Christmas Eve

When Anne Hoffmann, Iain Hoffmann and I were young, whatever our circumstances - whether our father was in work or not - Santa Claus always did us proud.

Christmas was always the best and most exciting time of the year.

When I say that Santa (aka Mother, Mrs Anne Hoffmann) - sometimes with support from Father (Ken Hoffmann) did us proud I don't mean that we were spoiled or received any expensive presents - no, instead we always got a stocking which was filled full of imaginative small presents which were an absolute delight to wake up to.

Like most kids it was the one evening of the year when we were keen to go to bed early of our own accord.  And of course it was the one morning in the year that we were keen to get up early too!

I'm not too sure how it worked in all the other households in The Stair.

In terms of quality high spend presents Norman Stewart (6/3 Oxgangs Avenue) did better than any of the other children.

One feature which I didn't enjoy at school was that on our return in January the teacher always asked us all individually, in front of the class, what we had received.

I can recall telling a fib saying that I had been given a graphic designer's set - of course I didn't have a scooby what that was but I was determined not to be out-gunned by Norman - he of course was the one pupil in the class who knew perfectly well that I had not received any such thing!

In my memory Christmas Eve was a very quiet evening in The Stair. 

I can recall my father regularly going out to the Christmas Eve Watchnight church service, presumably at Colinton Mains Parish Church, the same church which the Swansons attended - I don't think he went to the remarkable Reverend Jack Orr's St John's Church service.

Colinton Mains Parish Church

St John's Churdh of Scotland, Oxgangs Road North

Rev Jack Orr

The Hanlons (6/7) always seemed to receive some quite nice presents and they might be seen out playing with them, but not until several days after Christmas Day.

Over the years Mother and our next door neighbour Mrs Molly Swanson (6/1) had an arrangement whereby Mum gave Gavin and Heather a wee tin of Woolworths' toffees and we all received something from Molly - as mentioned I once got a book from her, but when it was opened it instead contained seven tubes of sweets inside arranged horizontally inside.

The Hoggs up above (6/4) always received girly pressies and I can recall my sister Anne spending time with Christina, Maureen and Eileen. I'm much vaguer on the Blades (6/6), other than one year when Alison, Ruth and Esther got their Spacehoppers.

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Presumably before Anne was born our grandfather gave Iain and me a bobble Santa each which were full of wrapped toffees - the figure is a delight and has been carefully looked after over the past fifty years - each year we bring the two Santas out. The Swansons got a similar Santa figure, but they had less jolly faces.

I may be wrong but I seem to recall that the Hanlons and the Blades were quite big on such decorations as the linked rings which went from corner to corner across the ceiling.

I used to regret that we were more conservative with individual Woolworths' decorations which were very attractive and aesthetically pleasing. There wasn't such a crowded effect which as a boy I would have liked. I suspect Woolworths did Mrs Anne Hoffmann and many other parents proud over the decades.

On Christmas Eve each of the three of would leave one of our mother's nylon stockings at the foot of our beds.

I was always the first of us to awake.

I would crawl down the bed and reach out to see if Santa had arrived yet and then the excitement of feeling the bulkiness of the mis-shapen stocking full of surprises was the most wonderful sensation in the world It's Christmas! I would bellow out It's Christmas! as I jumped down from the bunk bed to switch on the light and awaken the others.

The stockings were just great - they were filled with torches; little games; Yogi Bear or Huckleberry Hound picture books; perhaps a young person's novel; colouring books and pens; a selection box; some gold coins; an orange and an apple and a half crown; The Broons or Oor Wullie annual in later years.

Photograph courtesy Heather Lawrence

Anne would get some girly stuff - I particularly recall a delightful peach smelling cream; whilst Iain might get a toy car, perhaps a Corgi or some Matchbox cars; on one occasion when quite young I got a leather football and football boots. Iain was very into his cars whilst I was uninterested in cars, although ironically I have had more sports cars over the years than one could throw a stick at, much to my wife's dismay.

When we were very young, in our innocence we'd then rush through to awaken our parents to show them what Santa had brought us.

