Nana speaks of Scotland Clip 2

Post date: Jun 11, 2015 5:30:16 AM

Nana speaks of Scotland. Clip 2

Ballroom dancing was big in Scotland.

There were a whole lot of dance halls. I used to go to one called the Salon and you had to queue to get in. It was really really big and there was the Locarno in Glasgow.Barrowland was in a tough area in Glasgow but was a great place to watch the competitions with Bobby. There were 5 ballrooms in Glasgow. We’d go in by bus or train. The buses were quite frequent. Three quarters of an hour on a slow bus but there were sometimes faster ones with limited stops.

Dad didn’t but he was sporting..

Once she died my father got a housekeeper, Nan Hamilton. When she left in Term time I had to leave school just before I completed higher leaving certificate exams. I did have School Certificate. My father wanted me to go back and do it next year but I refused. i didn’t want to go back to school because I’d be a year behind.

The commercial college was suggested by Nan after the war. It included soldiers who were demobbed so seemed very adult. I ended up with several qualifications

On the way home I had to go down Hope St to the train. I remember it was where the prostitutes were and one day a group of American soldiers tried to trip me up. I told Nan who was furious. ‘I told you never to go down Hope St.’

I didn’t know anything in those days. When a girl had to leave school I had no idea why!

When my mother was getting sick the neighbour came in and did cleaning. My mother may have needed a hysterectomy but of course in those days you were never told! She died in late 1938 or early 1939 before the war started.

My next job was also for a Jewish company, a furrier.

My first job was with a Jewish company in Glasgow who manufactured furniture. I did typing, books and everything in this place.

T. Where were you working?

I went to work by bus. Waiting in the winter in the bitter cold. It was freezing and you could always tell who didn’t have their breakfast before they came because they were sick with the cold.