Edinburgh memories
Here are memories of Edinburgh and the local area. You can start now: Add your own Memory of Edinburgh or a Edinburgh photo.
This is Were I Grew up
This is were I grew up in Craigentinny in Edinburgh. I went to Christmas parties here when I was really young, I also went to big picnics from here because my Mum went to the guild here or went to play dominos and they held dances and& concerts. I will never forget one picnic we went to. I was 5 years old and I got some money for running a race. I put it in my mouth at the same time as I was eating a bun and I swallowed it. I was takin to see a nurse who gave me a hug. I thought "This is daft, I just want my money back". I ended up in hospital to have an operation to remove it from my stomach. So I will always remember Craigentinny House, or The Castle as we called it.
Wool Shop on or Near Princes Street
My great-great-aunt's (sisters called Copland) kept a wool shop in Edinburgh in the 1800s. I have tried to find out about them but without much success. I would be delighted to hear from anyone with any knowledge of them or the shop. Many thanks. Jennifer Cook (Copland)
Craigmiller
This is where my husand John Tuff grew up. I'm going to buy this picture for John as John now has Alzheimer's disease and when he sees this picture it will bring back some of his memory as a boy. John played as a boy by this castle and he told me about when a German plane crashed by the castle and how John and his pals got chased by the police and home guard.
Fleshmarket Close
When I was 8 or 9 years old our family moved from Clyde Street, Edinburgh to the High Street or, as we called our immediate area, 'The Tron', in view of living in the shadow of the old Tron Kirk. Our address was 'Fleshmarket Close' of Ian Rankin fame ref the book of that title. The number of the Tennement was 199 High Street. The area now of course bears hardly any recognition to what it was like when I was a youngster of 11 years in 1953. Thinking back it seemed almost Dickensian then. Mind you, we like most of our neighbours and friends had very little, times were hard but, it was the common denominator and, as a result neighbours were the salt of the earth. I have only the fondest of memories of my childhood 'street urchin' days and, lived there until jioning the Army in 1976 at age 24. Probably a square mile with The Tron as the hub would be my playground then. There were happy,... Read more
Childhood Memory
This view was from our flat at 25 Grassmarket. A memory that lives with me and tugs at my heart whenever I see it. I lived there from 1949 to 1953. Although the area was poor I treasure the time there.
School Days
The three windows in Canonball House was my classroom at Castle Hill School.
Great-Great-Grandparents
My great-great-grandmother and grandfather lived in Princess Street. He was a dentist, his name was Alexander Spalding Watson and his wife was Sarah Watson, they later moved to London to St Martin's in the Field, by Trafalgar Square. These photo are great as we can see how and where they lived.
Great-Great-Grandfather Lived Here
My great-great-grandfather lived here at Shoemakers Close, and my great-grandfather David Hay with his mother, Helen Millie. My great-grandfather was a shoemaker, as was his son John Millie. My great-grandfather died June 19th 1863, he was ageed 70 years, a good age at that time. My husband, who was born in 1932, was born just across the road from the Canongate Tolbooth. How the years have flown.
Grandfathers Birthplace
never saw him
My Father Was A Drummer Boy
My father was a Drummer Boy in Edinburgh Castle when he was 14 in 1915. He threw the sergeant's false teeth out of the window by mistake, he thought it was just a cup of water. But next day when the sergeant picked up the cup and said where's my ---------- teeth , he knew. He did not own up. A mystery never solved.
My Father Was A Drummer Boy
My father was a drummer boy in Edinburgh Castle when he was 14 in 1915.
My Playground (White Horse Close)
At the age of 11 we moved here & a group of us could always be found (gambling our pocket money at cards) on the steps in the photo. It always amazed us the number of tourists who would enter the close asking if they could take our picture, we must have looked like street urchins!, we often got money from them to show them round.
