Made from tree trunks

“Perhaps I can add some information to the discussion regarding the ‘greenie poles’,” emails reader Stanley Barrie. “The poles were made from tree trunks, most likely pine, which were 30 to 40 feet in length. The trunks were soaked in creosote and allowed to dry before being installed.

“Although I did not see it being done, I was told when our pole in Dundee’s Church Street was replaced it could only be brought into the back green area through one of the ground-floor flats due to the offset of the front and rear doors of the ‘closie’. The flat in question had windows and doors in good alignment to allow the pole to pass through.

“The pole stood at the back of the drying green area as near the centre point of the tenement as possible. Starting about 10ft above ground level, metal spikes were driven into one side of the pole to allow a person to climb it from the top of a ladder if required. With the pole in place, a series of pulleys were fixed to the pole in line with pulleys fixed to the back elevation of the tenement.

“The householder would then feed a rope through the pulley on the building and drop one end to the ground where it was taken up the pole and fed through the corresponding pulley before being returned to the householder, thus forming a loop. The householder would then draw the line tight and tie it off ready for the next wash.

“Incidentally, the pulley system itself would be referred to as the ‘pullashee’ or as my mother said ‘pulleyshee’.”