Ten Photographs From The Mists Of Time At The Stair

As the blog begins to come to an end, ten photographs from the mists of time.

Iain and Peter Hoffmann

Iain Hoffmann and Ali Douglas-The two nicest boys at The Stairs and best friends for many years

Same as above-just couldn't work out the right way around!

Eilleen Hogg; Alison Blades; Ruth Blades at front-I was always pleased with this photie-I thought it artistic-Alison clearly humouring me! 

Iain Hoffmann with Candy 

Maureen Hogg with Simon-brilliant to find a photie of Maureen at this late stage of the blog!

Les Ramage

Colin and Alan Hanlon

Alison Blades; Heather Swanson; Eilleen Hogg; Ruth Blades and Anne Hoffmann at front-again, great to find a photie of Heather!

Peter Hoffmann and Ali Douglas

Good Time?

Good time?

In the summer of 1971 that was a question often on the lips of the younger residents of The Stair, as well as kids from numbers 2,4 and 8 Oxgangs Avenue and also for others from Oxgangs Street. 

In June, 1971, Paul Forbes, Iain Hoffmann and I visited a pawnbroker in the Grassmarket with the express purpose of buying a stopwatch. It cost me a fiver (£5). I had decided that my latest wheeze for the summer would be to organise athletics over the school holidays. Little did I know that it would attract over thirty kids as active participants. Today the relatively useless Active Schools Coordinators scheme pay officers £30k a year for doing less work with less success! Supplementing the stopwatch, was a measuring tape that I had managed to borrow from Bill Walker at Meadowbank Sports Centre and a little notebook and pen.

Paul Forbes and Peter Hoffmann at Meadowbank Sports Centre asking Bill  Walker for a wee loan of the measuring tape!

Within the notebook there was a section for each participant recording their best times and their best jumps. As Ruth Blades (Kaye) mentioned in a previous comment the events consisted of: Fence (Hoffmann garden) to Lampost (outside No 8 Oxgangs Avenue)-a pure short sprint: Bus Stop (outside No 2 Oxgangs Avenue) to Lampost (outside No 8 Oxgangs Avenue)-the classic sprint distance; Once Round The Two Blocks-a lap (or loop) of Nos 6 and 8 Oxgangs Avenue-three short bursts and two longer bursts with four left (right angles) turns; and finally the classic distance of Once Round The Four Blocks-The Stair's equivalent of one lap of an athletics track. We were quite happy to accommodate other requests too e.g. twice or three times Round The Four Blocks.

Some of the Oxgangs Mini Olympics competitors.
Esther Blades; Iain Hoffmann; Ali Douglas; Ruth Blades
Alison Blades; Boo-Boo Hanlon; and Eileen Hogg

Paul Forbes; Peter Hoffmann; and Iain Hoffmann 'jumping for joy!'

We also used to put on long jump and triple jump competitions too, which were held across from The Stair on the other side of Oxgangs Avenue on a grass strip beside the bus stop. These events could easily last for over an hour and more; they must have been quite entertaining for those queuing for a bus!

Triple Jump Venue Oxgangs Avenue

To help make everyone feel involved a relatively short distance would be marked out. I knew everyone could make the distance-even those as young as say Esther Blades. Each participant would have three attempts at each set distance to be able to advance to the next round and distance. The distances would be incrementally increased, but only gradually-this meant that everyone was involved for a good length of time, because each person had to complete the challenge. For those who were younger it would take a big effort to progress; if you were older or quite athletic one might show off or fool around in the early rounds and it served as a good warm-up.

As the distance became more challenging everyone was very supportive encouraging their pals to make a big effort to try to reach the distance and progress to the next round-if a younger child made it, a big cheer went up-if one didn't make the mark, there was commiseration that you'd make it next time!

Willie Taylor; Derek Ramage; Mark Robertson; John Duffy; and Stephen Westbrook

Because everyone was so involved from the start, even once you were eliminated, everyone tended to stay on to see how the event progressed; to see who would eventually jump the furthest; and how far each person actually leaped. Also if you were knocked out you might become a judge or set the marker distances. And, although it was a competition, ultimately everyone, both won and lost-this was because you would usually get a personal best, but eventually we all failed at some stage to reach the marker.

Similarly, by running and timing each of the set distances, these were mainly done individually, so one was competing against one's self trying to improve one's personal best; if you were competitive, you could compare your times against your peers.

I kept the notebook for decades-I think it was stored in my grandmother's attic, until she died, when it became lost. It may still be amongst my own papers, but I don't think so. I was always tempted to take Will and Tom out to Oxgangs Avenue to see how they might compare to our generation's times. They would certainly have been game.

Will Leading Tom, National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
(Peter Hoffmann, 2009)

Until relatively recently when we visited the National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, I always had to time them on a lap of  the Charles Jencks Garden. Will started to outpace 'the old man' two years ago (but only up to 200 metres!)-it's taken Tom (16) until this year-I think!