I had a Milk Round before school, & met the Roundsman on Castle Terrace at approx 6.30, it was Edinburgh & Dumfrieshire Milk Cart, drawn by a horse (Benny), I delivered the milk from Castle Terrace to approx St Marys Street by 8.15 and left him at that point to go to school. (Incidentall the Castle only took 1pint!). I then went down Bulls Close, up Holyrood Rd & along Dumbiedykes Road to go to James Clarks School, going up that hill in winter was murder. In the winter there was no end of cars & Lorries that had slid down Arthur Street and... Read more
St James Church, Leith, Edinburgh EH6
I now live in Houston, Texas, USA. My birth certificate has a written record of my being baptized in St James Church in Leith, but I cannot find any record of the church, which was near Gt Junction Street, Leith. Thanks. Morty Grant, born in Lapicide Place, Leith.
Memories of Midlothian
Glaskhill Terrace Days
Born in Glaskhill Terrace 1952, (McCutcheon) eldest of 6. Dad George a miner and Mum (Sarah) a full time job caring for us all,.The street had lots of of families who had moved through from Blantyre, Burnbank, for the pits - Moat, Bilston and said words like watter etc A jumble of childhood memories - seeing the hills every day and memories of playing with the gang - Corrigans, Hendersons, Steins, Stokes, McLauchlins, Ingles , Selkirks, Cosgroves, Kennys, McGowan, Bordons, all raking up the back field - cowboys and Indians long before Cuiken was built, exploring up the White Bridge, Bog Wood and being daring and going to the Serpentine and the Targets - up the Pentlands with a with a bottle of water and pieces on jam all day (Billy Inglis always had Bovril!), raking around in the old piggery, finding bones and thinking they were human!, sledging down in Fletchers field. Having fights every day when Jackson Street school met with... Read more
My Father
My dad worked on the Forth Railway bridge since I was little girl and I can always remember him going to work six days a week in all weathers, I wonder does any one remember him, his name was David Wotherspoon Scott and was married to Dorothy Scott. I also wonder does any one actually think about what it was like to be a painter or rigger on the bridge?
Family History
My grandfather John Bartholomew was born in Duntarvie Caastle in 1848. Because of the spring line which went throught the "field" the house was wet and eventually the estate built a new farmstead - Duntarvie. This was situated just across the fields from the castle. My forbears who farmed this land did not turn the field into plough land - like other fields - but it was used to place cattle, imported from Ireland, which developed foot and mouth disease. The cattle did not die but became excessively thin and then eventually recovered and were sent to the cattle courts for fattening. My grandfather retired due to ill health in 1934 and the farm then passed out of the family. We have the "£rent book" given to my grandfather by the Marquis which show that the family first farmed this land in about 1600. Rent in the early days was paid by the farmer having to work so many days a year on the Hopetoun Estate. There were about 20... Read more
My Grandfather John Nimmo
My grandfather, John Nimmo, was born at Duntarvie Castle on the 5th of September 1866. He farmed the land there until the entire family left and moved into Leith and opened a greengrocer's. I still have his birth certificate.
I have a photo, that looks almost exactly the same as this one pictured, taken in July of 1957, on my 7th birthday when we drove out to see the castle.
My Mothers Birthplace
Mine is not a personal memory but Uphall Station was the birthplace of my mother. Mum was born on the 29th of April 1924. Her parents were Hugh and Annie Campbell ( nee Mooney ). My grandparents and Mum immigrated to New Zealand in 1925. I am intending to visit Scotland in the next couple of years and will be visiting Uphall Station. As an only child Mum and I were very close and sadly she passed away 5 years ago and we were unable to travel to her birthplace together but I will keep her dream alive by coming to this often talked about, very special place with my husband.
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Places this week
Here are some of the places you've shared memories of this week:
- Greasbrough, South Yorkshire
- Knockentiber, Ayrshire
- Thurstaston, Merseyside
- Sedlescombe, East Sussex
- Severn Beach, Avon
- Nazeing, Essex
- Kempsey, Worcestershire
- Streatham, Greater London
- Bridge Of Gairn, Aberdeenshire
- Amble, Northumberland
- Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire
- Thornton Heath, Surrey
- West Kirby, Merseyside
- Barking, Essex
- Eamont Bridge, Cumbria
- Southgate, Greater London
- Spinkhill, South Yorkshire
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
- Croydon, Surrey
- Winchmore Hill, Greater London
- ... and lots more - Browse this week's memories now.
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I Remember When...
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irresistible mix of personal stories and recollections that affectionately reveal the detail of everyday life in Britain.
