The Birth of The Stair and A Christmas Carol

Birth: 'the coming into existence of something'.

In the bleak mid-winter, Dickens' Christmas stories give the reader images of hope and light; warmth and joy; as well as transformation and resurrection. However, the light is tempered by the darkness and cold too which makes it even more life enhancing. 

The hope comes from spring, surely following winter and the renewal of life as Scrooge is restored to the good values of his boyhood and youth. 

Six decades ago in the deep mid-winter of 1958, the Hanlon family moved into the newly built Edinburgh Corporation flats at 6 Oxgangs Avenue to take up residence at ‘The Stair’; Charlie and Hilda were full of hope at the beginning of the exciting adventure ahead and novelty of bringing up their family in a new home.

Like the other young families at ‘The Stair’ they had their dreams and aspirations of the good life and raising their children as well as they could, with all the fun, joys and worries inherent.

At this time, only Michael, the eldest brother had been born; he would only have been around one year old; Brian, Colin and Alan would come along in the following years.

When the family took up their tenancy at 6/7, like the other seven families in residence at ‘The Stair’, they were issued with a rent book. It records their rent as being eighteen shillings a week.

Most remarkably, Hilda, the last remaining original member at ‘The Stair’, still has the family's first rent book. It records their date of entry as 15^th December, 1958.

In a way the document records the birth of ‘The Stair’, when one of the original inhabitants first took up residence there and is perhaps a unique document of its type. 

 

Brian speaks humorously about the family's first experience. Hilda recalled the Hoffmann family had already moved in downstairs to 6/2 slightly earlier. The coal-man was delivering coal to our family - Ken and Anne Hoffmann, the author (Peter aged two) and my brother, Iain (aged only a month).

Hilda wanted to buy some coal in too, to heat their new home. However, the coal merchant turned down her request as she lived on the top floor and he mustn't have fancied walking up another three flights of stairs. Given it was mid-winter and Michael, the eldest brother was still only a baby, the stone-hearted coal-man clearly wasn't full of the Christmas spirit.

He reminds me of Ebenezer Scrooge to Bob Cratchit, that '...there will be no coal burned in this office today...'  

Hilda must have found a way forward, not only to heat their new top flat home with its fantastic views to the hills and the sea, as well as the prominent Edinburgh Castle, as she and Charlie went on to successfully raise their four boys in a happy household, throughout the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. 

'Edinburgh in Snow' William Crozier

Spring and indeed summer followed winter. 

The Sunday Post #5 One Mid-Summer Morn

Pentland Hills and T Plantation circa 1914 (Photographer Unknown

Edinburgh Libraries, Museums and Galleries Collection)

This wonderful old photograph from a century ago shows three schoolgirls walking down Swanston Road through the farmland and fields. 

There is no sign of Swanston Farm or Swanston Golf Club. 

The Old Schoolhouse in Swanston Village was in existence, so perhaps the girls are heading off to school in the morning. 

The Pentland Hills and the T Woods can be seen clearly in the distance. 

The scree slopes of the hills were no different fifty years later come the 1960s when the Blades; the Hoggs; and the Hoffmanns stood at their living room windows looking out for the number 16 bus coming down Oxgangs Road North.

There are hay stacks in one of the distant fields and one of the girls is only wearing a blouse, so we might surmise it is late summer. 

They are all dressed smartly in their straw hats; skirts; and dresses and each of them is carrying a metal case perhaps containing their school-books and lunches. 

On a fine summer morn or in early autumn the walk would be refreshing and enjoyable. However, on a bitter winter's morning, in the semi-darkness or in the cold of a March morning with a biting wind it would have been a very different story. But, at least they walked together which would have eased their passage and no doubt they will have enjoyed each other's company. Still, it's a long exposed country lane and one which we at The Stair often travelled along on our adventures to the Pentland Hills half a century later and half a century ago.

I wonder where the girls are coming from as back then, there wouldn't have been many houses in Fairmilehead. 

Perhaps they were sisters and lived at the old Hunters Tryst Farm. 

It's certainly a very lovely photograph capturing a moment in time. 

I also wonder who the photographer was. Was it set up or just serendipity? Perhaps their mum and dad wanted to capture that special moment in time to treasure and hold dear in their hearts, before the girls grew up, left home and moved on to follow life's journey. 

