Comment From Paul Kaszynski

myself, a brat who vaguely gazed
on the knee high nineteen fifties
and the waist high nineteen sixties
and couldn't figure numbers worth a damn
was always a chancer
and given three lines to add I'd put the middle row
down as the answer
but I would read all day if I could get away with it
and all night too with a flashlight under covers
of Merlin of the borders
and in seeking out the stories of Britain's ancient lineage
I delved
on days subtracted from the blackboard's paltry tyrannies
among dog eared authorities, back shelved in libraries 

I absolutely loved this comment which arrived yesterday from Paul Kaszynski. In the Comments section of the blog it arrived as a normal paragraph, however in my e mail box it was jumbled up as in the above extract-I think it's a startling piece of poetry which resonates with me with fantastic imagery-made me think of the great Polish poet, Czeslaw Milosz-check out his poem Encounter. Thanks Paul!

Paul Kaszynski

Yesterday was a red letter day as I received e mails from Paul and Douglas Blades and a big, big surprise-a lovely update on the Douglas family from Ali Douglas who has featured so prominently in The Stair. I don't think I've see Ali for forty years, but I hope to remedy that!

For Paul's full e mail comment (slightly edited), see below:

Hi,
I was pleasantry surprised after dropping down the internet rabbit hole to find my self remembered.on Sturmey-Archer; Zen; and Lance v Boo-Boo + The Hoffster v Eastern Scottish! My sons stay in Firrhill Loan and I still take a walk round the area usually Colinton Dell. We moved up to 6/3 Oxgangs Street from Slateford Village about 1962. Yes, I'm still cycling just the same but never as a sport-it's the freedom and the means to be. 

All these names, some forgotten some not-I can think of a few more that have not appeared in your blog and if you wish I could add. I now live in Livingston-its a bit like Oxgangs Woods with a view to the hills which is great. As for myself-a brat knee high in the nineteen fifties who vaguely gazed to the hills and then waist high in the nineteen sixties; and couldn't figure numbers worth a damn; was always a chancer and given three lines to add I'd put the middle row down as the answer; but I would read all day if I could get away with it and all night too with a flashlight under the covers of Merlin; of the Borders and seeking out the stories of Britain's ancients lineage I delved on days subtracted from the blackboard's paltry tyrannies among dog eared authorities, back shelved in libraries 

Thanks Paul Kaszynski,on Facebook. I'm now going to prove I'm not a robot , I like that ..lol!

"One Mid-Summer Morn-Three Girls, Swanston and the Pentlands, 1913-1914 Anonymous Comment

Comment: Beautiful picture Peter-I have been following your memories avidly Unfortunately Oxgangs for me does not hold the same pleasant memories as yourself-liked Hunters Tryst hated Firrhill. Perhaps because I am a wee bit older but I do remember you and most off your gang trying to spread your wings to other parts of Oxgangs. People stayed in other parts like the Street, the Row, the Park and you may get some more contact from others. Peter as you can see I am not computer literate one finger typing etc but please don't stop the stories . By the way Paul's name is spelt Kaszynski-have to keep you clever people right please carry on! Thanks.

Response:  Thanks for your comment-it's always great to get some feedback-although the site hit numbers are encouraging I'm never really sure whether the blog is of interest to others or not!  Partly because of this I decided to stop daily blogging at midnight on Auld Year's Night  December, 2012 and apart from one or two occasional updates I've generally retired-however since then I've had a few requests to carry on. 

When I've had the time and motivation I've been editing the 200 plus blogs into a book format-I feel apart from one or two blogs that should have appeared such as Easter, there's a certain completeness to it. However, after almost 6 months away I may, as suggested by Liz Blades think about doing a weekly blog post for fun. 

Thank you for the name correction for Paul Kaszynski-I've updated his name on the blog post on Friday, 31 August 2012 on one of the early stories-one of my more zany titles-Sturmey-Archer; Zen; and Lance v Boo-Boo+The Hoffster v Eastern Scottish! Although Paul wasn't a lad that I really knew well I can still picture him very clearly in my mind's eye-I think he had dark hair, was above medium height and wore glasses-his last name was probably Polish and I think this made him stand out-whereas in my innocence I clearly thought Hoffmann was a good Oxgangs and Edinburgh name!

