Growing up in Portobello (Edinburgh) in the 1940s and 50s
May 22, 2020
James Yorkston was born in November 1934 and was brought up at 19 Mitchell Buildings. Long gone - the site is now occupied by Aldi supermarket. We hear tales of Portobello's magnificent outdoor pool, the town being mobbed during the Glasgow fortnight and renting out the family flat to a Glasgow family during those two weeks for extra money. Police on the beat, helping out with the beach ponies, making guiders (go-carts) and delivering the milk for Dumfries Dairies before school with Teddy the Cyldesdale horse pulling the cart. We learn that there were 13 pubs in Portobello and you could go out with a 'dollar' in your pocket and have a good swally. We finish with James working at the Woolmet Colliery and then joining the Navy to begin a 12 years career at sea.
(Portobello Pool photo courtesy of City of Edinburgh's Capital Collections.)