Recollections

Warriston

Warriston with its graveyard and crematorium lies beside the

Water of Leith, about 1 1/2 miles north of the centre of Edinburgh,

Recollections

1.

Jackie Quinn

Lanarkshire, Scotland

Thank you to Jackie Quinn who wrote:

Logie Green Road

"I lived at No 9  East Thomas Street until the age of nine, then left Edinburgh.  I returned when I was 17 to live in Logie Green Road, Warriston, for a few months."

Warriston Graveyard

"Craving the countryside, I would walk down to Warriston Graveyard,  This was 1971.

   ©

I was always drawn to a beautiful crypt.

©

I would stare through the glass in the door gazing in awe at the white marble lady lying inside.   I fell in love with the beauty of the white marble figure lying at peace  bathed in red light from the stained glass window.

She was peaceful, glorious and certainly one of the most wonderful sights I have ever seen.

The Building was a masterpiece of architecture which captured a magical air that had to be seen and felt to understand it.  I always wondered at what had been so special about her in life to have deserved such a burial and monument to her memory.

There was minor vandalism to the tomb but I was sad to see and read on  this site that she had been so desecrated and ruined; how shameful.  She has lived in my heart and memory all these years and I am honoured to have seen the beauty of this crypt before it was destroyed."

Jackie Quinn, Lanarkshire, Scotland:  January 6, 2007

Recollections

3.

Danny Callaghan

Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland

Thank you to Danny Callaghan who saw a photograph of railway workers on a bogie in the 'Where is it?' pages on the EdinPhoto web site, and wrote:

"I don't know anything about this particular picture, but know the type of bogie."

  ©

Warriston

"Our neighbour, Magnus Flucker, was a railway linesman in Edinburgh and like many railwaymen had an allotment on the railway land.   His was near Warriston Cemetery where the lines split, one going to Granton and the other heading to Leith along by St Mark's Park, so the allotments were on a large triangle plot."

Kids

"As kids, we used to go with Magnus to his allotment at the weekends, there were no trains at the weekend, as the line was only used for goods trains by that time, in the 1950s.  

A few times, he would put a couple of the bogie wheels on the lines and the platform sat on top.  These were stored at side of track near the linesman's bothy. 

We had great fun pushing the bogie on the rails.  It was not 'silent movie' type with the pump handle.  You  just pushed it.  However, it did have a brake, thankfully.

The simple pleasures before H&S and Nintendos, etc!"

Danny Callaghan, Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland:  December 27, 2009

Recollections

4.

Charles Miller

The Warriston Allotments Association

Charles Miller who wrote:

Seeking Old Photos

"I am trying to track down some old photographs of Warriston Allotments, especially any that show the cottage that is situated near to the gate of the allotments.

Does anybody have any photos from the 1920s to the present day?  I'm trying to put together a small history section.  We may add it to our website that we are presently working on."

Charles Miller, Secretary, Warriston Allotments Association:  May 4, 2014

Reply to Charles

If you know of any photos that might be of interest to Charles, and would like to contact him, please email me, then I'll pass on his email address to you.

Thank you

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:  May 4, 2014

Recollections

5.

Phil Wilson

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Thank you to Phil Wilson for replying to Charles Miller's request for old photos of Warriston Allotments.  Phil sent thee photos of family members at the allotments.  Here is one of the photos:

©   Phil Wilson, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland                                                                   Photo taken c.1931

Around 1931

"Here are three photos of my grandfather, my aunt and others, which I believe would have been taken at Warriston Allotments, around 1931.**  The family, at that time, lived at Logie Green Road, not far away from the allotments.

The photos are not very good quality, but they give a flavour of the time.  Can you pass the snaps on to Charles Miller for him to look at?"        

Phil Wilson, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeenshire, Scotland:  May 6, 2014

Reply to Charles

Thank you Phil.  I've passed on your three photos (and your comments about them) to Charles Miller, as requested.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:  May 6, 2014

Recollections

6.

Phil Wilson

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Phil Wilson wrote again, explaining that he thought his three photos would have been taken at Warriston Allotments, but he could not be certain that they had been.

Phil wrote:

Warriston Allotments?

"My main reservation about the photos being of Warriston Allotments is that the background doesn't look very built up, but maybe it wasn't then!"

Phil Wilson, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeenshire, Scotland:  May 7, 2014

Recollections

7.

Allan Dodds

Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

Thank you to Allan Dodds for replying in response to Charles Miller's request for old photos of Warriston Allotments in his Recollections 4 above.

Allan wrote:

Warriston Allotments

Academic Thesis

"There is a very informative academic thesis on Scottish allotments, including the Warriston allotment on this  Plotters page on the Internet."

Phil Wilson, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeenshire, Scotland:  May 7, 2014

Recollections

8.

Jackie

Jackie  wrote:

Warriston Place

My Dad's Shop

"My Dad had an electrical contractor's shop on Warriston Place from late-1960s, right beside the Loon Fung Cantonese Restaurant.  I remember a few interesting shops in that area.

Before my Dad owned the shop, I know that it was an Italian ice cream shop.

My Dad retired in 1992 and sold his shop then.  It became a larger version of the Loon Fung restaurant."

Remember the Shop?

"Does anybody remember this shop?  I'd be delighted to see photos that anybody might have of the shop, either when my Dad owned it or at any other time.

Fingers crossed!"

Jackie:  21 July + 19 August 2016

Reply  to Jackie?

If you have any memories of the shop, or know of any photos of the shop, please email me to let me know, then I'll pass on Jackie's email address to you so that you can send a message direct to Jackie.

Thank you.

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:  19 August 2016

Recollections

8.

Reply

1.

Thank you to Allan Dodds for replying to Jackie's comments above.  Alan remembers an ice cream shop in Warriston Place, but i believe that Jackie was hoping to find somebody who  remembered her Dad's electrical contractors' shop.

Allan wrote:

Warriston Place

Ice Cream Parlour

"The shop that Jackie refers to was previously an Italian ice-cream parlour owned by Mr Coya.

I lived across the road in Howard Street as it was then called and never saw a single customer frequent his shop during the 1940s/50s.

 After WWII Italians weren't looked on as 'comme il faut' and their shops were often boycotted.  Mr Coya used to stand outside his shop for most of the day simply watching the world go by with no customers frequenting the shop.

Also, nobody had any money to spare for luxuries such as ice-creams or espresso coffees (of which we hadn't even heard) so Mr Coya eventually went out of business.

Mr Moran, another local Italian ice-cream merchant in Pitt Street (now Dundas Street), similarly had few customers as ice-creams were a luxury in post-war Britain that few of us could afford, what with food rationing."

Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England:    13 March 2017

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