Bill Blair … born 1935 

Bill Blair … born 1935 is a long time resident of Juniper Green and Currie.  He was a livestock auctioneer for William Bosomworth & Sons and then John Swan and Son.

In the late 1950s Bill and his parents would walk down Wester Hailes Road to see his Turnbull cousins living in a prefab at Sighthill.  He was aware that the Smiths farmed Wester Hailes farm on the east of the road and also that among the smallholdings was one belonging to the Scott family who was the butcher in Juniper Green for many years.

Baberton Mains farm was mainly arable, cultivated in the 1930s and 1940s by Bob Eaglesham and his sister.  He attended St Margaret’s Church in Juniper Green.

Bob Russell who bought Fernieflat farm in 1950 already had a farm in West Lothian.  It was mostly arable though he was a cow dealer, buying “dry cows” those not in calf or milking at the time. He was quite a character, canny with his money and  “would not spend a pound if you can get it for a shilling”.  After he left Fernieflat in 1971 he bought a farm near Coldstream in the Borders.

Phone interview19/6/2013 by Liz Beevers
Permission slip signed 28/7/13

Baberton Mains History Group