tannery
- Wax Works
- Working Men's Club |
Arthur Street
Arthur Street, one of the
streets of the
Dumbiedykes area, for which there have been many recollections is at
the bottom right-corner of this sketch.
© |
Travel Lodge
The Travel
Lodge hotel, in front of St Patrick's church, is a more recent development. |
Recollections
1.
Matilda Martin
Coventry, West Middlands,
England |
Thank you to Matilda Martin who wrote: |
Travel Lodge
"The
Travel Lodge at the bottom of St Mary's
Street was not there when I
remember the street.
My aunt rented one of the
tenement flats there. I went to view it in
1957 with the intention of sub-letting it from her, when I married in that
year." |
Bowling Green
"I
have doubts about whether the bowling green
was there around 1950,
but I could not be 100% sure about that." |
Salvation Army
Shop
"Being
newly-married and not having much money,
I got some great bargains in the Salvation Army shop on the corner
opposite my aunt's flat." |
Matilda Martin, Coventry, West Midlands,
England: June 27, 2011 |
Recollections
2.
Bob Henderson
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh |
Thank you to Bob Henderson for replying to Matilda
Martin's comments above.
Bob wrote: |
Travel Lodge
"Travel Lodge was not there
in 1950. The building was the head office
of a shipping line, then a sub office of the Scottish Widows.
The top floor,
whilst Scottish Widows were there,
was occupied by the Artificial Intelligence
department of Edinburgh University.
It was, of course,
part of the regeneration of the area"
|
Bowling Green
"I think the bowling green
was there in 1950. It was laid after the water tank was demolished." |
Salvation Army
Shop
"The shop on the corner which
Matilda refers to as the Salvation Army shop was in fact Stobo Tailors"
***
|
Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh:
June 27, 2011 |
Recollections
3.
Matilda Martin
Coventry, Warwickshire,
England |
Matilda Martin who replied |
Stobo Tailors
"I know that the Salvation
Army shop was originally Stobo Tailors.
My Mother took me there to buy my cotton summer dresses and I well
remember the distinctive smell in the shop,
which I loved. I always assumed it was the
smell of new cotton but was later told that it
was the smell of the treatment used on the material, to give it that
pristine look, which is probably why, after one
wash , it never looked quite the same again.
My brothers both had their first
long trouser suits, from the gents' department,
which was across the road, on the other corner." |
Games
"We spent many long hours
playing all sorts of games on the grass in front of St. Patricks Church
after the railings had been removed, for the war
effort, so we thought.
Canon Bernie gave us permission
to do so." |
Matilda Martin, Coventry, Warwickshire,
England: June 28, 2011 |
Recollections
4.
Tony Ivanov
Burdiehouse, Edinburgh |
Thank you to Tony Ivanov who wrote: |
Bowling Green
"I moved to the Canongate in
1952 and I’m positive the bowling green was there at that time. It
belonged to St Pat’s Church."
Tony Ivanov, Boness, West Lothian,
Scotland: June 28, 2011 |
|