These Christmas mornings were simple little affairs, but wonderful - our mother ensured that these were magical occasions every year from being very small children and into our teens; happy times and very, very sweet memories, which I've never forgotten.

Much like Sundays, on Christmas Day we saw very little of what went on in The Stair because our grandfather would collect us at mid-morning and take us down to Portobello for the day, not returning till late at night - but for that you'll all have to be patient children and wait until Christmas Day to hear that story!

Entrepreneurs At The Stair No 1 Jumble Sales

There was an distinct divide in The Stair between those children who had part time jobs whilst attending school and those who didn't. Many of The Blades; and The Hoggs; and the The Hoffmanns all had paper runs; or milk runs; or served petrol at the National Garage; or sold potatoes from a van, To my knowledge The Hanlons; The Duffys; The Swansons; and Norman Stewart never had jobs for much of the decade of the 1960s, although now that I think about it I think Boo-Boo Hanlon joined Iain Hoffmann selling potatoes from the Tattie Van on Sundays.

The reasons why they didn't work varied from household to household. Norman Stewart perhaps didn't need the money or have the inclination; The Swansons didn't appear to have the freedom to come out to play when they wanted to, so there was little chance their parents would have countenanced them venturing out to work on dark winter mornings-I suspect Molly and Dougal would have been more cautious too in terms of health & safety as well as ensuring nothing got in the way of Heather or Gavin achieving their academic potential.

The Hanlons were interesting-Hilda and Charlie Hanlon ran a tight ship-a considerable achievement with four energetic boys separated by not much more than a hand-full of years. All the boys behaved well despite playing with all their peers, but were called in at an earlier time than the rest of us-the loss of four players could spoil a good going game of football! Whilst they might complain in a minor way, they would always go home when told.

Out-with receiving their Friday Treat from their father one wouldn't see them spending money on sweets, ice cream or comics-so they're needs seemed to be small. They seemed to be a halfway house between The Swansons and the rest of the children, although none of the boys were academic. Because of having less freedom and autonomy, it would have been surprising if they had been allowed out early in the morning to work.

There is a difference between working and being entrepreneurial. The best example at The Stair was Douglas Blades' milk run business which he developed at Wester Hailes. Two of mine featured a summer holiday chip shop and also promoting jumble sales.

My jumble sales were unlike Norrie Stewart's scatters. First of all there was a small entry fee of a penny to be paid at the gate entrance to the back garden. My primary money spinner was placing a shilling in the centre of a bucket filled with water. Participants had to drop-more usually slide a penny in to the water. If the shilling was covered by the penny, then the shilling was won-a very rare happening-I must have worked out the odds! If the shilling was slightly over-lain by the penny then the customer got their penny back. As well as being a guaranteed money spinner it generated some excitement as a spectacle, which of course was good for business-keep an orderly line now!

Few and Far Between and Ken Hoffmann Being Different No 4!

Family outings, few and far between?

The Duffys at 6/8 certainly did things together, because I would see them all go off to St Marks Church as a family on Sundays. I don't recall The Hanlons doing family outings. With nine members in the family it would have been near impossible for The Blades, but again, if there was a large number of them seen together, it was usually for purposes of church attendance. When there were fewer Blades family members I recall going as a very wee boy when Helen Blades pushed her father in a wheelchair up to the army's polo fields on family walks. With The Hoggs, it would be the four females-I don't recall George out with them very much. Similarly, with The Stewarts it would be more Mrs Stewart and Norman-perhaps that was to do with Mr Stewart's shifts as a policeman? The Swansons were the exception-the one family unit in The Stair who did everything together as a family-if it were out-with the working day, then one always saw them together as a group-whether it was visiting the granny, going to church or in to town. The Hoffmanns were broadly similar to the rest of The Stair, however for intermittent periods of time we all went to my grandparents' house each Sunday-because my father objected to this he often wouldn't come along (ironically and rather sadly this suited us!)-also when he was away at sea he simply wouldn't be there.

