The Second World War was over in 1946, the year I was born, but the events of thewar continued to have an impact on my life.
Like so many other couples in Glasgow my parents, Hannah and Charlie, met at a dance hall. In their case it was the Denniston Palais. They decided fairly early on in their relationship that, despite their religious differences, they wanted to marry. They wanted to marry with a “good start in life” and were determined to save up as much as they could to furnish a home comfortably.
By 1939 they had done this, but then came the war and Charlie was conscripted to serve in the Air Force. They married in 1941 during a leave and were unable to get a house until 2 years after Charlie was demobbed. They got the keys to a prefab in 1948, but sadly, inflation had eroded most of their savings, and by the time they came to furnish a house they could only afford a few small pieces of “utility” furniture. Although they were happy to have survived the war, they had suffered a substantial financialsetback.
In 1942, Hannah and Charlie suffered the loss of their first daughter who was stillborn at full term. In 1944 they suffered the tragedy of losing twin boys at just one week old. Charlie always blamed the fact that the best doctors had been conscripted to the war effort, leaving doctors brought out of retirement for the civilian population. I don’t know if this was true, but it seemsfeasible. I knew nothing about my siblings until an Aunt told me when I was 16!.
Life in the prefab.
I have given a fairly full description of this in the interview - but just a few other memories have come to mind.
We had a gas heated boiler in the kitchen for boiling clothes, and a washing line outside to dry them. Clothes were washed in the large sink using a washboard, and then put through a wringer to take out the excess water. The wringer had to be operated by turning the handle to move the rollers round. In the winter sometimes the clothes would freeze on the washing line. When it could be afforded my mother would have laundry done in the nearby Castlebank Laundry. As a working mother it wasn’t surprising she used this service fairly frequently.
I also remember washing blankets when the blankets were put in a tub with hot soapy water and you trampled them with your feet! Carpets weren’t fitted but had linoleum surrounds and a carpet square in the middle. There were no vacuum cleaners, but we had a carpet sweeper machine, and then every so often the carpets were hung over the washing line and beaten with a carpet beater to get the dust out. (my job).
My mother was a wonderful baker, and always had baking for visitors on a Sunday night - sponge cakes, fairy cakes, fruit cakes, pancakes and shortbread are what I remember most.
In the early days after the war it was impossible to get new toys - so I remember most of my toys were second hand - my pram and tricycle. However we were fortunate in having relations in Canada and New Zealand, so every so often we would get a parcel from them - with clothes and toys. In return we sent them copies of “The Sunday Post” every week to give them a taste of home!
We had a cat called Blackie while we lived in the prefab. He lived to be 14 and was a bit of a character. He was always bringing ‘gifts” home to us - much to the annoyance of neighbours who had perhaps left a chicken or fish near the window to cool down. Gone!! Before the days of commercial cat food, pets just pretty well ate what we ate - or sometimes fish scraps or fish heads from the fishmonger.
Our garden supplied us with vegetables pretty well year round. In the summer the Sunday night salad tea would be entirely sourced from the garden, apart from the meat.
We knew the prefabs were temporary, and only meant to be around for 10 years - so after 10 years we knew our time in the home we all loved so much would be limited. There was no point in redecorating, or doing too much to the garden, and for a few years life was uncertain. Families with a boy and a girl were rehoused first as they needed an extra bedroom urgently. They were rehoused in new flats at Anniesland Cross . Everyone else was dispersed to various locations, and we lost touch with many of our childhood friends. House phones were still rare. We were relieved to get a house with our own back and front door, as the thought of living in a flat without a garden after being used to the prefab didn’t appeal!
Bankhead School
I attended this school from 1951-58
There were about 45 pupils in my class.
