Recollections: Leith - World War II

Recollections
1.	Frank Ferri Newhaven, Edinburgh	- Meals
2.	Alan Sinclair Newhaven, Edinburgh with replies from Frank Ferri Newhaven, Edinburgh Ken Smith Calgary, Alberta, Canada Douglas Beath Burnie, Tasmania, Australia	- Communal Lunches - British Restaurants
3.	Avril Finlayson-Smith Bendigo, Victoria, Australia	- Sweets - Rhubarb - Medication
4.	Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins) Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada.	- Eggs at Portobello - Chicken
5.	George T Smith Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada	- Fillyside
6.	Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins) Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada.	- Children and Chickens
7.	Frank Ferri Newhaven, Edinburgh	- Squaddie's Can Opener

Recollections

Frank Ferri

Newhaven, Edinburgh

Thank you to Frank Ferri, now living in Newhaven, Edinburgh, for sending me these memories of living in Leith in the 1940s.

Frank wrote:

Meals

"Because of food rationing and money shortages, we ate very basic foods. We had:

- Stovies - corned beef cooked with onions, potatoes and an OXO cube added for extra flavour.

- Fish cakes.

- Potted Haugh (part of a sheep’s lower leg) or potted heed (a sheep’s head). This was boiled and boiled until the meat fell off the bone. The meat was gathered up, placed in a bowl, some of the gelatine liquid added, on top of which you would place a saucer, then a heavy weight, to compress it. It was left for some time to cool and solidify and when ready, you could slice the meat and serve with potatoes and veg.

- Sheep’s head soup. A thick marrow bone, split in two was added to allow the marrow to flavour the soup.

- Soup made from tripe, potatoes onions and milk. The tripe, still contaminated with sheep’s faeces, had to be washed clean with a scrubbing brush and boiled for hours.

- Laird (cow’s udder) the milk was squeezed from this and also boiled for ages, when cooked it was served up in slices with mash potatoes and a veg.

- Poor man's Lentil soup was flavoured with strips of bacon, if you could not afford the ribs.

- Other delicacies were oxtails, liver, haggis tatties and neaps

- Spam fritters (spam dipped in a batter and fried)

- Fish soup, made with milk, haddock, potatoes and onion.

- Scrambled eggs, made with powdered egg mix, (Government Issue), horrible tasting margarine, grey coloured bread

- National Health concentrated orange juice, cod liver oil and dried milk for the children.

- 'Camp' bottled coffee, made from chicory."

Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh: June 12, 2008

Alan Sinclair

British Columbia, Canada

Alan Sinclair wrote:

Communal Lunches

"I have vague memories of going into schools or churches where we could get a meal at a reasonable rate, without coupons. Do you have any stories about this?"

Alan Sinclair, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada: February 10, 2010

Reply 1. to

Recollections

Frank Ferri

Newhaven, Edinburgh

Communal Lunches

"I remember communal lunches well. Couper Street School at Coburg St, Leith had this service.

I used it with my mother and younger brother around 1943/44."

Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh: March 4, 2010

Reply 2. to

Recollections

Ken Smith

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Communal Kitchens

"There was a communal kitchen in Dundee Street called 'The Neighbours' Tryst'.

We used to go there on occasion for lunch while attending Boroughmuir school."

Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh: March 4, 2010

Reply 3. to

Recollections

Douglas Beath

Burnie, Tasmania, Australia

British Restaurants

"Alan Sinclair is probably referring to the wartime British Restaurants.

- One was 'The Laden Creel' in North Fort Street School.

- There was another in a church hall in Rutland Street.

- EdinPhoto also mentions a British Restaurant in a converted church opposite Fountainbridge Brewery."

Douglas Beath, Burnie, Tasmania, Australia: March 5, 2010

Recollections

Avril Finlayson Smith

Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

Thank you to Avril Finlayson Smith who wrote:

Sweets

"I remember when we could get so little, so we would eat the cinnamon sticks or the liquorice root which was just like a wooden twig - but tasty.

