In the 51st episode of Lifestory we are joined by the wonderful Margaret Ann Rutter in our Wee Museum studio. At the age of 80, Ann takes us through her family history via a rocky relationship with her Mother, vacations in Cornwall, teaching and lecturing in Edinburgh and a near death experience on the water, as well as everything in between!…

Episode 52 of Lifestory sees us joined by the remarkable David Flucker, who is still volunteering for the St Columba's Hospice charity shop in Ocean Terminal at the wonderful age of 102 years old. David begins by taking us back in time to his childhood growing up in a family of fishermen and attending school in Newhaven in the 1920s and on to a won…

In the 51st edition of Lifestory we are joined by regular Wee Museum visitor William Van Der Velde, who looks back on 78 years of life in Edinburgh. We travel back through his attending David Kilpatrick school up until the age of 14, reaching the ABA boxing finals at the Royal Albert Hall, accompanying Ken Buchanan on his rise to the world champion…

In the 50th edition of Life Story, we are joined by Sophia. She takes us through stories from throughout her life, from growing up in Newhaven, to her father's gambling, to singing lessons in school and delivering mail and packages over college breaks. Eventually she tells of life working in Conveyance with the National Service and finally about he…

In the 48th edition of Lifestory at the age of 80 Alistair looks back on 40 years of working life with the store, from joining Alloa branch as a clerk at 15 to becoming Chief Executive of Borders Co-Op.By The Living Memory Association

The 47th edition of The Living Memory Association's 'Lifestory' podcast sees 85 year old historian Andrew Grant looking back on his working life in the 1960s after he had returned from time spent on the ocean waves. Taking us from the Royal Infirmary to record shops and driving Globe Juice bottles around in search of a daily wage!…

The 46th edition of our Lifestory podcast features the colourful life of Stuart Roy McIvor, who spent 30 years in the Metropolitan Police and 5 years as a City Councillor in Edinburgh for the SNP. At the age of 78 with a great appreciation of the where he is now, Stuart looks back on a life packed to the full with both sunshine and shadow.…

Episode 45 of The THELMA Lifestory podcast introduces us to David and Hilary Thomson, happily married for 55 years in September 2022. We hear tales of growing up in Portobello and Ratho in the 1950s & 60 and of a romance born on the badminton court! Packed with great stories of a full life, working hard at business and family with a lot of laughter…

Born in Hackney in 1954, Martin Penny grew up in King’s Lynn and then moved to Enfield. His father was a successful businessman who sold feather dusters then moved into selling packaged butter, taking the family from no central heating into a house with all mod cons, from proper East End to privileged. We follow Martin's journey from throwing objec…

Our dear friend Tommy Carson sadly passed away in June 2022. He was 99 years old and an absolute force of nature. This is a short podcast where he goes through his eight tips for a good life. All practical suggestions from a man who remained active and living independently right until the end of his life. One thing shines through though, his positi…

Born in 1949, David Franks takes us on a reminiscence journey packed with stories from growing up in Jarrow and Hebburn all the way through to retirement in Glasgow. David's adventures take him from Junior School to Newcastle University, from audit assistant to partner in Price Waterhouse, with many twists, turns and laughs along the way.…

Former manager of Meadowbank Thistle, Stenhousemuir and Alloa Athletic and head teacher of Ainslie Park and Musselburgh Grammar, Terry Christie has packed an awful lot into his 78 years. Moving from Ireland to Edinburgh at a young age, Terry's love for football was born in the streets with a tennis ball and in going to watch Gordon Smith play for h…

In the second part of our conversation about living with dementia, with Otto still listening and making his presence heard, May talks about the loss of communication with Douglas and how she felt they had lost much of the laughter in their lives. As Douglas lost interest in many of the things he had loved doing, the day-to-day routine dominated and…

Douglas Barbour and his wife May lived with Douglas's Alzheimer's Dementia for many years .In this podcast May describes noticing early changes in Douglas's memory and how these changes affected their lives .May's background in nursing as well as volunteering at the local day centre meant she had a bit of experience ,knowledge and some insight into…

Andrew Grant decided at the age of 15 that he would like to join the Merchant Navy He did the deck apprentice course at Leith Nautical College and after applying to several shipping companies got a job with Shell Tankers. His first voyage took him to the Carribean then he was off to the Middle East in fact he saw the whole of the World apart from t…

Robert Hume Patterson is 100 years old and has amazing memories of growing up and working in Portobello. He takes us on a tour of the different streets Bridge St, Tower St, Pipe St to name but a few and we hear what happened to them with with the passing of time. We get to hear about different characters who lived in Portobello including Ned Barnie…

May Hoare was born in Malawi on the 24th May 1935.Her Father had an engineering business in Malawi and May lived with her older sister and parents in a house that had been built especially for them. May takes us a tour of the house and the large garden that were maintained by several servants. Holidays were spent on the Zomba plateau or swimming at…