Corporal punishment was in force - the tawse, sometimes called “the belt” or “the strap” was used on the outstretched hand. I remember one wee boy got the strap almost every day for “fidgeting”. It took nearly a year before they found out he was almost deaf, and couldn’t hear what was going on. I got “the belt” twice in primary school. The first time was when we were banned from using an eraser, and we had to write perfectly without going over a line. My pencil ‘slipped” slightly over the line, so I used my pencil and my ingenuity to make the line slightly thicker so the writing wasn’t over it. 2 of the belt on the hand for “deception!
The second time was when the teacher accused me of not singing, but just mouthing the words. Not true as I loved singing. The classmates around me protested that they could hear me singing, but I got 2 of the belt anyway. If anyone told their parents they had been given “the belt “unfairly, the parents would just say “Think of the times you did something wrong and didn’t get the belt” - there was no thought that they might intervene with the teacher on your behalf.
The school was also visited by dentists to check on dental health. An A, B or C would be written on the card indicating why you had to see a dentist. The other visitors were the “nit nurses”. If someone had nits they would put a letter concealed in their jumper to take home to their parents. It was concealed in the jumper to prevent your “pals” knowing you had nits and teasing you relentlessly.
Girls and Boys had separate playgrounds. At playtime, we would play skipping ropes, ball games, peever, or exchanged “scraps” from a scrap album. Games had seasons, and it was a mystery how everyone knew when the seasons changed, and when ‘scraps” were in season.
Bankhead school had been bombed with a parachute bomb on the 14th March 1941. 39 People were killed that night as the school was used as the headquarters for air raid wardens. Part of the school was demolished.
None of us were ever told anything about this. I found out just 20 years ago when there was a commemoration for the 60th anniversary.
Victoria Drive Senior Secondary School
I attended Victoria Drive Senior Secondary from 1958 to 1964
Comprehensive education was just being introduced, and we were the first year not to have to sit a qualifying exam to determine if we would be going to Senior Secondary or Junior Secondary School. We were asked to choose - and those who planned to stay on at school after age 15 chose Victoria Drive Senior Secondary, and the others Yoker Junior Secondary. At this time a new Comprehensive School was built in Knightswood, so soon pupil would have another choice. This did away with the “stigma” of children failing their qualifying exams and having their future determined at the age of 11 or 12.
My best friend at school, Eleanor Lees. was killed in a bicycle accident the first week of the school holidays just before we started second year. In these days there was no counselling when tragedies like this happened, and the effect this had on me was profound. Looking back on it now, I believe the grief I experienced caused me to have a couple of years of feeling a bit low and a kind of “why bother” attitude. I neglected to work as I should have.
I eventually started catching up with study and managed to get enough certificates to be accepted for training in Radiograohy - my career for the next 40 years.
The only time I remember bring given “the belt” in secondary school was in the first week when the entire maths class were given it on 2 occasions. The first time was for writing “Maths. “Arith.” and “Geom.” in the front of our jotters instead of the full titles. The second day of Maths (sorry, Mathematics), we were all asked to draw lines of different lengths. Mr. Bell then came round with a ruler, which must have been a trick ruler, as not one single person in the class had drawn the lines of the correct length. Entire class belted again!!
Some teacher preferred to give “lines” as a punishment - when you had to write “I must not ” 100 times.
I wasn’t keen on team sports, and found hockey a humiliation as you had to run around in your navy blue knickers. I preferred swimming and tennis. We did our sports at Scotstoun Showgrounds, and swimming at Whiteinch Baths
Most of our teachers were good and made classes interesting, so on the whole school life was enjoyable.
My favourite subject was Geography, and we had a teacher who spent a lot of time taking is out on field trips. One trip would definitely not be allowed these days - we were taken on a school trip to Wills Cigarette Factory, and shown how cigarettes were manufactured and introduced to all the brands they produced!
In the Zoom Interview I was asked about the importance in our lives of the radio, parks, and the cinema, Other things that were as important were Newspapers, the Public Library, the Community Centre, and the Swimming Baths
For many. Sunday School and youth organisations such as the Brownies, Guides, Scouts and Boys Brigade took up a large part of their lives.