The Hoffmanns Family Photograph 1961
(Photograph by another of The Pedlars, Hawkers and Salesmen who visited The Stair) 

These patterns may well have been quite common for many of the families who lived in Oxgangs during the 1960s. The lack of money is arguably a factor. Cars are related to this and are an interesting factor; they very much served as a literal and metaphorical vehicle for bringing families together throughout the UK during the decade, but were few and far between in Oxgangs. Their absence can be seen clearly in some of the photographs which I have shown on the blog. During the 1960s, no family in The Stair had a car.

Sunday and Local Public Holiday Picnics to Fife circa 1968/69
(Photographs Heather Robertson)

Whereas, because my grandfather did have a car, we regularly went out for Sunday runs or picnics to Peebles, West Linton, Fife and East Lothian. Looking back these were lovely times and reflect really well on our grandparents' sense of family.

The one brief exception to car ownership at The Stair during the 1960s was that for a very short period of time-was it a few weeks, we had the use of a black Riley car-I don't think we owned it-it may have been my grandfather's car? I recall there was a problem with the exhaust and Ken Hoffmann had the crazy idea that it could be held on with chewing gum; so he bought packets and packets of gum for the kids to chew on and then tried to affix it to the exhaust! Ken Hoffmann was completely 'handless' when it came to do it yourself! I wait to hear from Mrs Anne Hoffmann (Duncan), but was this the same car which went up in flames?

When my grandparents went to Dublin on holiday Ken Hoffmann had the use of their car. Unfortunately it wasn't insured for fire. Even more unfortunately it went up in flames outside The Stair and was a complete write off!

Does anyone know if chewing gum is combustible?!

ps More on family outings in a future blog.

6/1 The Swansons

Iain Hoffmann; Peter Hoffmann; Norman Stewart; Gavin Swanson (Back garden, 6/2, circa 1961)

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The Swansons, 6/1

The Swansons were a very pleasant family who lived opposite us (The Hoffmanns) on the ground floor. The family consisted of Dougal, Molly and their two children, Gavin and Heather. I liked them very much indeed, although Dougal was a bete noire to us children and we couldn't resist teasing him or annoying him with games of knock door run. Dougal was a very fine looking man. He was immaculately presented, always wearing a tie, even for gardening. He lived a very orderly and disciplined life. H breakfasted on eggs and bacon each morning-home at lunchtimes-and he had the best garden in the local area. He seemed to look down on us, literally and metaphorically. I think he worked for many years at a branch of the high class grocer’s, Coopers, at Comiston Road, Morningside. When it eventually closed he worked at Brown Brothers Engineering, possibly as a stock-keeper. He was an intelligent man who worked in positions below his ability.

My abiding memory of Molly is a more recent one from the late 1980s. Each day I travelled to work across the Braid Hills to Midlothian. I recall seeing Molly going to work at the Royal Bank of Scotland at Liberton Brae. She looked so happy and she was such a handsome woman.

Along with The Hoggs at 6/4, The Swansons were perhaps the most stable family unit at The Stair. Dougal and Molly Swanson took the raising of their children more seriously than any other of the eight families. This could be seen in the way that Gavin and Heather were raised in a positive culture of safety, stimulation, guidance, boundaries and education and also the way they were presented socially-they were always very neat, tidy and clean. 

Colinton Mains Parish Church (Peter Hoffmann 31/08/2012)

Each Sunday they attended the rather lovely local Church of Scotland, Colinton Mains Parish Church. I don't think they were big on religion at all, but it was another aspect of the socialisation process at work and it distanced them slightly from the rest of us, as no-one else attended that church, apart from my father intermittently. 

Whilst the rest of the children at The Stair eagerly consumed our comics, Gavin used to get the Look and Learn magazine although Heather got either Robin or the Bimbo.

Socially, they didn't really integrate much with the other families. It wasn't that they were disliked because in many ways they were immaculate neighbours. Gavin wasn't allowed to run free the way the rest of the boys were. Only on very rare occasions did he come out to play. In the photograph of him with Norman Stewart (6/3), my brother Iain and me which was taken in our back garden. In he’s certainly the best looking of the four boys. 

