School And Before

A Memory of Clydebank.

I lived in Holly Street, North Kilbowie, I was born there 1949. My gran and grampa moved into 1 Holly Street in 1939 before the Second World War. The stories they knew about the blitz were funny as well as tragic. I lost my great-grandpa, his body was recovered without a mark on him. I now move forward to 1954, the year I started school. I attended Kilbowie Primary School, my first teacher was Mrs Temple. On my first day I bawled the place down, I wanted to go home. In school primary 1 we were, believe this, given small blackboads and chalk and plasticine. I grew to love my school but if you try to find your class members it seems like they were transported to another dimension (old age may be the reason). My usual school day in the winter was, get up wash and dress quickly, no central heating then, I would sit at the open oven for heat then eat a bowl of porridge, it was hard to leave your seat at the oven. I had a green duffle coat, as I still wore short trousers, my socks were held up with elastic bands, what a joy to take them off at school, then you had red wrings round the tops of your legs, scratch scratch. My journey was the same most days - Holly Street on to Briar Drive, past Whin Street, on to Hawthorn Crrescent, up the High Park to West Thomson Street and school. I really loved my time at primary school. Secondary school is a totally different story. I left my primary in 1961, unaware of what was in front of me.