They are all smartly dressed and don't look poor. Their outfits - straw hats, skirts and dresses remind me very much of the two girls in The Railway Children. They all look quite lady-like - composed and serene, but not prim. If there had been a companion photograph taken at the end of the school day, it might have been quite different. We would of course see their faces and perhaps being the end of the school day and free from their lessons, we might have seen them un-lady-like taking to their heels, racing downhill from Swanston Village to head homewards for their tea and back to the welcome bosom of the family home.

Because we can't see the girls’ faces it adds to the elusiveness of the subject material. It forces the viewer to use their imagination.

You can't but help wonder what happened to each girl. The First World War was a matter of months away. Did they go on to become wives and mothers or follow a career in nursing or teaching? Did they remain in Edinburgh or move on to other towns or even make a life for themselves abroad?

In a way, the photograph reminds me of the cover of the novel Three German Farmers On The Way To A Dance by Richard Powers which was based on an old photograph. 

It seems to me that in the hands of a fine novelist such as Joan Lingard a rather good story might be weaved.

Postscript: In late 2017 I came across an update that revealed the premise on which I based the vignette was false - if you look closely the girls are actually carrying milk carriers!  Still, much of my musings on what happened to the girls remains true so I thought I would leave the vignette as it stands!

VignetteTaken From Edinburgh Photos Website Courtesy Peter Stubbs-Motivated By Series On Edinburgh Prefabs

Peter Hoffmann

Highlands, Scotland


Thank you to Douglas Blades for allowing me to reproduce the photo below, and also to Peter Hoffmann who wrote:


1960s

Grandfather's Car

"During the 1960s, the Hoffmanns had a general Sunday pattern for many years which revolved around being collected at 'The Stair' by our grandfather any time after 11am to be taken down to Portobello for the day.

We didn't have a telephone and of course mobiles weren't even dreamed of back then. Anne, Iain and I used to stand at our parents' front bedroom window to look out for our grandfather's car (Ford Zephyr Mk6) coming down the hill at Greenbank.

It's uncanny to think we could see that far from the far end of Oxgangs Avenue, but this was when the prefabs were still there and before the new blocks of flats were built which replaced them. We couldn't be entirely certain that it was his car, but there were relatively few cars on the road back then on a Sunday.

A cry would go up: 'That's Gaga!' - and we'd all rush to get ready. Sometimes of course it wasn't and we'd go back to our waiting stations."

Oxgangs Avenue

Photo taken from the balcony of 6/6 Oxgangs Avenue

Prefabs in the foreground, Oxgangs development in the background.



© Douglas Blades (one of 41 members of Peter Hoffmann's 'Stair 6, Oxgangs' blog site.
Thank you, also, to Peter Hoffmann for sending a copy of this photo to me.

Let It Be Robbs' Electrical and Radio Shop, Morningside

One particular shop that a few of us from The Stair used to frequent back in the 1960's was Robbs' Electrical and Radio Shop at Morningside Road. Douglas Blades could write a better and more knowledgeable article on Robbs than me - it was here that he used to buy his large collection of American records and have cognoscenti discussions with the staff - he was far in advance of most of us, albeit older.

The main reason for my visits was to buy a Top Twenty record single, but occasionally it was to buy an item which was quite new to me - it was called a stylus. When I think how switched on kids are today re: computers, iPhones, et al I have to smile at my innocence.

Our first record player at 6/2 Oxgangs Avenue was a portable record player that when it was packed away looked like a small suitcase. It was daft really, because in most households it was set up permanently, however if you chose to close it down after play, particularly if there was little space in your bedroom, it was useful and compact. I guess the concept behind it was that you could take it with you to visit friends to play records together.

I got my first one from The Club. It was a very happy day when it arrived - at that moment 20 weeks of payments weren't a concern; and after all I had my paper money from Baird's Newsagent's  for delivering morning papers as well as The Edinburgh Evening News in the afternoons.

My first introduction to the intricacies of the stylus was when something went wrong - the record wasn't playing properly. 

'Have you tried out the stylus, Peter?' 

'The what?'

'The stylus - the needle - you'll find it located under the arm - it comes out! You'll get one at Robbs - Neep!'

I seem to recall the styluses came in different sizes and brands, because I had to return the first one I bought - initially it was a little tricky to fit, but once I had done it I felt quite proud of myself - like a proper technician - a real man!

