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Living at The Wisp
"It's been a while since I was last on
the EdinPhoto web site, but I now see that someone has been talking
about the Wisp and asking about some huts on it, I lived all my
young life (till I was 14 )at the bottom of said Wisp, played and
built gang huts on it and often walked upit and along past a farm
and cottages and round by Cradle Brae ( a steep hill heading towards
Newcraighall), and no huts to be seen, so maybe by the time I was 6
or 7 they had been pulled down.
"I lived all my young life, until
age 14, near the crossroads at the bottom of The Wisp.
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I played on it and made gang huts on it
- I
often walked up The Wisp and along past a farm
and cottages it to go to play on Cradle Brae, a steep field on the
way round to Newcraighall
but at no time was I aware of any huts
anywhere on it. Perhaps by the time I was six or seven,
around 953 or 1954, they had been pulled down
** ".
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**
In fact, 'The Huts' (Bankfield Cottages') were near
the northern end of The Wisp, a little further north than the area
that Winnie describes above.
Bankfield Cottages
survived until, probably, around the late-1960s. See
Recollections 10 below
Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: September 1, 2014
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The King Family
"As for the Lady Wauchope Estate, my
mother knew the King family who lived in the farm cottages next to
the big house.
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Mr King was a worker on the estate and
Mrs
King worked at the big house as the cook
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When she wasn't working, I think Mrs
King used to go to any weddings or funerals in the area, even if she
didn't know the people.
- She was
very religious, and was also a teacher at the Mission just along
near the school.
- She had a son and daughter
called Jimmy and Marion, both of them much older than me.
- Jimmy
would have been called 'slow' then. He had very bad eyesight and
wore thick-lensed glasses. He was a lovely man.
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When the occupants of the big house died, the
King family bought a house up the street from me, on the road to
Newcraighall. They must have been reasonably 'well off' for
the time, as their house was quite a big one."
The Vessie Family
"My mother was also friendly with an
elderly couple Mr and Mrs Vessie.
- They
lived in the lodge at the gate of the Estate on the Wisp,
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I remember, once, when I visited them
with my friend, Julia, to take messages to them. When asked a
question, Julia stuck out her tongue. Even I was shocked!"
The Vass Family
"The Vass family
lived farther up the Wisp, behind the big gtes on the left-hand side
of the road, going The Wisp.
- I knew Mrs Vass From seeing her,
every day, at the co-op, down the street from me.
- They had a son who was a bit
older than me. He went to Portobello High School, as it was
then. They lived behind these big gates on the left side going up
the Wisp."
Other Families
"There
were another 2 or 3 houses, together on the opposite side from the
road from the Vasses, but I didn't know much about them other than
that the lady who lived in one of the houses had a terrier called
Judy who was blind and who used to bang into things on her way up
and down the road."
The Anderson Family
At the bottom of the steep part of the
Wisp, there was a row of houses. The Anderson family lived in
one of the houses.
- Alan was the boy. He
worked for Bernard Hunter, then later for young Bernard,. He
now has a haulage company.
Growing Up
My knowledge of the Wisp ends there.
As I grew up, my interests turned to pop music and boys.
Lyndsay (formerly Linda)
Montgomery, Old town, Edinburgh:
August 30, 2014 (2 emails) |