One rare summer I recall him being allowed out to play. He joined me sitting on the back of my guider (bogie) while I steered it down the hill of the road opposite, Oxgangs Place. It was good fun and as there were few cars back then, not too dangerous. However, when Molly got wind of this, it was immediately stopped and Gavin was back inside for the rest of the summer. I seemed to be the only boy he was allowed to play with, but as I had a poor reputation that didn't continue for long.

Alison Blades; Heather Swanson; Eilleen Hogg

Ruth Blades; and Anne Hoffmann

Heather meanwhile seemed to be allowed slightly more freedom and she mixed a little with my sister, Anne and one or two others; she struck me as being slightly more rebellious than Gavin. Also, she attended the local secondary school, Firhill, whilst Gavin, like me and several of the Blades attended Boroughmuir Secondary School.

The summer holidays would have been the obvious time to have mixed with other children, but I think their granny, who lived at Colinton Mains, often looked after them. This was slightly restrictive, however, we might play with them briefly in the early morning before they left to go and join her. They were close to their granny and this seemed to be the dominant social relations which they enjoyed as a family, apart from a weekly visit from a most lovely lady called Nettie, who lived in posh Morningside. She was a gem and suffered a great tragedy when her only child, Pamela died in her early teens. I recall Pam playing with us occasionally. Nettie may still be alive and if so, will be a very old and noble lady. I once thought I saw her standing waiting for a bus at Morningside and regret that I didn't introduce myself.

The Swansons were possibly closer to us than the other families at The Stair. My mother, Anne was close to Molly, who was very supportive when we had the ups and downs caused by my father. They exchanged Christmas presents each year-my mother always gave Gavin and Heather a tin of Woolworths’ toffees. We got some imaginative presents from Molly. I once recall taking what I thought was a book from my Christmas stocking, but when I opened it up there were six or seven tubes of fruit sweets arranged horizontally inside. Molly always checked on my sister Anne, brother Iain and me if my mother was out dancing at The Plaza, Morningside on a Friday evening.

I know that my mother Anne and her second husband, John Duncan attended Heather's wedding. Heather became a nurse and went to live in Florida, America. Gavin studied at Edinburgh University and then at either Cambridge or Oxford University-I believe he’s now an editor at the Cambridge Press. Along with his own very hard work Dr Gavin Swanson's successes are partly due to his mum and dad's approach to parenting and they must have been very proud of him. 

Postscript: I came across this article last year about Gavin-I hope he's keeping well. 

Medical student saves rower's life after heart attack

Jennie Baker

A medical student has told how he raced to save the life of a rower who had suffered a heart attack.

Dr Gavin Swanson, a Cantabrigian rower, suffered a cardiac arrest at Baits Bite Lock during a major rowing competition on the River Cam.

Several rowers helped him before emergency services arrived – including a graduate medical student who is also a rowing coach.

The January 22 incident has led to a review of rowing safety by authorities.

Dr Swanson, 53, who was discharged from Addenbrooke’s earlier this month, said: “I’m completely lucky and fortunate that there were people around to do that.”

Dominic Silk, 37, a graduate medical student and rowing coach, ran to Dr Swanson and gave him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), helped by others, until the ambulance arrived to resuscitate him.

Mr Silk said: “I’m very lucky I have been trained to do it, I have done it lots of times on a dummy.”

He added: “I think everyone could do it.

“I think everyone should do it, frankly, I think it’s a no-brainer. It’s a great skill to have.”

The Residents

Original number plate at 6 Oxgangs Avenue Edinburgh EH13 (Peter Hoffmann)

Even though during the years between 1958 and 1972 one or two families moved out and others moved in the occupancy of the building remained remarkably stable. For the purposes of this blog my main memory of the families at 6 Oxgangs Avenue are as follows; 6/1 The Swanson family; 6/2 The Hoffmann family; (my family); 6/3 The Stewart family; 6/4 The Hogg family; 6/5 Mr and Mrs Smith; 6/6 The Blades family; 6/7 The Hanlon family; 6/8 The Duffy family I can recall nothing much more than the names of predecessors –perhaps The Darling’s at 6/3 and The McKendricks an then the Rennie’s at 6/8?