The first record that I bought was in 1967 was Scott Mackenzie's San Francisco'. It remains a haunting track taking people back in time. Another record I bought was Peter Sarstedt's  Frozen Orange Juice which I remember playing relentlessly on a jukebox in a cafe in Grantown-on-Spey on a holiday with my grandparents.

During the late spring of 1969 we'd been visiting my father who had hospitalised himself for another six week spell at the Andrew Duncan Clinic to try to get himself back on the wagon after he'd been on a bender. Visiting him was difficult, but we were supportive, particularly my mother. 

Those daily visits were made easier by playing table tennis in the hospital's games room - it was great fun to do something as a family - it was something which we could all join in and participate as a family - good competition and several laughs - but wasn't it incredibly ironic that it took such a visitation to such a place to facilitate such a rare happening!

Will and Tom

Will on the ropes! from Paw!

I've never thought about that irony until typing this blog. Over a decade ago I bought a table tennis table and we all play out in the garden from the spring through to the autumn - even the non-sporty Alison and 'Unc' Iain Hoffmann on his regular visitations! It's given much fun over the years and the occasional argument! 

On reflection was there something in my subconscious - was the decision less about free will?

After Mother, Anne Hoffmann Jr and Iain Hoffmann and I visited the hospital we used to stand outside Robbs' Electrical Shop awaiting the dear old Number 16 Bus to take us home. 

I'd enjoy looking in Robbs' window at all their goods. 

And it was on the way down for such a hospital visitation that I had nipped in to Robbs' to buy Get Back by The Beatles. Their record label featuring a large apple was good enough to eat - the novel design captured my imagination.

Let It Be by The Beatles must have been on the go around this time too. 

Leaving the hospital was always bitter-sweet. 

As a boy a part of me was glad to get away from the hospital and the people in there and also from my father, but I also felt very guilty too and a sorrowfulness descended as we strolled along Miller Crescent, turning to wave to my father as he receded into the background.

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

A Catalogue of Catalogues!

Did each household at The Stair assume there was only one catalogue-the one which their family used?

We used the Chorlton Catalogue but I can find little trace that it ever existed-it seems to have mysteriously disappeared from history. With the new found prosperity of the late 1960s many families in the lower social classes such as ourselves at Oxgangs began to spend occasional money on some luxury goods in addition to necessities and practical items.

Mrs Anne Hoffmann ran her Chorlton Catalogue very well and efficiently-she had to given the up and down nature of life at 6/2 Oxgangs Avenue-one week my father was in work, the following week he was out of work and then two weeks later he was back in employment.

We tended not to call it the catalogue and instead it was rather affectionately known as The Club. This may have been because not only did she order items for our immediate family-Anne, Iain, herself and me, but also for the likes of my Aunt Heather and my Grandfather. I assume it was a pet name she gave it-it could of course have been code so that my grandmother didn't know that orders were being placed-I think she must have disapproved! Occasionally there would be whispers of I'll speak to you later, Anne from Heather-I assume that would be if she were ordering a camera or some such thing-she was a bit of a technophobe or fiend-she was always interested in the latest development whether it was a tape recorder or electric knitting machine!

The concept of the catalogue was a simple one-I suppose credit was extended so that one could purchase an item up front with a view to paying the money back over a period of twenty weeks. I assume the prices were slightly inflated. For the more expensive items one could pay over thirty eight weeks and the overall price would no doubt have been even higher. Mrs Anne Hoffmann reminded me recently that on one occasion my grandfather got new tyres for his car-more often it would be his winter long-john's-sorry, too much information!

Mrs Anne Hoffmann was as good as she possibly could for be for us children, because a lot of the time we were impoverished; and of course the arrival of the new catalogue-either the Autumn/Winter or the Spring/Summer was a big event in the household-oh how we sat and feasted our eyes over the toys, sports goods and cycles before turning to the fashion section. When she at last used her Edinburgh University education and got a job with the Civil Service when we were a little older, then we got some greatly valued items-mainly as birthday or Christmas presents, but sometimes out-with after pestering her to death!

Iain Hoffmann got a rather wonderful Johnny Seven Gun as a birthday present and also the James Bond Aston Martin with the ejector seat from the Goldfinger film. He also got a nice slot car racing game-it wasn't Scalectrix but it was good quality and great fun to play.

