HOMETOWN/COUNTRY
Papa was born and grew up in Milngavie which is about six miles from Glasgow in Scotland. Milngavie is pronounced Milguy.
Papa's life as a child and teenager was influenced by the atmosphere, the village and environment he lived in and the traditions of not only his village but of his country too.
Papa was born in 1949, four years after World War 2. Because Papa was born so soon after the end of that war, the adults around him who had recent experiences of the war, especially his father, talked quite a bit about the War. Papa's father had spent some time in Egypt and Cyprus during the war and often talked about his time there. Papa's father, your Great Grandfather William showed Papa photographs of the pyramids in Egypt and to someone like Papa who had never travelled far from where he lived, these photographs evoked not only images of war but also a magical sense of what lay beyond the shores he lived in.
Great Grandfather William is the one with the hat on. Can you see the pyramids in the background?
As he was growing up, the effects of the war were still evident around Papa's environment, especially in Glasgow, where, even, a few years after the war, destroyed buildings and empty landscapes where once there had been buildings were everywhere. Homes that once had beautiful iron fencing, had none at all as all fencing was removed from parks and gardens to provide metal for the 'war effort'.
I'm not sure what they used the metal for exactly, but evidence of its existence was seen by the foundations that were left behind.
Above are photographs of railings being removed from parks and gardens.
Clydebank which was a ship-building area in Glasgow was bombed badly during 1941.
Out of approximately 12,000 houses, only seven remained undamaged with 4,000 completely destroyed and 4,500 severely damaged. Over 35,000 people were made homeless and many of these people were re-housed in Milngavie after the war. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)
In the small village that Papa grew up in, there were many Polish refugees who had come to Milngavie as a result of the war. Papa's best friend's wife was a Polish refugee.
Papa and his family did not have television until well into the 1950's, but when they did, many films and documentaries such as All Our Yesterdays depicted stories and actual footage from the war.
All Our Yesterdays was a television series, produced by Granada Television, giving an historical account of the 1930s lead-up to the Second World War and to the war itself. It relied on black-and-white film footage, and may be considered a precursor to the later Thames Television World at War production. Whereas the latter is available on DVD, it is not known whether any of "All Our Yesterdays" survives. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)
This therefore was the atmosphere that Papa grew up in; the aftermath of the war as seen on television, in the environment and heard of at the dining-room table.
The Milngavie that Papa grew up in was an interesting town with both residential and industrial parts to it.
Residential areas were broken up into two parts, owner occupied homes and Council homes which were rented to the occupiers.
This is a photograph of a semi-detached owner occupied home and below a semi-detached Council house for renting occupier.
However, up until around the age of sixteen Papa lived in what was known at the time as a 'Prefab' home. Prefab is short for prefabricated and indicates that these homes were premade in a factory.
Here is a very interesting article from Wikipedia about 'Prefabs'.
Prefabs (prefabricated houses) were a major part of the delivery plan to address the United Kingdom's post–Second World War housing shortage. They were envisaged by war-time prime minister Winston Churchill in March 1944, and legally outlined in the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944.
Taking the details of the public housing plan from the output of the Burt Committee formed in 1942, the wartime coalition government under Churchill proposed to address the need for an anticipated 200,000 shortfall in post-war housing stock, by building 500,000 prefabricated houses, with a planned life of up to 10 years within five years of the end of the Second World War. The eventual bill of state law, agreed under the post-war Labour government of Prime Minister Clement Attlee, agreed to deliver 300,000 units within 10 years, within a budget of £150m.
Through use of the wartime production facilities and creation of common standards developed by the Ministry of Works, the programme got off to a good start and of 1.2 million new houses built between 1945 and 1951 when the programme officially ended, only 156,623[citation needed] prefab houses were constructed.[1][2] Today, a number survive, a testament to the durability of a series of housing designs and construction methods only envisaged to last 10 years, on the back of this scheme local authorities developed non-traditional building techniques, which included some prefabrication notably pre-cast reinforced concrete (PRC) to fulfill the under-predicted demand.
This photograph above shows a prefab estate recently completed and the photograph below a prefab home which has become established over a few years. What a difference a garden makes!
Papa has many happy memories growing up in the Prefabs. There was a strong sense of community amongst both adults and children. Papa's own home backed on to a wood and this together with the nearby Dougals Moor and Allander Water (The Burn) provided a wonderful playground for him and his friends.
Papa's father and mother worked in Glasgow and access to Glasgow was by bus or train.
Up until the mid 1950's there was also a tram service from Milngavie to Glasgow.
Although many people worked in Glasgow, many worked in Milngavie too. Milngavie had an industrial area which included many businesses some of which had to do with textile finishing such as printing, bleaching and dyeing.
Milngavie also supplied the city of Glasgow with water. Here is a link to information regarding the reservoir which was opened by Queen Victoria in 1859. The reservoir's success led to the eradication of colera and typhoid, diseases associated with drinking dirty water.
When not at work or school, the people of Milngavie celebrated a number of traditions throughout the year.