Newspapers
Newspaper were cheap and plentiful. Every day we had the Daily Record and the Daily Express delivered to the door. In the evening we had the Evening Times and the Evening Citizen. On Sunday morning we had The Sunday Express, The Sunday Mail, The Sunday Post, and The News of The World delivered. The Sunday Post had cartoons of “Our Wullie” and “The Broons” and nothing else would happen on a Sunday morning until after the latest exploits of “Our Wulliie” and “The Broons” had been read. The puzzles and quizzes in these papers had to be done as well. All this before heading off to either Sunday School or the swimming baths!
Public Library and Community Centre
Knightswood had a public library and community centre in the same complex in Alderman Rd.
I remember i couldn’t wait until my 5th birthday so that I could get a library card. I had an enormous appetite for reading, but was only allowed one book at a time in the infants’ section. Sometimes I finished that book in a day and couldn’t get another one out until the librarian was satisfied that I had indeed read the first one.
I don’t know what I would have done without the public library - my parents could never have afforded to buy me all these books. I still support public libraries today. The community centre provided classes for all sorts of activities. I used to attend their Scottish Country Dance classes which were great fun. I may have enjoyed it, but wasn’t very good at it as i was never selected to go to the dancing competition held every year in the Palace of Arts in Bellahouston Park. One time I was asked at the last minute to take the place of someone who had called off sick. I said I was busy that night as I was annoyed I was only a substitute. When I got home I told my mother about the affrontery of the teacher for only asking me when she was desperate. My mother marched me straight back up to the community centre and “volunteered” my services. Needless to say, we didn’t win the competition.
The community centre held dances on a Saturday night for young teenagers to ‘keep us off the streets”. I loved these dances.
Swimming Baths
We went to the swimming baths at Whiteinch - most often on a Friday night or Sunday morning. On Friday nights I went with neighbours of my Grandparents whose children were ages with me. When we came out the pool their father used to treat us all to fish and chips on the way home. They tasted wonderful on a freezing cold winter night after a swim. I used to enjoy mine with a drink of tangerineade, and I can still remember the taste of it all even now.
If we went on a Sunday morning, a “wagon wheel” from the newsagent beside the baths was our choice of “chittering bit”.
When I was older I used to go to the Turkish Baths at Whiteinch, and they were wonderful. Three hot rooms of different temperatures and a cooling off room where
you could lie and relax afterwards. Every changing cubicle had a bed where you could relax and cool off before getting dressed. They were much more luxurious than the saunas at the pools today.
Sunday School
I attended Sunday School at St. David’s in Knightswood. I always tried to find excuses not to go, but they didn’t usually work. Thinking back on these days now I wonder if we were all forced to Sunday school to give our parents the opportunity for some private moments without the weans! However I did enjoy the Sunday school trips and Christmas parties. The trips usually involved going on a train somewhere and having a picnic after games and races, so I always found it an exciting day/
Football Coupons
For many people winning ‘The Pools” was the dream. Most working class people were never going to see substantial lump sum of money unless it came from Littlewood's or Vernon’s Football Coupons.
From a young age you learned the silence required of you when the football results were read on the radio on a Saturday night, and everyone had a “system” that was going to make them rich one day.
My grandfather had a stroke one evening as I sat beside him when I was 5. This left him severely disabled, and affected his speech. From the age of 5, I became his pool coupon “filler inner”, and checker, and became very familiar with all the football teams and their chances.
Cinema
Just a little bit more information about the cinemas has come to mind. Our nearest cinema from the prefabs was the Ascot at Anniesland Cross. It was sumptuous art deco. The foyer was massive with comfortable art deco style couches. there carpet was thick and had an art deco pattern. All the wood was maple, and the toilets were luxurious. Of course there were a lot of expensive houses in the area (Kelvin Court had been built at the same time), so no doubt it was to attract these wealthy clients. The films were shown on a rolling programme, so you just went in at any time (even halfway through a film) and left when it got to the bit when you said “this is where I come in” and left. If the cinemas was busy and there was a queue, the users/ usherettes had an incredible knack of knowing how long people had been in and would soon let you know if you were saying beyond “when you came in”. As well as the feature film, there was also “B” film, cartoons and a newsreel.