Or we'd go into a chemist, as I did with some friends, on our way down to the Bethesda Mission in the Kirkgate in Leith, when we'd buy Ovaltine or Horlicks sweets

You could take a pound bag of sugar to certain shops in exchange for sweets - boilings, they called them.

I used to go to the little sweet shop up Lothian Road, almost opposite the Usher Hall. A lovely couple used to own this shop.

Rhubarb

When we were really stuck, if we were fortunate enough to have a garden with rhubarb growing, we could get a stock of this and a poke of sugar. It's a wonder our insides coped with all of this. We put all sorts of things into it, but we're still here to tell these tales.

Medication

How about all the other things we'd have poured down our throats, like Syrup of Figs or Fruit Confection.

This was not too bad, but what I hated was the grey powders in the little white squares of folded paper. Does anyone remember those horrible things. How about the malt? That was much more pleasant to take.

I'll be interested to hear if anyone else has similar memories of these bygone days."

Avril Finlayson Smith, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia: October 20, 2010

Recollections

Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins)

Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada

Thank you to Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins) who wrote about what she described as "wonderful memories of times gone by".

Dorothy wrote:

Eggs at Portobello

"Here are two photos of myself and my brother John. They were taken in 1941 at 21 Fillyside Avenue, Portobello.

My Dad supplied the neighbours with eggs, not too many. I think they got up to six eggs depending on how many were in their family; it was one egg per person.

My Dad had a white tin box and scratched on the lid was: 'Please Return to 21 Filllyside Avenue'. The neighbours had to pay so much per egg. I think it was about 4 pence an egg.

I use to go with my Dad to deliver the eggs. Many times, he would take the customers a bunch of flowers from his garden or greenhouse, and even tomatoes when we had them. He was very kind."

Chickens

"I am not sure how it worked but I remember my Dad telling me that in each area, someone was allowed to keep chickens to supply eggs to their neighbours

Each spring, I would go with my Dad to pick up the baby chicks. There would be around a dozen or more and he would put them in a little chicken run by themselves for a short while, right onto our lawn in the garden. They were adorable, all fluffy yellow balls. He did not let me play with them, but I wanted to pick them up.

I remember when John and I would go into the chicken coup to try and get the eggs from under the chickens. If they were still on the nest and I tried to slip my hand under them, they would peck me hard. I was always scared of them.

When I did get the eggs, they were always warm. I would put them in a little basket that I carried. I knew I had to be careful not to break them. They were precious things in those days as nearly everyone had to use powered eggs mixture."

Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins), Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada: October 2011,

Recollections

George Smith

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Thank you to George Smith who replied:

Fillyside

"I had a boyhood friend who lived in Fillyside, a John Gascoyne. I wonder if Dorothy knew of him. He had a pet monkey which bit me on the left calf.

I remember his house well. I believe it was a semi-detached bungalow."

George T Smith, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada: October 8, 2011

Recollections

Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins)

Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada

Thank you to Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins) for writing again about one of the two photos that she sent in 4 above.

Dorothy wrote:

Children and Chickens

"The boy who is in this photo with my brother and myself lived a few doors down from us."

"I cannot remember his name, but I will always remember how he would walk past our door, almost every day, going to school eating a big slice of turnip.

I know it was turnip because I asked him - tucking into it, he was!"

Dorothy Addison (née Jenkins), Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada: October 17, 2011,

Recollections

Frank Ferri

Newhaven, Edinburgh

Thank you to Frank Ferri for writing again, this time sending a photograph of an old squaddie's can opener, photographed beside a new penny to show the size of te can opener..

Frank wrote:

Squaddie's Can Opener

"Old squadies (those on National Service) should remember this item. Did you ever use one?

Its a can opener. If you were ever on manoeuvres in the Services and had to live off compo rations - a box of tinned food that last one serviceman for 7 days or 7 for one day.

There was one of these in every box. Being the cook in the field, I had many a sore finger using one of these for a month on manoeuvres in the Scottish Highlands.

The sharp hooked part opens out and you puncture the can, then wiggle it back and forth."

Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh: November 10, 2012