Sturmey-Archer; Zen; and Lance v Boo-Boo + The Hoffster v Eastern Scottish!

We're big fans of the Tour de France; each summer my wife Alison and I settle back on the sofas and become immersed in it-Brad is Alison's favourite-I enjoyed watching Lance Armstrong's exploits and before him the five time winner, from Spain, Miguel Indurain.

Cycling was big at Oxgangs in the 1960s-today you would be lucky to spot a kid on a bike. Most of the bikes back then were built from scratch-there was a great trade going in bike frames which could be picked up for five bob-this trade was supplemented by trips up to Thomas Piper's cycle shop at Churchill at the top of Morningside Road, just along from the Churchill Theatre. The shop was a great place to visit-a real Aladdin's Cave -it had a distinctive smell from the rubber; it existed for decades and only closed in the past ten years or so. Even then the shop had passed on to new owners as Thomas Piper died in 1939. At the top end of the price range wheels and gimmicky items like speedometers, bottles and bottle-holders were occasionally purchased-more often it was inner tubes, puncture repair kits or spanners at the lower end of the scale.

(photo by The Invisible Agent)

If you were lucky you had a bike with 3 speed Sturmey-Archer gears-Dougie Blades had 5 gears which was unheard of! It must have bugged him because I was always up at his door borrowing his racer-looking back he was pretty decent to allow me the use of it, although often it was perhaps his mum, Helen, who gave me the go ahead to use it when he was out.

I enjoyed sitting out in the back alleyway where the sheds were.

Back Alley and Sheds-There were no stairs there in the 1960s (Photograph Peter Hoffmann 31/08/2012)

It was here that I pottered away with my bikes-fixing a puncture or tinkering with the gears-there was something very satisfying about working with your hands. The experience was enhanced if it was raining outside because one was sheltered under the alley roof but the entrance was open on two sides, one of which was the entrance to our back garden.

Entrance to 6/2 Back Garden (Peter Hoffmann 31/08/2012)

It was a Zen like experience, focusing on working on the bike while being vaguely aware of the rain pitter-pattering down outside, whilst one kept dry inside-a lovely feeling. Because of the weather I'd usually be working alone as everyone else was inside in their homes-occasionally someone would pass by and pop their head in and exchange pleasantries.

Great fun was had playing in The Gully which lay between Oxgangs and the Braids; it was located to the south of nice houses at Pentland View and lay in a small shallow or valley. I guess it was a fore-runner to BMX riding with the circular paths with rises, declines and jumps.

(photo by Thomas Lee)

That I'm alive to write this blog is down to good luck; one afternoon after playing at The Gully I came home via Comiston Road on a made up bike which had no brakes. I was flying down the road when an Eastern Scottish bus was leaving a bus stop adjacent to Braid-Burn Valley. I was going so fast that I would have hit the back of the bus-I had to take evasive action by overtaking it. This was a struggle as the bus was gaining speed all the time-I peddled furiously just managing to overtake it to the astonishment of the passengers on the lower deck-however as I edged in front of the bus I had to take a sharp 90 degree left hander veering into Greenbank Crescent to go back home to Oxgangs-I knew it was going to be difficult to make it-I did manage to keep upright, but of course with the formidable speed I swung straight on to the other side of the road before mounting the pavement-very fortunately there was no oncoming traffic.

(photo by Regentlad)

Occasionally some of the older boys up Oxgangs Street organised bike races out to Currie. The boy who surprisingly dominated was someone who didn't excel in any other sports or activities-I think his father was Polish and his name was Paul Kaszynski. I was really impressed at how good he was and even at a young age it occurred to me that one needed a certain fortitude and mental resilience to put in such a strong performance in sport.

For me however, the most extraordinary performance on a bike was Boo-Boo-a group of us used to go on long cycle adventures in the summer holidays including Les Ramage (4/3); Ali Douglas (8/3); and Iain-this one was to Dalkeith and home via Liberton Brae-we all had passable bikes-except for Boo-Boo who borrowed one of mine which had a puncture-Boo-Boo was so keen to go on the outing that he rode the whole way, there and back, with no air in one of the wheels-respect!

More on bikes in a future blog-including the famous Raleigh Chopper.