Will (1st) (Second right, black T shirt) age 16 finally beats  The Old Man (3rd)
Final Open 100 Yards Strathconon Highland Games 2010

Invasion Of the Creatures From Outer Space

Some neighbours thought that perhaps Dr Who wasn't fictional drama after all.

These neighbours who I speak of were accustomed to seeing people from Planet Earth riding horses as they had done for centuries. However, in the year of Our Lord, 1969, The Stair came under attack from very strange creatures from Outer-Space. Young girls resembling Eilleen Hogg, Anne Hoffmann and others were seen riding fat, distended, ghastly orange creatures. A further oddity was this was done bare-back, with the riders holding on to the creatures' horned ears. Fortunately these creatures did not adapt too well to Earth-at Oxgangs this proved to be a very inefficient form of transport-after several bounces the invaders seemed to run out of steam and needed to take breathers. These creatures went under the name of Space-Hoppers.

Eilleen Hogg circa 1969/1970 (Photograph , Peter Hoffmann)

A happy Anne Hoffmann just after dismounting from a Space-Hopper! circa 1969/1970 (Photograph, Peter Hoffmann)

After a while the creatures just seemed to fade away-to run out of gas, so to speak. No one knows what happened to them; and what about the Space-Hoppers?-before you breathe a sigh of relief, beware Earthlings and other followers of The Stair-the Space-Hoppers may not all be extinct-indeed, it is rumoured many still exist and are hiding away in peoples' attics or sheds.

Bonus Post for Ruth Blades (Kaye)-As if by magic?

Ruth-as if by magic I've conjured up a photograph from the past of the famous shed jump which you referred to-this time it's being completed by Iain Hoffmann.

Iain Hoffmann jumping from the shed roof (Photo by Peter Hoffmann)

As a bonus I've included a group photie especially for you-you've not changed!

Back Row: Esther Blades; Iain Hoffmann; Ali Douglas (holding the Blades' cat, Candy); Ruth Blades;
Front Row: Alison Blades; Boo-Boo Hanlon; and Eilleen Hogg (Photo by Peter Hoffmann)

6/4 The Hoggs

The Hoggs lived at 6/4-above us (The Hoffmanns) and below The Blades. They were a lovely family. The father, George, was a joiner - he was a very quiet man. His wife was the home-maker and seemed to be the more dominant figure.There were three daughters - Christina, Maureen and Eileen. Christine and Maureen were quite close in age, a few years older than me, whilst Eileen was a lot younger-there must have been at least a seven year gap. They took after George in that they had red hair, but none of the traits often associated with red hair!

One couldn't but help like the girls. Christina and Maureen shared a bedroom which was above ours-sometimes we had fun tapping out signals on the ceiling above. Christina was a very likeable, pleasant and sensible person-she seemed quite tall in appearance at that time; Maureen was closer in age to me. I always thought of her as being quite handsome, quite fashionable and good fun-she reminded me a lot of Fiona and Liz Blades at 6/6. I remember the cool way she used to wear her Firhill School tie low down on her blouse, in a large knot.

Maureen Hogg

Eileen was very thin and white-initially she may have appeared plain, but was actually quite beautiful-as she got older with her red hair set against white skin and being very slim, she looked like an artist.

Eilleen Hogg

Sindy

Probably because of the age gap, they were quite motherly toward Eileen and looked after her.The girls were fond of my sister Anne and had a lot of fun dressing up both Eileen and Anne in exotic outfits-it was as if instead of Barbie or Sindy dolls, even better, they had live dolls of their own  to dress and play with. My sister has very fond memories of these times.

Barbie

Along with the Blades we used to all work together at Bairds Newsagents at Morningside Drive. Whilst Douglas Blades used to cycle down earlier to open the shop, we all got the six o'clock  number 16 bus. Liz, Fiona and in later years, Gail Blades, the girls would come rushing down the stairs from level 2, to be joined by Christina and Maureen Hogg from level 1, to thereafter be met by me on the ground floor to cross Oxgangs Avenue to get the bus. It was good fun and made the early rises much easier. I enjoyed being the only boy in the company of four or five girls and felt part of a pretty cool gang!.There was good crack on the bus with the early morning school cleaners who were setting out to work too; they were a sparky, humorous bunch.

                                 

The Hoggs had cousins-two boys who were at Oxgangs Primary School who were renowned footballers and good runners. I recall them being at the Hoggs one Monday public holiday and hearing The Beatles track Yellow Submarine being played in the background. It's a very haunting track which immediately takes me back in time.

As mentioned, I think George Hogg was part of a cooperative of tradesmen who all built their own houses at Oxgangs Green; when they moved, it was a sad loss for The Stair, but they will have loved moving to their own house with upstairs and downstairs.