The Sunday Post #2 In The Season Of The Year

Hearts pre-season training, Dreghorn, in the lea of the Pentland Hills

Today sees the opening matches of the Scottish leagues’ football season and for many Oxgangers the annual ritual may be one going back over half a century. Indeed, I noticed this morning that Colin Laidlaw was travelling up from Manchester for Hearts’ opening away match at Hamilton - he’ll be a happy boy with a 4-1 victory.

Two aspects of the pre-season build-up were going up to Ewarts at The Broadway to buy in my copy of the Wee Red Book and to go along to the former Polo Fields at Dreghorn to see Hearts undertaking their pre-season training.

Extract from Retep Nnamffoh’s Letts’ Schoolboy Diary

Tuesday, 20th July, 1971

‘I was out on the dawn patrol doing the milk round. It wasn’t the most enjoyable of mornings as I had an argument with our new boss; he's very different from Sid.

I'm hoping these girls come up later on.

Former Polo Fields, Dreghorn (Dave Hennicker)

In the afternoon a bunch of us walked up to the Army's Polo Fields at Dreghorn to watch Hearts doing their pre-season training. They were all there including Donald Ford; Jim Cruikshank; Alan Anderson; as well as Oxgangs' Eric Carruthers. It was just a wee ten minute walk up the road for him from Oxgangs Farm Drive!

We all walked back home together; I then had to head straight down to Bairds Newsagents at Morningside Drive to collect my newspapers to sell up at the City Hospital. I'm a busy boy. It was no wonder I fell asleep on the couch afterwards; now I'm enjoying my crisps 'n juice.’

Postscript: Comment from Colin Laidlaw: 'I well remember doing this. I used to be pleased as punch when we used to get a lift home on the Hearts bus and they'd drop us off in the 'Drive'. John Harvey the manager/trainer at the time used to go to great lengths to stop the players swearing. When we didn't get a lift I fondly remember the walk back home as well; we used to gather wild strawberries growing at the roadside.'

So, did you support Hearts or Hibs?

Attending football matches at Tynecastle or Easter Road was a right of passage for many boys from Oxgangs.

My father, Ken Hoffmann, was a rugby man. I only ever remember going to a single match with him - it was Hibs v Dunfermline and I recall him getting into an argument with a Hibbie when Roy Barrie the combustible Dunfermline player got sent off - I actually sided with Ken on this occasion, because there was a sense of injustice about the decision. The other thing I admire today, from a distance, was that Ken subscribed to the philosophy that it was better to play the game than to spectate.

Boo-Boo Hanlon, back garden, 6 Oxgangs Avenue

At our stair (6 Oxgangs Avenue) I think John Duffy (6/8) attended games with his dad; he was a Celtic supporter. Boo-Boo Hanlon must have been too - see above! Colin Hanlon was a Hearts man and a regular at Tynecastle in later years. Alan Hanlon was perhaps too young back then, whilst for all his enthusiasm for football, I can't recall if Michael went along or not. Michael, Colin or Alan - if you're reading the blog, please let us know!

Douglas Blades (6/6) and Gavin Swanson (6/1) were completely uninterested in footie - indeed they may never have ever kicked a ball in their lives. Although Iain Hoffmann played a wee bit he only ever went to a match on rare occasions, but he was a Hearts man - I seem to recall us going to see Hearts v Brechin City of all matches on Saturday, 27th January, 1968.

For a season or two I attended Hibs matches in the company of the Allans from 4/7 Oxgangs Avenue - this was with Andy and Gavin Allan and one or two of their pals who attended the Catholic secondary school.

It was exciting stuff - good crowds; often it was sunny; the green and white programmes reflecting the strip; and some good players on the pitch - Bobby Duncan; Pat Stanton; Peter Cormack; Peter Marinello - there was a real buzz about such outings

Today I'm not a supporter, but when Hearts met Hibs in the Scottish Cup Final a few years back, my heart was very much with the Hearts - my instinct tells me that if I should follow any team then it is Hearts. When I move back to Edinburgh I’ll invest in a season ticket.

Perversely, for a while I also used to attend Raith Rovers matches at Kirkcaldy with a slightly older Rovers supporter called Kenny from Oxgangs Crescent - it was good fun getting the train from Haymarket to their ground which still boasted an old siren from the Second World War.