In this episode we meet Robert Hume Patterson who was brought up in Portobello in the 1920s & 30s.He was the youngest of 4 children and they lived at no 4 Bridge Street with their Mother and Father. We hear how he nearly drowned at the age of 3 only being saved as he was wearing his wee red coat and how he continued to be accident prone He and his …

Margaret Laird who was born in 1948 tells us about growing up in Corstorphine in the 1950s and 60s Her father opened a large Ironmongers on St Johns Road and it was there that he met Margarets Mother. Margaret had two brothers who attended Heriots but she was sent to Mary Erskines where the headmistress Miss Jennings was feared by the pupils and te…

In this episode Tommy Carson takes us out dancing. Its 1935and Tommy who is 13 years old puts on his Dads flannels and heads out to Dalgleish Dance Hall on St Mary's Street Edinburgh. This is the first time he's ever gone to the dancing and he copies how the older dancers move and hold themselves. He loves it and not only that he's good at it. From…

The episode starts at the end of the War and VE day with bonfires and singing in the streets. Then we hear of attempting to camouflage the Power Station difficult when the chimney was 60ft high and barrage floating in the sky over Woods Park. Then James goes back to his life in the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy. Looking after the Commanding Chie…

In this episode James Yorkston Reminisces about his school days at Tower Bank and Portobello High He enjoyed school but wasn't averse to skipping .If caught the punishment varied. It could be lines, kept in after school or being hit with bend and over his teacher Mr Walls 2 rulers. This didn't stop James from admiring Mr Walls and thinking he was a…

In this episode we revisit James Yorkston and his memories of growing up in the Portobello area in the 1940s and 50s Sadly James is no longer with us but what comes across is just how much he enjoyed life when he was here. He makes it all sound like great fun hearing the air sirens and watching the lights from his window as the planes tried to bomb…

Margaret McGuire had an interest in antiques from an early age. She started doing antique fairs at the Assembly rooms George Street with her husband. Working from one table she sold silver, china and jewellery. Whilst doing this she made several contacts with other people in the trade and ended up opening a shop in Causewayside with a colleague who…

John Thomson (a volunteer in the wee Museum of Memory) takes us back in time to when he was 16 years old He was working and with money in his pocket he liked to go out and have fun. His favourite place was the Murrayfield Ice Rink where he went three nights a week. John was a mod and we find out what he wore, where he bought his clothes and where h…

John Thomson was born in 1947 and grew up in the Royston Mains area of Edinburgh He says his childhood was like many others but he had an illegal Bookie for a Grandfather ,a Granny who took him cinder collecting on the railway tracks and Uncles who took him on deliveries on their horse and carts .Once he left Ainslie Park School at the age of 15 hi…

Tommy Carson was brought up in the Grassmarket in the 1920s and he paints a very colourful picture of life at that time. It was a time of great poverty poor housing and living conditions no work or apprenticeships .He had an unemployed Father who spent his time in the pub and a hardworking Mother who had four or five cleaning jobs to keep the famil…

The 23rd edition of The Living Memory Association's 'Lifestory' podcast is a journey through life and football with Chelsea legend Pat Nevin. Pat takes us from growing up in Easterhouse and Barlanark in Glasgow to playing for Clyde whilst still at University, his transfer to the big smoke and quick promotion to the Chelsea first team and his dedica…

Born in Orkney on 30th March 1961 Merv spent his childhood on Sanday, a small outer island. We hear tales of his childhood, schooldays and his many jobs as a boy, including fishing for lobster, crab, white fish and spoots! There's the culture shock of moving to Edinburgh to study as a vet and then running a vet practice in Aberdeenshire for over 30…

Neta Percy(80) and Bill Garden (86) are regular visitors to The Wee Museum of Memory and this chat with them was recorded in 2019. We hear about the Coop at Northfield, the shops at Meadowbank, including the Italian ice cream shop and shopping in Marchmont. We move on to knitting and a hated Fairisle hat that just wouldn't go away. There's tales of…

Frederick talks about his father, Walter Jamieson who spent most of his working life at sea- the Merchant Navy, fisheries protection and on whaling ships with Salvesen. We hear tales of his Leith granny, his own childhood and working life. From training as a cooper to working as a lorry driver. Also the heady days of being a young man in the late 1…

Keith Jeffery grew up in Portobello in the 1960s and 70s. On leaving school he trained as a butcher and worked for MacSweens. In the late 1970s he was bitten by the CB (Citizen Band) radio bug. He saved up for a set and aerial, bought from a CB radio supplier at Fountainbridge. He tells about the technology of the time, the terms used talking with …

The final part of John's memories of playing in pop and rock bands in Edinburgh in the 1960s. This time round its a mammoth five hour gig at The Assembly Rooms in George Street. Playing with The Saracens at The Top Storey club. The joys of hauling all that equipment about. Seeing The Small Faces and The Troggs at McGoo's. There's also Alan Price's …

Part two of John's behind the scenes adventures in Edinburgh's live music scene in the 1960s. We hear about the joys and pitfalls of being on stage and travelling to gigs. Watching fights break out in the audience. More about the venues, The Gamp, The Top Storey and The Gonk. Seeing the up and coming bands of the day such as The Mersey Beats and Jo…

