Recollections

Graeme Charles Munro

Adelaide, South Australia

Thank you to Graeme Charles Munro for the following recollections.

Graeme wrote:

Schools

My wife, Joy, and I were well known to the Granton area.

Joy used to live in Boswall Place, and was at Granton School, then Trinity. I was at Pennywell School then Ainslie Park in the early fifties.

Shops

I remember Demarcos ice cream shop. He also had a fish & chip shop next door - they were very nice.

At Play

I remember:

- John Wayne in the Embassy

- Red and tarry legs at the seafront

- Grannie Smith's place, ransacked by a 'friend' of mine,

- Inverlieth Park, looking under the seats for money to go to the Savoy.

At Work

I remember:

- Joy working as a typist at Flemings Inkworks at Caroline Park House off West Shore Road at Granton.

- me in the Park Dept, then Trinity Garage,

- Charlie Hedges from London, the 'gruffy parky' in East Pilton Park. I used to take his place sometimes as I was in the Parks Dept between my trade jobs.

- Charlie Hedges' son, (Charlie), my journeyman when I was apprenticed at Moir and Baxter's garage at Comely Bank, now a Waitrose supermarket.

I was also foreman mechanic at Dunbar's Garage, 99 Trinity Road in the early-'1960s. My Grandfather was a stocker on a trawler from Granton Harbour I think it was owned by Devlin.

Memories indeed !

Graeme Charles Munro, Adelaide, South Australia; June 26+27 2006, and July 1, 2006

Recollections

Yvonne Cain (née Dorr)

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Thank you to Yvonne Cain (née Dorr), now living in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, for the following recollections.

Yvonne wrote:

Baby Clinic

"I remember Royston Baby Clinic where you got orange juice and cod liver oil - yuck."

Schools

"I remember:

- the library at the back of Granton School.
It's still there. - Peter Stubbs

- the Children's Group at the church. They picked up neighbours' kids from Ainsley Park school and took them home for lunch.

- rushing back to school on my bike.

- teacher, Miss Molly Wells or Walsh

- teacher, Mrs Maureen Simes. She retired about six years ago."

Shops

"I remember:

- the chemist and the hardware shop where you got paraffin for the heater, in Boswell Parkway.

- my sister having a paper run from the shop at Boswall Parkway."

At Work

"I went to Abbeyhill School to learn about hairdressing, then worked in hairdressers, 'Candusso' in Easter Road then 'Madeline' in 'Manderston Street, Leith, opposite the old bingo hall.

I worked part-time in the Lochview Hotel and went there (or perhaps to the Calton Hotel in Royal Terrace) to hear the folk group 'Cotters'."

At Play

"I remember:

- swings in the park in the Terrace and putting, on the back green.

- concerts that we put on at the house of a friend who lived at 90 Boswall Terrace.

- the push-bike speedway at Ferry Road, past Telford Road (beside the old railway bridge at Davidson's Mains, I believe). I had a couple of goes at that as well.

- going to Inverleith church the one at the top of Granton road to Brownies and Guides. I was involved in the 'Edinburgh Gang Show'.

- We used to pass the Scout Hall in Boswall Parkway, and make sure it was on a night when the Scouts were on. But the boys were not interested in girls.

Granton Pier

"My grandad threw my mum off the end of Granton Pier, probably Middle Pier, and telling her to swim. She did."

Yvonne Cain (née Dorr), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia:

July 7 to 24, 2006 + October 15, 2007

Recollections

Phil Wilson

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Thank you to Phil Wilson, for the following.

Phil wrote:

Shops

"I've just been remembering some shops in the Granton Road area in the '50s.

- Alonzis: There was the shop that eventually became 'Alonzi's' but which before had been run by a nice couple called Mr & Mrs Gunning.

- McGoldrick's: There was 'McGoldrick's' on the corner by the bus stop (which used to be further up nearer Alonzi's originally) at the north side of the end of Fraser Avenue, which we continued to call by that name many years after the McGoldricks had left. It was taken over by a Mr Rostand, who I believe was originally from the French West Indies.

- McLaughlin: Near Alonzi's was the grocery run by Mr McLaughlin (or similar spelling). He always wore a blue plastic overjacket in the shop, and was rather taciturn.

- Leask: I also remember Mrs Leask, who ran a grocery shop in Boswall Green, round the corner from Boswall Drive Post Office which was then run by Billy Duncan, the son of the original Mr Duncan."

Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland: August 1, 2006

Garage

"Yvonne also mentioned Juner's garage at Goldenacre. I believe at least part of the Juner business is still there. (Graham Juner was in my class at Wardie and I know he's still going as he has signed on to Friends Reunited)."

Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland: August 1, 2006

Yes: The Juner name is still on the garage at Goldenacre, though I believe that Juner, the owner, retired probably about a year ago.

- Peter Stubbs: August 6, 2006

Recollections

Alex Dow

Fife, Scotland

Thank you to Alex Dow, for the following recollections of Granton, and for his recollections of Granton in the 1930s and 1940s.

Alex wrote:

142 Squadron

New Headquarters

"Although I have never lived in Granton, I got to know that area quite well in the summer of 1950, when 142 Squadron moved into its new HQ at the top of the path from the Square up to the Crescent.

The HQ was two typical Service wooden huts, surplus from WW2. There were toilets and running water laid on to one; but at that time, no electricity."

Storage

"Some rooms including an armoury had been erected in one of the huts; but the remaining two-thirds of it and all of the other hut were empty.

So as well as the normal ATC Syllabus of Drill, Air Navigation, Meteorology, Wireless etc, we had to learn joinery, plaster boarding, Ames taping, wiring etc."

Lighting

"For a time, candles and hurricane lamps were used; but later one hut acquired an early petrol-electric generator. Later still, mains electricity appeared."

Food

"The building work was done on Sundays; and we survived on a combination of canned soups and fish suppers from the chip shop on West Granton Road. The old proprietor would speak to me in Italian and I would try to reply in Latin."

Flight Simulator

"About 1951, we were given an early form of Flight Simulator, a Link D. Basically this had been removed from an airfield by sawing through the many cables. So the Sunday work was extended to include re-wiring this Link and getting it to 'fly'."

Girls' Nautical Training Corps

"Unofficially we had contacts with the Girls' Nautical Training Corps down on the Middle Pier, then later, a Women's Junior Air Corps Squadron was officially attached to us."

Squadron Hut

"Incidentally, the "First City of Edinburgh" ATC Squadron had disbanded some years earlier, so 142 Squadron became the senior squadron of the Edinburgh Wing, and remains so at its HQ in Fraser Avenue*."

Alex Dow, Fife, Scotland: September 10, 2006

* After reading the 'REPLY' below, Alex wrote:

"Donald Grant is correct. For some strange reason I keep confusing those two street names. CLARK ROAD is the correct location of the 142 Squadron HQ, and that's the name I should have used."

Alex Dow, Fife, Scotland: June 6, 2008

REPLY

Thank you to Donald Grant who replied:

Squadron Hut

"Alex Dow states that 142 Sqn Air Training Corps remains at its HQ in Fraser Avenue. In fact, the squadron hut is in Clark Road and has been for a long time. I remember a school friend being an Air Cadet and going to the hut at Clark Road in the mid-1960s. He eventually joined the RAF.

I can't recall there having been an ATC hut in Fraser Avenue at any time, but I may be wrong.

Donald Grant, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland: June 3, 2008

Recollections

Phil Wilson

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Thank you to Phil Wilson who added:

Killin's Shop

"Another shop in Granton Road has just popped into my head tonight, for no apparent reason. It was the mini-mart, run by Mr & Mrs Killin who had originally bought over a single shop unit just opposite Wardie School on the north side of the entrance to Boswall Green, sometime in the late 50s/early 60s.

They did quite well and eventually took over another shop, next door, to make what would nowadays qualify as a small general store. They were still going long after I moved schools in 1965. I still remember Mr Killin clearly."

Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland: August 1, 2006

Recollections

Bob Sinclair

Queensland, Australia

Thank you to Bob Sinclair who wrote:

Granton Methodist Church

"While I was attending the Granton Methodist Church, I gave the gardener a hand to cut the grass. He was 85 at the time. He showed me how to use a scythe - yes that's how high the grass often got. Between us, using the scythe first then the lawnmower, we completed the job in a few hours.

Most of the jobs - painting, roof sorting, cleaning, flower provision and display, and window cleaning were done by church members.

The membership wasn't all that high and the collection would not have paid for much towards the minister and his outgoings."

Bob Sinclair: Queensland, Australia: January 21, 2010

Recollections

Jim Woolard

Werribee, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Thank you to Jim Woolard who wrote:

142 Squadron

"I remember 142 Squadron Air Training Corps, situated in Granton Crescent. I was a member in the late-1950s/early-1960s I remember Flight Lieutenant Syme who was the CO in these days.

Every year, he used to take a group of four to six cadets down to Bisley in the south of England for a shooting competition there."

Rifles

"We were a group of fourteen- and fifteen-year-old boys armed with 303 rifles (minus the firing bolts) getting on a bus at Granton, to meet up with the Flight Lieutenant at Waverley station to catch the train down to England.

