Holes in her socks

Nan Milne (nee Simpson) of Perth writes: “Nothing changes. Almost 70 years ago, when starting school at Meigle, I escaped one day and made my way over a road and up to where my stepmum and dad’s house was, only to be taken back by my stepmum to my teacher Miss Tosh.

“I stayed with my grandparents at Langlogie in a cottage. The farmer was called Patullo. He had two sons and a daughter – Neil, Sandy and Sheila. We had a long walk to school for wee legs, but then I got a bike.

“One day my granny asked me to take the accumulator into the garage on the way to school to get it charged for the wireless. ‘Don’t hang it on the handlebars,’ she said, ‘or the acid will spill out’. Needless to say, once I was out of sight, it was on the handlebars with the result that I had holes in my socks and got a row when I got home.

“On Sundays my relatives used to come for dinner – soup and a main course, followed by a big dumpling with silver threepenny bits in it. They were spent at Keeling’s sweetie shop on the way to school on the Monday

“Everyone was given a job to do before our meal and, as a wee one, mine was to stack the logs into the garage.

“My grandparents had six sons and a daughter. I could write a book about life out in the country. It was a good life, although the winters could be very bad with snow.” juice for us children, during the Second World War.

“Mid Kirk Style market was situated behind the Old Steeple walls, behind the Overgate shops leading off Lindsay Street. As for the delicious buster stall, it was a tarpaulin-covered structure, where soggy chips and mushy peas were available, with a few benches inside. Memories become ‘golden’ looking back.

“During my wedding breakfast in 1958, held in rooms situated beneath the Palaise de Danse in South Tay Street, one guest presented me with two small golden swans, bought at this market.”

“General Charles de Gaulle was one of many prominent Second World War figures to visit Dundee,” says Fraser Elder. “He performed a special awards ceremony in a tribute to his Free French submariners in the city’s Mayfield Grounds in 1940.” See more, top left.

“I found this photograph of my mother’s dance days,” says James Fergus. “Her name was Isabella (Connie) Jack, pictured top right. She was born and raised in Constable Street, Dundee, and also lived in Castle Street. Francie’s Dance Group was based in the Overgate around 1918.”