Canada
I would just like to say a few more words about Canada. When I left Prestwick Airport for Toronto at the age of 23, I didn’t even know where I was going to stay that night, However, a friend who had been a student Radiographer with me had heard through the grapevine that I was arriving . She was looking for someone else to move in to a new apartment with another couple of friends. I stayed with her - and two weeks after leaving my parent’s home, a small 2 bedroom terraced council house ,I was living in a massive apartment downtown Toronto - with an en suite bathroom, balcony big enough to hold about 50 people, and a swimming pool, sauna, and gymnasium on the ground floor! Luxury!
The day after I arrived in Canada, I went door knocking on x-ray departments with my Radiography qualification, and was offered 3 jobs. I took the one who wanted me
to start the next day, at St’Michael’s Hospital, where I made many friends. I lived in Toronto for 4 years.
Some International Events
The Assassination of President Kennedy
The first international event that had significance for me was the assassination of President Kennedy. That night I was going to a piano lesson with Miss Paterson in Boreland Drive, Knightswood. I arrived at 7.30 pm for my weekly lesson, and her brother answered the door. He told me that Miss Paterson wouldn’t be giving any lessons as she was too upset. She was upset because President Kennedy had been shot. “Not shot dead? I said. ‘Yes, he said - shot dead”. I remember this sinking feeling in my stomach, and I rushed home to tell my Mum, but she had already heard on the radio. We were stunned, and so sad. It seemed like the end of something - almost like the end of a kind of settled world where turmoil would follow.
Apartheid in South Africa.
I was always appalled at the events unfolding in South Africa. A large number of my friends supported the boycott of South African goods, and I certainly joined that boycott.
It was a very proud day for me when the City of Glasgow bestowed the Freedom Of the City on Nelson Mandela, (the first city in the world to do so) and changed the name of St. George’s Place to Nelson Mandela Place.
When Nelson Mandela came to Glasgow to be given the Freedom of the City in person in 1990, I was very fortunate, by sheer chance, to be in the right place at the right time and be the first person the shake hands with him when he walked into the Hilton Hotel. I wish I could say I said something profound and interesting to him, but I was struck dumb, and he just looked at me and smiled. I smiled back.
He was “piped” into the hotel, and when he was halfway up the stairs the piper stopped playing.. Nelson Mandela turned round, came back down the stairs, thanked the piper and shook his hand. I was very impressed by that gesture.
Earthquakes in New Zealand.
I was in Christchurch New Zealand on the 22nd February 2011when the major earthquake struck. The city fell, including the Cathedral and 185 people were killed. I had a friend visiting me from Scotland, and it was just sheer luck that we were sitting at the kitchen table with my cousins, and we were all together. The week before at that time we would have been in the Cathedral, and almost certainly injured. That night we had planned to meet other people at an Irish pub called “The Bog” in town - that came down in the earthquake and someone was killed there. The chimneys in my cousin’s house came down, and the whole building had eventually be taken off its foundations and rebuilt.
I was involved in helping my cousins through the trauma of dealing with insurance companies and builders. The repairs weren’t completed until 5 years after the earthquake. There have been numerous aftershocks from the earthquakes, making that and subsequent visits here definitely not boring.
Since I retired in 2006 I have travelled between Glasgow and New Zealand with my partner. We were both very happily single when we got together when i was 53. He
was my cousin whom I had only met three times before, and we got together when he came to visit Scotland in 1999. He lived in New Zealand and I lived in Scotland, and until the Covid pandemic managed to keep our lifestyle of 6 months in each country during their summers. We don’t know what the future holds for us now, but I’m sure the story will continue.
Hannah and Charlie lived to celebrate their 45th Wedding Anniversary. Charlie lived to be 79, and Hannah 94.
