It’s the result of a social history project involving a group of people who met at Royston/Wardieburn community centre over a period a several months to talk about some of the things they remembered from their childhood and as they grew up, went to work, perhaps got married and had families.
They reflected on the influence of school, remembered going to the pictures and the dancing, recalled their feelings about workplaces like Scottish Gas at Granton, and discussed the changing face of the city.
Jim Aitken, a retired teacher who was the tutor for the social history group, said: “This was one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve worked on. It was serious and it was crazy - so much humour, so many diversions - and it’s a great social history. You’re dealing with stories, with memories, and you’re with a understanding of the stories and the memories - and it’s all here in this booklet.”
Here are extracts of some of the stories from the booklet, mostly in their own words.
1. 'It was a happy place with decent wages'
Winnie Burke writes: "It was in 1972 when I started work at the Scottish Gas site at Granton. I had a daughter and needed to work close to home. I could even come home at lunch time and give her a meal. I was part of the clerical staff. We all worked in a huge, open plan area with the CEO and Board of Directors upstairs from us. It was a happy place with decent wages and decent conditions with good holidays too. People could sign up for various deals and there were special contracts too with what was called ‘interruptible gas.’ At the time the early computers could only do so much and I would often be tasked with working out charges for customers. There was also a social club nearby in what was then the police fields so the staff clearly had benefits working there. This all changed with the arrival of Mrs Thatcher. She culled jobs and replaced the work with call centres. These places did not have the good wages and conditions we had and there were no trade unions either." | TSPL Photo: Ian Rutherford
2. 'The head was wearing a T-shirt and pink cords'
Former janitor David Norcliffe recalls: "I started at Craigroyston High in 1986. The school and the separate community side merged into one and became Craigroyston Community High School. This was a progressive move. The Head was Hugh McKenna and my mother would attend classes at the school. She could not believe it when the Head was pointed out to her. He was wearing a T-shirt with a long chain round his neck along with pink cords. While this may have seemed a bit overly trendy, he did fight for the school. He knew all the parents and the kids and got EU funding and additional sponsorship for the school. He took the school – and more particularly – he took the school children into Europe and this undoubtedly widened their horizons." | TSPL Photo: Greg Macvean
3. 'Call me Stavros'
Former Granton Labour councillor Billy Fitzpatrick had dashed back to Edinburgh from a trip to London for a meeting which he assumed was to be held in the City Chambers. It was 1992 and Edinburgh was hosting a European summit. He remembers: "I met my nephew on the door and he told me that the meeting was in the Signet Library so I promptly made my way there. I spoke briefly to the security man at the entrance, telling him I was here for the meeting. "Heading upstairs I noticed a woman wearing a tiara and felt this a bit odd. I was asked if I was ready for the meal and handed a glass of champagne. I was then approached and asked if I was the Greek Foreign Minister to which I replied, ‘Naw, ah’m Billy Fitzpatrick fae Granton.’ In no time at all the security services were on to me. MI6 appeared and I noted that one of them had a gun. I was speedily removed and I then made my way to the event I should have been at which was in the Regional Chambers. My story got into the Evening News and I got called Stavros by other councillors for some time after that." | TSPL Photo: Jayne Wright
4. A match made on Silverknowes beach
Bill and Greta McPhail met on Silverknowes beach in 1968. The booklet tells their story: "Bill was working with Bruce Peebles, later to become Parsons Peebles, while Greta worked in a trendy shop called Bodkin at the foot of North Bridge. Bill stayed in Drylaw and Greta stayed on Pennywell Road and so it was quite natural for them to go down Marine Drive on to the beach at Silverknowes. It was – and still is – a good place to go. One of their haunts was Peter Symond’s Bar on Leith Walk where they would also meet up with their friends. They were married in 1970 in the Old Kirk on Pennywell Road by the Rev Tom Gordon. He must have sprinkled their marriage with good fortune for they are still together some 54 years later." | SWNS