A number of these celebrations were linked to religious belief. Papa attended Sunday School at the local Parish church - St Paul's.
It was at this church too that Papa and his family went for the Christmas Eve service. The service began around 11.00pm and as everyone filed into the church, they were given a candle. After the Bible readings and singing and on the stroke of midnight, just as Christmas Eve was turning into Christmas Day, the lights of the church were turned off leaving only the candles and Christmas tree as light. At this point the Christmas Carol OH COME ALL YE FAITHFULL was sung.
One Christmas Eve Papa and I went into the church and when we came out, we came out to a white world. It was so magical. Everything was muffled with the snow. I'm pretty sure Papa and I were just going out with each other, and when I came out into that wonderland, after the beautiful service, holding the hand of my love, I remember feeling immense joy.
Christmas Day of course was another tradition that Papa celebrated with his family. The day usually began with the opening of presents and a special dinner. This meal eaten around mid-day usually consisted of soup, chicken with roast potatoes and vegetables and for pudding, Christmas pudding with custard. In Scotland the Christmas pudding was called a Clootie Dumpling. Clootie is a Scottish word for cloth and this refers to the cloth that the pudding was cooked in.
When my children were young Freya I used to make a Clootie Dumpling each year. I usually made it in November and hung it up to dry until Christmas Day. On Christmas day, I put it in a pot of boiling water for an hour to reheat it. Once it was hot, it was lifted out by it's string and placed on a plate.
The string was then cut and the cloth carefully pulled from the pudding. Then a plate was put face down on top of the pudding and the pudding was turned over and the cloth completely removed. The tradition then was to pour some alcohol on top, usually brandy and set it alight. The little flames usually lasted only a few seconds but it looked good and was fun to watch.
I Googled Clootie Dumpling on fire and this is all they came up with.
In Scotland it was a tradition to put small sixpenses (probably the equivalent of your five cent piece) into the pudding as it was mixed, before it was cooked. If, while you were eating the pudding, you found a sixpense, this was good luck. It wasn't good luck if you accidentally swallowed one.
However, in Scotland the main tradition around this time was the celebration of Hogmany on the last day of the year.
Cleaning the House - the 31st December was often a busy day, a day of preparing to see the Old Year out, and to see the New Year in. Many businesses closed early to allow the workforce time to go home and clean their houses from top to bottom. This cleaning began in the days when everyone had open fires, and fireplaces in particular had to be cleaned.
It was considered bad luck by some to go into the New Year with a dirty house. The tradition of cleaning the house for New Year still exists today.
Midnight - Having family and friends together and partying is one of the main Hogmanay customs. As soon as the clock strikes 12, bells are rung in every town and village throught Scotland. Many places even have street parties with the villagers meeting in the village square to bring in the New Year together. Towns and villages in and around Glasgow can also hear ships' horns blasting on the stroke of midnight.
The photograph above is taken on Hogmany in St George's Square, Glasgow.
Immediately after midnight it is traditional for everyone to stand in a circle , cross over their arms, hold hands with people on either side and sing Rober Burns' Auld Lang Syne.
First Footing - This means the 'first foot' to step into a house after midnight. This is still a tradition and steeped in superstition. In order to ensure good luck for the house, the 'first foot' over the door should be male, dark and of course everyone 'first footing' should take symbolic gifts such as coal, shortbread, salt, black bun and whisky. These gifts meant the household would be safe and warm and have enough food for the year.
Three other traditions in Scotland which are practiced by its people are the celebration of St Andrew's Day, Rememberance Day both in November and Burns Day in January.
St Andrews Day is celebrated on 30th November
In Scotland, and many countries with Scottish connections, Saint Andrew's Day is marked with a celebration of Scottish culture with traditional Scottish food, music and dance. In Scotland the day is also seen as the start of a season of Scottish winter festivals encompassing Saint Andrew's Day, Hogmanay and Burns Night.[9] There are week-long celebrations in the town of St Andrews and in some other Scottish cities.[10] (Excerpt from Wikipedia)
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, occasionally known as Robert Burns Day (or Robbie Burns Day[1] or Rabbie Burns Day) but more commonly known as Burns Night (Scots: Burns Nicht). However, in principle, they may be held at any other time of the year (Excerpt from Wikipedia)
Rememberance Day is held on the 11th November with a minute's silence at 11.00am. No matter where a person is at this time, whether at work or play, they stop for that minute to remember the men and women who have given their lives in war.
In all villages, towns and cities in Scotland there is a War Memorial which lists on the stone, those from that area who have died. Usually at sunrise, past members of the armed forces gather together to march towards the memorial. Family members walk alongside these past memebers as well as family members whose relative died in the war. Community groups such as Girl Guides, Scouts and Army Cadets march too. Once everyone has arrived at the memorial, a Christian service is held and wreaths which contain poppies are layed at the foot of the memorial.
Poppies have great significance in remembering those who have fallen in war. You can see everyone wearing a poppy in the photograph above.
As Papa was an Army Cadet, he marched towards the memorial too. Here is a photograph of Papa in his uniform.
No comments:
Post a Comment