Tuesday, 23 October 2007

Early memories differ to the youth of today.

James Edgar’s earliest memory was walking through fields and climbing over fences on his way to school in Scotland.

Pensioner James, 78, of Talbot Park Road, Winton, reflected on how different and safe life was when he was growing up in Glasgow at the end of the Second World War in 1939. His account of early life differs somewhat to that of today, where exams took place every six months, chalk was used to write on the blackboard and “more discipline was given to prevent us from being naughty to the teachers”.

The youngest of four, with three sisters, James grew up in Glasgow, where crime was less heard off and he “never saw a bit of trouble in [his] life.” He reflected fondly on how he used to make his way to primary school in the mornings, by himself, through fields and over fences, hearing or seeing no trouble; unlike today where many parents wouldn’t allow their children to walk to school alone. He mentioned how different it was compared to his eldest sister's accounts of life after she moved to Canada.

James, who has three children and one grandchild, started primary school at the age of five and joined secondary school at the age of twelve. At the age of fourteen he left to start work for a Glaswegian ship building company. He met his wife at senior secondary in Glasgow at the age of fourteen. They later married in Edinburgh in 1957 and moved to Bounemouth in 1981. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary earlier this year.

2 comments:

Lewis Clarke said...

Ja, it's a good read with a nice background into his family.

Lawnie said...

It was interesting talking to this guy, although he had a thick Scottish accent and his wife came to collect him just as I was asking more questions, which made it harder to write the story.