So was it Hearts or Hibs or indeed Raith Rovers? Well, ironically, at that time I also 'followed' Rangers because I was so close to my Glasgow born grandfather, but never attended one of their matches back then – my father stipulated that we weren't allowed to go along to any games involving The Old Firm because of potential trouble.

Today, my local team is Ross County – relegated last season, but as I type this they’ve just won their opening game 1-0 against Alloa Atletic FC with a goal two minutes from time - 'Come away the County!'

Ewart's Newsagent

Newsagents, The Broadway - not much has changed, apart from the name (2012)

My favourite and most visited local shop was Ewart's, the local newsagents. 

The Ewart family ran the shop for decades. 

Compared to the more risky nature of some of the other shops it was a sure fire business with no chance of failure. 

From early in the morning until teatime, the shop was always busy. 

It was the shop at The Broadway which, depending upon the time of day attracted working men; housewives; teenagers; and children, both boys and girls, so it had an all-round appeal.

It had significant newspaper runs in the mornings and afternoons as well as Sunday newspaper runs too. 

I recall delivering Sunday newspapers for Ewart's, probably because it was my day off from Baird's Newsagents, Morningside Drive. 

The shop always had a different feel to it on Sundays because it was the one day of the week that Ian Ewart (who ran the shop) took off.

Ian Ewart 

I liked Ian - he was an absolutely lovely gem of a bloke - a legend in Oxgangs - he had a good heart and excellent customer care so his absence on a Sunday made a noticeable difference. 

Other relatives came in to open the shop in the morning until it closed at Sunday lunchtime; possibly it was Ian's father. Indeed it was probably his father and mother who initially started the business in the early 1950s?

His mother (whose name appeared as the addressee, Mrs E. Ewart) appeared at various times during the week, but not so much in a serving capacity. She was a serious looking, older woman, who appeared very efficient and business like. Indeed, whenever I saw her she seemed to be undertaking book-keeping and other such tasks. 

Perhaps because the shop proved to be so busy and lucrative and to allow them to expand at an early opportunity, Ewart's took on the let of the adjacent first shop on the precinct, 1 Oxgangs Broadway previously run by McNab's the Drycleaners. It thus became a double shop unit. 

Some people may be surprised at what a good mark-up there is on newspapers. 

When that is multiplied by hundreds of newspapers each day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks of the year, it really adds up. It was only after reading A Season In Dornoch by Lorne Rubenstein that I became aware of this. So the Ewart family made a very good living indeed; that said Ian Ewart in particular had to work hard and long hours. 

Because Ewart's sold comics the shop was a big attraction for me. 

When there were free gifts in The Hornet I would set off early on a Monday morning to buy my copy. 

I might arrive at the shop as early as seven o'clock. 

As I neared the shop my little heart would race to find out if the comic had arrived or not. 

Sometimes there was a delay. 

As well as being very disappointing this was a great worry too, in case by the time I returned after school at Hunters Tryst that all the copies of the comic had been sold out and I would miss out on the free gift; I think Ian Ewart was probably bemused, but entertained by my angst and keen enthusiasm!

The free gifts were a simple and clever piece of marketing by DC Thomson - usually it was a plastic wallet with some football team photographs.

The shop also sold some toys which were displayed in the window. 

We played a bagsy game. 

Like something out of Dickens, a few of us would line up along the shop window front with our little noses pressed against the glass. 

In turn we would bags the toy which we were going to get for our birthday or Christmas. 

I don’t ever recall actually buying or getting a toy from Ewarts' and many of the boxes remained unchanged in the shop window for years. I guess it was an easy way of filling the large space for little work and imagination.

Whilst newspapers, magazines and comics were the main-stay of the business, tobacco and cigarettes would have come next in the pecking order. 

In the 1960s a significant part of the adult population smoked and this figure would have been higher in Oxgangs which was predominately working class. Players No 6; Kensitas; Embassy Regal - all the common brands, but of course no Gauloises or Disque Bleu which my father smoked!

Most children and some adults bought sweets regularly and the shop sold hundreds of sweets and chocolates each and every day. 

For the shop assistants, this must have been a tiresome business. 

Within the shop one whole side was devoted to children’s confectionery. 

There was a long glass counter. 

The whole of the front cabinet was lined with jars of penny sweets which were what most of the children came in for. 

The shop assistants had to bend over and stretch forward in an awkward position. 

Many of the kids took an age to make up their mind to the tune of ‘Come on now!’