John Robertson was born in in 1945 and taught himself to play the guitar as a boy. He caught the bug for Rock and Roll when on a family holiday in Shetland in 1957- they were playing Little Richard in a local fair ground. Back in Edinburgh, at the age 17, he joined the band, The Saracens, he later went on to join The Moonrakers. Here he talks about…

Another Excursion to the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh in the 1920s and 30s. Once again our guide is Tommy Carson. Tommy was born in 1922 and lived in the Grassmarket until he joined the army in 1939. He retains an amazing recall of his childhood and early years. Here he gives us a more detailed memories of the shops and businesses and pubs around …

Andrew Grant is back in the studio. Previously he has done two episodes of Leith in World War One on our Leith Lives channel This time its a more personal story. One of the great long distance walks in Europe is the Camino De Santiago pilgrimage path. Andrew relates his journey along the route with his wife, from St. Jean-Pied-De-Port to Santiago. …

Part two of memories from Jean Duncan and we take up the story with Jean, aged 14, leaving school to start work in the book binders. A job so boring she starts reading the books. Then its catering college and learning to cook for four people and the realities of working in a school kitchen and frying 3000 spam fritters in a morning. Plenty of laugh…

Jean recalls growing up in the 1950s and 60s in Glasgow. One of a family of nine life was not always easy. We hear about eking out the weekly meals with bread, going for the daily 'messages' and shopping at the Barras and Paddy's market. Playing on the street, in a graveyard but rarely in the back green. Her father singing in a big band and her mot…

The 12th edition of Lifestory sees us joined by impressario and entrepreneur Henry Spurway, a man with a mountain of stories to tell having managed Billy Connolly on his first tour of Scotland as well as working with Chic Murray and Dusty Springfield and being heavily involved in the development of the gambling industry in the UK. Henry takes us fr…

The 11th Edition of The Living Memory Association Lifestory podcast sees us joined by Derek and Iain, who have been best friends for over 65 years. Bonded together by a shared love of Elvis, rugby and laughter, the two pals take us through their early years in Abbeyhill and the South Side of Edinburgh, then on to growing up in Portobello during the…

The 11th edition of 'Lifestory' is centred around the wonderful Jackie Dennis, Scotland's first ever pop star, who rocketed to fame in 1958 at the tender age of 15. Known as 'The Lilt With the Kilt' and 'The Golden Kid', Jackie signed a huge £50000 deal, hitting the charts with 'La Dee Dah' and 'The Purple People Eater' and rubbing shoulders with F…

In the concluding part of our journey through Mickey's life we discuss the end of his time at Luton Town, a return to his beloved Hibees, training with John Collins and Steve Archibald, struggling with debilitating back injuries and the famous League Cup win over Dunfermline in 1991. We cover his time at Millwall, emotional relegation battles at Mo…

In the 9th and 10th editions of Lifestory we are joined by Easter Road hero Mickey Weir, who was part of the triumphant Hibs League Cup winning team of 1991. This first episode takes us through Mickey growing up in Granton, West Pilton and Clermiston and up to his first spell at Hibernian. We hear tales of of meeting up with his Dad and Grandad in …

Tommy Carson was born in 1922 and raised in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh. Tommy is a real force of nature and is still very active in the community. His memory is detailed and his stories vividly recalled. He talks about childhood, school days, playing on the streets around the Grassmarket and Scots- Irish Day. We hear about the businesses in …

James Yorkston was born in November 1934 and was brought up at 19 Mitchell Buildings. Long gone - the site is now occupied by Aldi supermarket. We hear tales of Portobello's magnificent outdoor pool, the town being mobbed during the Glasgow fortnight and renting out the family flat to a Glasgow family during those two weeks for extra money. Police …

Jean Bell was interviewed in 2011 about some of her experiences of being a dresser and 'call boy' in the Kings and Playhouse Theatres in Edinburgh in the 1950s and 1980s. Its a wonderful glimpse of a world most of us know nothing about. From helping Hercules the Bear up the stairs at the Playhouse, dealing with a well endowed female dancer, giving …

The McCaughie family interview granny in 2008. Son John and grand daughters Clare and Shona interview Mary about her up bringing in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh in the 1930s. Its round the kitchen table, tea and biscuits are in evidence! We hear about school days, getting the belt at the age of seven, being chased by Tanker Belly the local Policema…

Maureen Sweeney, nee Noble, was born in Leith in the late 1940s. She talks here of the milk bars and cafe of her youth. Chip shops in Leith. Taking broken biscuits and buckies (winkles) into the pictures. Late night cinemas and catching the bus in Duke Street, Leith to go dancing at Portobello Town Hall. Evocative memories from the 1950s and 60s. I…

Ena Munro was brought in the Fort William area and came to Edinburgh in 1949 aged 18 years to train at Leith Hospital as a nurse. She talks about the hospitals in Edinburgh at the time, a year as a midwife at Elsie Ingles and nursing in the community. She returned to Leith Hospital in the early 1950s to work as a staff nurse on a surgical ward. She…