Try doing that with today's security and you'd create panic!!! As they say: 'Ooh the good old days.' "

Jim Woolard, Werribee, Melbourne, Australia: April 29, 2011

Recollections

Allan Dodds

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Thank you to Allan Dodds who wrote:

HMS Claverhouse

"Looking at the picture of Granton Square brought back memories.

When I was an eight year old child, I had a friend called Jeremy Plummer whose father was a Naval Captain

The Plummers rented a basement flat in Inverleith Row, one my childhood haunts. As a treat, the Captain used to take us down to HMS Claverhouse at Granton Square."

Anti-Aircraft Gun

"At HMS Claverhouse, there was an anti-aircraft gun kept behind huge steel doors. Presumably, this was for training purposes, but we children loved to sit aboard the gun, raising and lowering its barrel by means of hand-operated crankshafts

We would pretend to shoot down enemy aircraft and that experience was really a highlight of my childhood.

When I told my father that we had been firing live shells into the sea he told me not to tell lies, but then a child's imagination always did run away with itself!"

Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England: January 15, 2012

Recollections

10.

John D Stevenson

Trinity, Edinburgh

Thank you to John Stevenson for sending me his recollections of the area of ground to the west of Granton Road, close to the junction with Boswall Road, known as The Dell.

John told me:

The Dell

"I lived at 185 Granton Road, across the road from The Dell. The Dell was an area of trees that became a rookery. I remember the noise made by the birds."

The Fire Brigade

"Some of the prominent neighbours must have complained about the noise, with the result that each year, after the birds had finished nesting, the fire brigade turned up in their wet gear and aimed their hoses at the nests, high in the trees.

The firemen blew all the nests out of the trees - but the birds always returned the following year!"

John D Stevenson, Trinity, Edinburgh: November 20, 2012

Recollections

11.

Carole Mills (née Manson)

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Thank you to Carole Mills (née Manson) who wrote:

Where Are You Now?

Granton Medway

"I remember three people who used to live in or near Granton Medway. I wonder what became of them. They are:

- Jean and Margaret Johnston. They were twins in my class at school. They lived at the bottom of Granton Medway, near Granton Square.

- Robert Burns. He lived with his grandmother near the top end of Granton Medway, near West Granton Road and the Anchor Inn. He later joined the Navy."

Carole Mills (née Manson), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia: March 1, 2014

Reply to Carole?

If you know where any of the three people above might be now, and would like to send a message to Carole, please email me, then I'll pass on Carole's email address to you.

Thank you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: March 9, 2014

Recollections

12.

Ian Burke

Ian Burke wrote:

Lower Granton Road

Margaret Sutherland

"My mum came from Granton. She stayed in Lower Granton Road in the 1950s, and also stayed in prefabs. I've been trying to find out what school she went to.

I have photos of her taken on a school trip to Rothesay, around 1949-51. Her name was Margaret Sutherland. When she left school, she worked in Jenners as a dress maker. Does anyone remember her?"

Ian Burke: June 11, 2014

Reply to Ian?

If you remember Margaret and would like to send a message to Ian, please email me to let me know, then I'll pass on his email address to you..

Thank you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: June 11, 2014

Recollections

13.

Margaret Guthrie

Queensland, Australia

Thank you to Margaret Guthrie, Queensland, Australia, for sending this photograph of her class at Royston Primary School

and for also sending her memories of growing up in Granton (below).

Margaret wrote:

Growing up in Granton

"I was born in Edinburgh and spent my young days in Granton Medway before moving to Easter Drylaw then to Bonnington Road Lane in Leith when I got married.

I attended Royston Primary School then Ainslie Park Secondary School. I remember the trams, Granton Square where there was a tiny post office.

We attended guides at the church in Granton Square and that's where I learned to dance - in the church hall.

Such memories!

My brother and I used to climb up the fish boxes located down Granton Pier, and I remember walking all the way to Silverknowes from Granton.

I have lived in Queensland Australia for many years but still hold dear my birthplace, Edinburgh."

Margaret Guthrie, Queensland, Australia: 5 July 2016 (2 emails)

North Edinburgh

Cramond - Granton - Royston - Trinity - Wardie

Maps

Granton: transport map 1932

Granton: small map 1870

Granton: large map 1870

Recollections

Cramond: from 1940s

Cramond Island: 1970s

Granton: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1970s

Granton, Trinity, Wardie: 1940s 1950s - 60s Shops

Lower Granton Road all dates

Muirhouse from 1930s

Pilton: 1940 bomb

Royston: from 1930s

Wardie School: 1930s 1940s 1950s

1960s 1970s 1980s

History

Granton, Trinity, Wardie: from 1544