Iain and I got the famous Wayfinder shoes-they had a secret compass hidden in one of the heels inside the shoe and animal tracks on the soles-I wasn't sure how many of these animals roamed Oxgangs, not to mention it being a pain to keep taking one's shoe off!

In 1971 when I began to go along to the Edinburgh Athletic Club Mrs Anne Hoffmann pushed the boat out and I got a good tracksuit and a particularly stylish pair of training shoes-they were similar to Adidas with three stripes, two of which were blue and one red. It was a happy day and life changing event when the parcel arrived! Indeed, whenever we awaited an order, the first thing we asked when we got in the front door from school was Has it arrived yet? Disappointment, followed disappointment, and then exhilaration on the magical day when we came home to discover a big and bulky brown parcel!

As I said in the introduction, for some daft reason, I assumed there was only one catalogue-Chorlton's so I was amazed as I got a wee bit older to discover when visiting friends' homes that there was a catalogue of  catalogues out there! What other catalogues were used during the 1960s in The Stair? It would be good to hear from any of The Hanlons; The Duffys; The Blades; The Hoggs; The Swansons-indeed any readers of the blog!

Charles; Ken; and Magwitch!

A bit like my extended response to David Lines, I realised once again, that this was going to be far too long a response for a comment-so here goes, a blog instead!

Hi Liz-nice to hear from you once again-it is a rather lovely, if poignant thought about Helen-she would have been perfectly suited to Oz, not only because of the sun, but because she was such a hard worker and such an engaging and outgoing personality-she would have positively thrived there!

It was at Helen's funeral that many of us last met up. I note from my diary of Tuesday, 24 October, 1978... We all went to Helen Blades' funeral service at Charlotte Chapel and after the burial we went to Liz's house for a tea. Very sad circumstances, but it was lovely to see Douglas and all the girls again, reminding me of many happy old times...

Helen Blades cleaning The Stair-An appropriate photo given she rarely stopped working-but still smiling!
(Photograph by Douglas Blades)

I met Douglas for an hour earlier this evening (he looks very well you will be glad to hear!) and although we were flitting around a vast number of topics (goodness knows what the waitress thought, especially my Robert Bond, (2/8) story!), his and my  memories of Charles and Ken coincide. It is very sad for all involved because both the fathers and children were losers, not to mention the wives too.

Anne Hoffmann is a fount of stories and was very friendly and terribly fond of Helen; you're right, I think she and Helen were a mutual support group. Whilst, she had an ambivalent relationship with Charles, partly because he wasn't pleased when Anne had to intervene and support Helen on one difficult occasion, she did like Charles. They used to sit beside each other on the number 4 bus in the morning travelling to work.

I had forgotten about Lady Blades' car, but I now have a vague memory of it-what an extraordinary juxtaposition! I wonder if I offered to look after it for a couple of bob to prevent the wheels being removed! There would certainly have been no trouble parking it as cars were as scarce as hens' teeth!

When Ken was drinking it really was a nightmare-quite frightening for a child-there are endless tales! Unfortunately, he seemed to take against me and I often took the brunt of it-I've still got the mental scars if not the physical ones!

Ironically, whilst his behaviour was understandable when he was on the bottle, what is less understandable is how he behaved when he was sober. For much of the time, his was a brooding, grumpy, disputatious and menacing presence. He took no pleasure or interest in having two sons, but did have a warmer relationship with my sister Anne. That said, I loved to sit and listen to him and my mother, Anne Hoffmann, converse over our Sunday breakfast of tea and rolls-their conversation was of a really high quality punctuated with many laughs!

He did battle his alcoholism hard by attending AA at The Rooms at Cockburn Street for years and years. I have occasionally tried to understand Ken through vividly re-imagining  his upbringing (a phenomenological approach?)  at 14 Dean Park Street, Stockbridge in the late 1920s and 1930s and with the type of parents that he had.

That gives me certain clues, in that he was certainly a child of his times; but whilst it partly explains who he was, ultimately, if you are an intelligent and reflective individual, it is probably not enough of an excuse. As a husband and father he failed to get to grips to try to overcome particular personality traits and weaknesses. And, whilst Dr Spock manuals on rearing children weren't exactly dotted around, I don't think he ever gave his demeanour and behaviour much thought-for example I don't recall receiving any real praise from him-it was the stick rather than the carrot!

