tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1927099035382448194.post774405498894817663..comments2024-03-12T16:28:39.489+00:00Comments on 6 Oxgangs Avenue 1958-1972 'The Stair' incorporating Oxgangs - A Pastime From Time Past: Proposed Re-Development of St John's Parish ChurchUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1927099035382448194.post-9193426348817457422014-01-14T14:48:02.120+00:002014-01-14T14:48:02.120+00:00Hello again Peter
Unfortunately I didnt make it d...Hello again Peter<br /><br />Unfortunately I didnt make it down to the last service in St Johns, broke down in Perth on the Sunday not the best time to need a tow but nevertheless I am still following the saga of my old church and by all accounts the service was excellent I was glad to read.<br /><br />Selling the land to the highest bidder is the way you would expect Edinburgh Council to behave no consideration for the needs or the wants off the local people,when it comes to making stupid decisions Edinburgh seems to lead the way eg the trams,closing Hunters Tryst, amalgamating schools regretfully the same situation is happening all over even up here.<br /><br /><br /><br />It seems that nothing is sacred anymore I was surprised to note how many of the houses in the street are actually up for sale or allready private, buying your council house has been a boon for a lot of people and I tend to think that once you move from council to self own you lose the sense off community spirit that "we are all in this to-gether" and tend to go for the to hell with the neighbours lets look after No1 eg me! modern society just does not seem to have the same attitudes that we had when you and I were little.<br /><br />My mum would often have a chin wag with the family up stairs who were not just neighbours but very good friends (who I still keep in contact with) we would help each other out whenever possible, coffee mornings were a regular occurance in our stair I vividly remember the smog of fags being chain smoked by mums even in the home passing on news of the latest gossip and to talk about the bairns or anything interesting happening in the stair or scheme if you misbehaved it wasnt long before your parents found out one way or another through the grapevine if one of the neighbours fell ill someone in the stair would pop round and ask if she needed any shopping done or any other help at least that is what it was like in my stair I assume yours was the same hence you are writing all these articles full of happy memories and some not so pleasant, I also would like to turn back time and re-live the good and the bad times, memories never die just fade away.<br /><br />Getting back on track can you remember the rivalry between the Street and the other side of the road eg the Row and the Park and across the main road the Farm Gardens etc when we used to try and pick a football team made up of locals from the areas mentioned I seem to remember the Farm Gardens had a good team because they had one Eric Carruthers who eventually played for Hearts the heads went down when we heard he was playing a good player but he knew it unfortunately. <br /><br />Also the children from that area tended to be older than us more physical and stronger but you yourself were quite fast and nippy, had a habit of avoiding confrontation because they could not catch you, I still say the reason why I have got one leg longer than the other is playing so often on that slope over the years.<br /><br />Another area of exploration was to venture across to the army houses around the NAAFI area where there was a huge expanse of unexplored land at the back of the army houses or so it seemed back in the 60s and we had to try and keep away from the locals (the soldiers kids) or they would give you a doing for tresspassing on their turf I spent many a day creeping about like Commandos in the undergrowth, brilliant days especially in the scorching summer sun during the school holidays, our gang versus theirs and also there was the covenanters tower we used to believe that long dead bodies were buried under the slabbed floor and they would return to haunt you if you were there after dark the imagination of a ten year old knows no bounds does it?.<br /><br />I think I have went on long enough Peter looking forward to your illustrated version of the street, any more memories you can remember?.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1927099035382448194.post-56700533745858745512014-01-14T12:15:53.849+00:002014-01-14T12:15:53.849+00:00not good news housing would have been the best opt...not good news housing would have been the best option,the shopkeepers at the broadway, must be very concerned as to there futures. will also change a very well thought of area in oxgangs,the thoughts of everbody who new st johns including myself will be fondly remembered. Iain Hoffmann.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02089452042805831852noreply@blogger.com