When I was a bairnie

“The recent photographs of Arbroath Water Tower took my mind back many years to a time when we as young lads enjoyed good times sledging and skating on Keptie pond,” says Ian Cuthill.

“It also reminded me of a song my grandmother used to sing. It was much in the vein and to the tune of The Road and the Miles to Dundee, but with specific reference to Arbroath. As I remember it started with the line: ‘When I was a bairnie I toddled round Cairnie’, but that is about as far as I can go.

“Returning to the photograph, I think there was also mention in a subsequent line of ‘the lums and the spires of the toon’ which are very evident therein. The tune must be a traditional air which pops up in unexpected places.

“Aficionados of Hollywood black and white westerns may have heard it plucked on a guitar by a lonesome Texas cowboy in the film Streets of Laredo. I wonder if any older generation Lichties can fill in the missing words of the Arbroath version.” is: “a compilation of my life story plus scribblings gathered over the years.”

The book is currently on sale and proceeds are going to two charities close to Bob’s heart – Worldwide Cancer Research and Diabetes UK. It can be purchased for £10, although Bob is delighted to report that some people are donating more than that. He can be contacted by telephone on 01738 850393 for more information.

Bob says that he enjoyed putting together his book, so much so that volume two is already under way! suitability for making good concrete. Furthermore, to excavate sand from river or sea, the ship dredging requires to be anchored over the deposit; tidal flows in the Orkneys can be extremely fast (hence the interest in electricity generation) and the weather unreliable – not what one wants with open hatches loading at sea!

“The tidal race was well illustrated to me on my first coastal voyage on the SS Arch Royal in 1946 from Methil to Lyness with coal. We were following a much larger steamer which required to pick up a pilot. The captain obviously had no idea of the tidal race, so he stopped his ship to pick up the pilot and his ship was quickly swung in a great big arc to port,meaning he had to complete the circle and follow us into the Flo.

“Incidentally, our coal was off-loaded at Lyness into a hulk – an old Great Lakes Steamer that had managed to make it over in convoy but suffered engine failure and sadly, would never steam again.” who appears in the photograph. He has identified the folk in the back row as, from left, Scott Fleming, Mike McKeown, Neil Morton, Lindsay Cox, Ian McGeough and Grant Fleming.

“Thereafter he got stuck, but was able to pick out Susan Cox and Elaine Summers in the next row.

“Regarding the programme, he recalls that the Cubs did a piece from Bugsy Malone. He has a video copy of the show which he intends to let me see when the lockdown is lifted!”

Today’s postcard was supplied by Jim Howie of Broughty Ferry. “It shows Dundee High Street, looking west with DM Brown’s store on the right,” he says. “The trams outnumber the motor vehicles. The postcard was sent to Poland in August 1946 .”