A Rare Outing to Edinburgh Zoo
Iain; Ken; Anne; and Peter Hoffmann (circa 1964)

I'm sorry that your memories are not better. I/we at least had the consolation of getting on better with Ken in later years after my parents had divorced on my 15th birthday in 1971! I would often bump into him on early autumn afternoons at Boroughmuir rugby matches at Meggetland and later on when I stayed at Colinton Village in the late 1980s/1990s he used to sneak round to join the whole extended family for Chinese Carry Outs/Trivial Pursuits evenings which were very happy occasions-by then he was able to enjoy and appreciate us all-even my grandmother! By then I think he probably had many regrets on how life might have been.

Although I bore the brunt of his wrath I have only ever felt warmly toward him after he left home. I intend to do some future blogs on the topic of foreign letters-(it was you and Fifi! who introduced me to a New York pen pal!)-I am lucky to have a dozen or so letters from Ken from  throughout the world from 1971 to around 1980-I have not looked at them for years but when I did a decade ago I was completely, but pleasantly surprised to see he did actually care for me, and in his way tried looking after me from afar, Magwitch style, with some well meaning advice.

And, because he was so keen on sport I think it came as a pleasant surprise to him that I had done something-there is a 1976 telegram addressed to the Olympic Village, Montreal-he heard of my selection on the BBC World Service whilst on board a ship off the coast of South Africa; also, I was incredibly surprised to see he had watched an 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games semi-final whilst in a pub in Oz!

A last and very late memory of him from just before he died over twenty years ago-we were down at Meggetland-Iain and me, plus his son Roddy (from his second marriage)-he was treating the three of us to a Boroughmuir Rugby jersey-we had to hang around for quarter of an hour before they handed them out to us-despite his poor health the four of us passed the time by throwing and passing a rugby ball to one another-it was great fun with much laughter and leg pulling-extraordinarily it was something we had never done as children-I think he knew in that moment what he had missed-for me it's an abiding memory and drew a veil over much that had gone before.

Apart from his Boroughmuir tie, the jersey is all I inherited from him-it's worn so well that my son, Will wears it today. Whilst it may be a perverse observation I sometimes reflect on the fantastic legacy which he left me, for when I had two sons of my own, I knew exactly how I wanted to bring them up and how I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible before they would come to fly the nest!

ps Check out a rather lovely track, My Old Man by Steve Goodman!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW7xR7WkyTU&feature=share&list=PLDB7718CBFA7443FF

Comment From Liz Blades: Peter, thank you for your extended comments. I was amazed to read that you all came back to my house after mummy's funeral. At first I didn't even recall that I did that, and I'm sorry that I do not remember you being there. The mind does strange things when you are under stress. 
I'm afraid mummy hated that photo of her cleaning the stair. She was embarrassed to be photographed in those particular circumstances. She would be appalled to know that it is now on the world wide web for all and sundry to view! But you can see that grin on her face all the same :)
Love the photo of you and Douglas and glad to hear it was a happy reunion.
It occurred to me that Charles and Ken grew up almost within a stone's throw of one another. I wonder if they ever encountered one another before Oxgangs? Charles grew up in India Street just around the corner from Stockbridge. Liz Blades

Response: Sorry about that Liz-it would be nice to access a better photo of Helen. I had forgotten too-I have very detailed diaries going back over forty years ago, although I have not really referred to them for the blog. Douglas too had forgotten we were at the funeral. After seeing your interesting comments last night I took the 1978 diary off the bookshelf-there is more in there. I was supposed to be in Dundee that morning for something important, but turned the car back at the Maybury Roundabout! Something I discovered fairly recently from Anne Hoffmann was that my Nana Hoffmann was the housekeeper for Lord Aitchison who was a contemporary to Lord Blades-I very much like the paintings by his artist son the late Craigie Aitchison-I enjoyed an exhibition at a recent Edinburgh Festival. I was really quite excited about meeting Douglas yesterday-although I mixed with a wide variety of the kids I always really liked and looked up to Douglas-not just because he was the oldest child at The Stair, but because he was such an interesting character-whether with his collection of records; his call-sign; his interest in transport; and the way he worked very hard-not to say he was a saint of course, because when I needed it he very occasionally told me off too! NEEEP! Peter Hoffmann

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.

