Summer Holidays At The Avon Water

A Memory of Maddiston.

I would have  been about ten years old and I remember on a lot of hot sunny days packing some jam "pieces" and filling an empty bottle with some diluting orange juice or even just water if there was no juice, wearing my swimming costume under my clothes and walking to the Avon Water up past Candie. There would be a crowd of us all different ages, usually about ten or twelve of us. Do you know it felt like the longest walk and it was so hot there was never anything left to drink on the way back! We used to solve this by stopping at one of the farmhouses on the way back and lining up at the door and very politely asking for some water, I wonder if the lady is still there and if she remembers us? I remember her saying every time it would be just this once, but she never once turned us away! What I can't get my head round now is that our parents quite happily let us go all that way with no adults! I cannot imagine me allowing my own son to do that at that age. We would be there for most of the day and would spend the whole time jumping in and out of the water and not all of us able to swim! I am shuddering now at what could have happened. All summer long we would play "kirby", "you can't cross the golden river", "juicy juicy","dodgy" and various other games all out on the road on our street, hardly a car to be seen! The children now could never do this, they would be killed! I also remember us one by one being called in by our parents and complaining bitterly if you were first to be called. I also used to drag blankets off the beds, get clothes pegs and lower the washing line to make a tent, I don't think a  duvet would do as good a job nowadays! I have lived in the village all of my life (43 yrs) and I think some of the changes have been for the better, especially the building of new homes which has brought about a brand new school and hopefully even more amenities to come, the lane known locally as "the shortcut" that takes you to Kendieshill used to be a horrible path to take as it was so poorly lit and could be quite intimidating, it is now bright and somehow less threatening. I remember my street I was brought up in as being quite well cared for but I can't bring myself to go up there now as it has became such a poor area. There was some fantastic characters around when I was growing up, who remembers Murn Cox? She used to run day trips for children to places like Portobello and Burntisland, the fare included a goody bag for all kids and for some of us that was the only trip we would have that summer. On the surface she was a grumpy person but what a heart, she could not possibly have made anything from running the trips and seemed to be happy so long as the kids enjoyed themselves. As a young adult newly married I remember a really cold day, our pipes had frozen and it was snowing, things like bread and milk had not got through due to the roads being so bad and my husband had a job interview that day, he walked all the way to Camelon to attend it while one of my neighbours, Frank Mcauley, tried to help thaw our pipes, everyone was sharing what they had in bread and milk and there was a real community spirit that I am not so sure exists now. I am hoping someone will tell me different as I would like to think this is still there. Maddiston is still a good place to stay despite what the outsiders who don't know what they are talking about say!

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