Memories of Juniper Green

I remember... the village over the last seventy years or so

Below the crossroads

A view of Gillespie crossroads from Tanners public house

As a child I lived in 418 Lanark Road, below the Gillespie crossroads and almost opposite Spylaw Bank Road. My father was Session Clerk at St Andrew's. George Gunn came as the minister in 1926 and my parents joined the church then. Before that, we would go into Colinton, catch the tram to Polwarth then walk up to Bruntsfield Church reversing that route on the way back. When we joined Juniper Green church we would always walk up to church in wind, rain or any weather. I would be about ten years old when we first came up and my allegiance has been continuous since then.

St Andrew's Church

There weren't many of us at Sunday school at one point, there were just two in my class. The other classes might have been a bit bigger. Mr Alison, who was an Elder in the church was the superintendent and his daughter was one of the teachers. I don't know what he did but he wasn't the baker in the village, that was Graham and they lived opposite the church. It was a detached house and there has been a lot of work on it recently (503 Lanark road). Mr Alison is the only teacher I remember but then Betty Nisbet took over.

I remember the minister Dr McFarlane and then George Gunn. In appearance, Dr McFarlane was small and he had a beard and rosy cheeks. He told the story that when he went lecturing in the United States a lady approached him and asked which rouge he employed on his cheeks. His reply was "I use the holy brand!"

An early production probably staged in St Margaret's Court

My father was of an age with George Gunn and they got on very well. George Gunn started the Literary and Debating Society, he was the president and my father was vice-president. They used to have debates with Colinton Church and St Margaret's had a debating society too. The St Margaret's society became a dramatic society and so did the one at St Andrew's. Juniper Players started from that debating society. I guess they debated politics and religion. I don't think there was much contact between the two congregations though we knew one another. The church was quite full in George Gunn's day.

George Reid came next (1938) and he was here when the War broke out. He went off to be a chaplain in the services though he returned at the end of the War but not for long. He took up a new charge as the university chaplain in Glasgow. Dr Malcolm came when Dr Reid went off to Glasgow and that was just after my son was born in 1947.

Buses and trams

I went to school by bus, a number 8 to the West End and then I would walk down the hill. It was a single-decker going to the Waverley Bridge. Very few people got on the bus after Slateford as the trams started there and they were cheaper. The bus would be faster than the tram but it was unusual for anyone to flag down the bus on a tram route.

Friends with the Malloch family

I was very friendly with Mr J J Malloch's niece. Mr Malloch's father had been headmaster before his son and the first captain of the golf club. My friend was the daughter of George Malloch. J J Malloch stayed in Spylaw Bank Road and my mother was friendly with his wife.

Baberton Golf Club

My father played so did my husband of course. I played too and got a hole in one on the seventeenth I think. I'm a life member so was my husband and so was my father.

My husband was on the committee of the Village Association for a while. He also ran a youth club attached to the church some time in the 1950s.

Beechwood (now demolished)

The house Beechwood on Lanark Road opposite St Margaret's Church

We moved to 530 Lanark road in 1953. It was called Beechwood, an old house that originally had been a single storey but it didn't have a damp course. There were several beech trees in the garden. The date was above the front door. The attics had been converted at some stage. Across the road from the entrance to St Margaret's Church there used to be a corrugated iron church that was used before St Margaret's was built. A friend showed me where it had been and she said "Now that would be where to plant your vegetables, it's consecrated ground!"

Shops in Juniper Green

We had Willie Forsyth (greengrocer at 536 Lanark road) on one side of us. He was a character, he would say "You don't want to buy those today, they are far too dear." Then, another time I went in and asked for a lettuce and he said "What do you want a lettuce for? Why don't you grow one in your own garden?"

The site of Cattanach's shop before the Second World War

There was a grocer's shop where the delicatessen is today and Miss Cattanach ran the shop. She sang in the choir and she had a loud voice as did my mother. This is before the War.

The same shop on Lanark Road which became a delicatessen in the 1980s

I knew Mr Gillon the butcher, my parents were friendly with him. He had a small shop in Juniper Green where the fish and chip shop is today. I don't remember him further up the village but maybe earlier he had been there. Mr Roberts took over the shop and it continued as a butcher shop.

I didn't use the post office but I do remember one of the Miss Grahams being a bit sharp. We had a telephone so I don't remember receiving a telegram.