School Day Lunches and our Buchan's Pottery bowls

For a long period in my earlier school years I came home at lunchtime-it was only a five minute jog. Certainly I can recall Iain coming home with me too, but I've fewer memories whether we ever came home by the time Anne had gone to Hunters Tryst. 

Going home at lunch time broke up the day and meant one was less likely to get into any bother. A distinct memory was of watching the One O’clock Show-an entertainment show.

(Photo from The Museum of Edinburgh)

As described in yesterday's blog my mother had prepared lunch-we enjoyed a small bowl of a meat and veg which varied depending on the day of the week. It might be tripe, onions and potatoes; mince and potatoes; stew (or Irish stew) and potatoes; or stovies. We each had our own Buchan’s  Pottery bowl which had been decorated by our nana (Grandma Jo) who worked as a designer at the old factory in Portobello. 

We ate the meal standing up in the kitchen off the small work surface. We never had a pudding. On one memorable occasion we had to have our lunch from Molly Swanson next door and absolutely loved a chocolate custard that she served up with sliced bananas-it was such a novelty, chocolate custard, who would have thought it (I guess all it was, was custard with some Rowntrees Cocoa added in) but the memory of that little twist has remained clearly with me. 

There were some long periods of us having school lunches-either paid for when ‘the old boy’ was working or the infamous blue ticket which was handed out to those pupils who came from poorer families. Blue tickets were a badge of shame-something which took the Education Authorities years to do away with.

School lunches were of a mixed quality. The likes of mince and potatoes might be passable, whilst macaroni would make one feel sick. Puddings were most certainly preferable to soups-often it was a seasonal thing. Jam filled slabs of pastry or even an apple slice served with custard were very popular. As I got older and realised that I didn’t have to spend my lunch money on school lunches gave me the freedom to visit the shops at Oxgangs Broadway where I’d buy three Paris buns and a bottle of Kool-a Pop for the grand total of one shilling and sixpence-when I’d consumed the last drop I returned the empty bottle for three old pence which was spent on sports mixtures or fruit salad chews.

The Oxgangs Diet

I'm thinking of promoting the Oxgangs Diet-the ultimate answer to those seeking to lose weight. Fifty years on it’s only just dawned on me how relatively sparsely we ate, but probably relatively healthily.

When we were quite young, each day and each week hardly varied, unless with the season-breakfast was corn flakes, sugar and milk (hot milk in winter) served up with a mug of sweet tea (from a pre-school age)-sometimes we varied the cereal with a slice of toast; my children didn’t have tea until they were well into secondary school! 

Lunch was either school lunches (free if my father was out of work) or a visit home where we were served up, in a small Buchan’s Pottery bowl, stovies or stew and potatoes (sometimes Irish stew), or mince and potatoes or tripe. 

At tea-time, this time on a small Buchan’s Pottery plate, we enjoyed a slice of toast with Stork margarine and a small helping of either scrambled eggs, tinned Heinz spaghetti or beans, all washed down with a single mug of sweet tea. 

Out-with these meals there were no extras or nibbles-in later years a treat was a small cheap two shillings pack of custard creams bought at the Store (St Cuthbert's Cooperative, Oxgangs Road North) on a late Friday afternoon and finished before evening came. I suspect the average calories consumed each day could only have been around 1200 to 1500 absolute maximum.

I was an energetic kid and it didn't seem to hold me back. Each of us (Anne, Iain and I) could be described as being slightly below average in height-I was 1.78 (5'10") until I lost my hair a few years back and old age crept up on me-however compared to my two young sons who are six feet and six feet one, the boys regularly remind me I’m the smallest male in the household.

The only tweaks to this were on a Sunday when we visited our grandparents at Durham Road, Portobello-much more of this in a later blog; also for periods of time my father's mother, known to us as Nana Hoffmann visited us on a Wednesday afternoon and brought fish along. Also from her work as a housekeeper or at a school there would be a coffee cake which we hated and biscuits, which out-with the Empire biscuit were inedible too.

I'm unsure what other families served up-Mrs Hanlon served up a treat for her four boys Michael, Boo-Boo, Colin and Alan of treacle pieces-if I were in the vicinity she very kindly gave me a piece too, but I could never manage to eat it and used to slip it down the chute when no-one was looking!

Chute provided  on each landing for rubbish to descend to large wheeled bin (Peter Hoffmann)

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?