Craiglockhart Primary 1969-1977

The girls played superb football today and just did not do enough to win, but hey they were fab.

I got early to get some shopping, on the way there the morning light lit my old primary school. I decided I would blip it on the way back and it would be part of the 'History of ecodad in 100 blips'.

The primary school celebrated 100 years recently and I took my kids along. It was like I just left, everything was laid out the same but everything seemed so much smaller.

I still have my old photos and can name most of my classmate from over the years.

What memories to pick to mention here. Unlike today's kids, my mum tells me after a week in P1 I was walking to school on my own, less cars and less fears in those days.

The teacher that influenced me the most was Mrs Nichol, 'an old battle axe' but fair. I had the belt of her a few times, but the worse was when I wrote on the 'Moon stone' that was toruing schools. She leathered me on the hands with the Lochgelly tawse , boy did I cry.
The boys used to annoy her by singing too fast or slow when we did 'Singing Together' radio program?(or cassette) it sounded dreadful.

The school had seperate playgrounds for boys and girls, seperated by a tall iron fence. Sometime the janny would forget to lock the gates that seperated us and the boys would chance it and run into the girls part. If caught it was a trip to the headie and a belting.

In fact the south end of the school had the girls toilets and stairs and the boys had the north end, we would meet in the classroom.

The gymn was on the top floor and has the climbing frames that would pull out from the wall and create a play heaven of ropes, beams and obstacles. Lots of ropes burns on the hands and inside the legs, the ropes were alway so thick.

I loved school dinners and as your got older you could become a server at the table, this gave you the biggest slice of pudding , best pick of the food and best of all the skin of the custard.

The playground was tarmac and British Bulldog was the order of the day, this resulted in me braking my collarbone in p7, when I crashed to the ground.

In primary 7 we had a 'wee do'. Weeks of practicing our Scottish Country dancing, plucking up the courage to ask a lassie to the party. Kim W was due to go with me and then decided to go with someone else, so I ended up with some pals. On the night the boys sat on one side opposite the girls and would meet to dance in the hall. Halfway through the night we sat down to have jelly and ice cream, served to us, with the headie and his wife at a top table.

Afterwards we headed to the International Chippy at Viewforth for a sit down chippy, wow that was posh, and we walked home late.

Everytime I pass this on the way to Eco grans or the allotment I smile.