Exoticism in Oxgangs?

Braidburn Valley

Did Oxgangs do exoticism in the 1960s?

During the school summer holidays when we were quite young a nice outing was to the lovely Braidburn Valley for a small picnic. Those family outings would tend to mainly include mums and children as the dads would be out at work.

We would set off eagerly from 6/2 Oxgangs Avenue fresh as daisies and keen as mustard. 

My sister Anne would be in a push-chair which was very handy for transporting a blanket and small picnic. 

For those families such as us who lived at the four Stairs at the west end of Oxgangs Avenue it was a long walk because we were going from one end of the Avenue to the other and from there onward through Braidburn Valley to the far end which was a fair old distance. However, it was slightly downhill and as the Gaelic saying goes We had the sun on our face and the wind (just a zephyr) at our back.

When we turned into Braidburn Valley the first house on the left had a large back garden that ran adjacent to the cinder path into the valley. A great highlight for all the children was the doo'cot in the back garden. If we were lucky we might see the exotic, white doves. For young children it was quite magical to see the birds.

We always took our picnic deep into the valley toward the far end at the open air theatre which had been created in 1937 just before the Second World War for outdoor performances including early Edinburgh Festivals.

Outdoor Theatre Performance at Braid Burn Valley (Photograph by Mr W. R. Smith)

This was a sylvan little spot  where the water in the burn was shallow, still and clear. We would go barefoot in the burn and with our little nets fish for minnows and sticklebacks. The nets had been bought at the start of the school summer holidays from T. F. Francis' drysalters shop at 29 Oxgangs Crescent shopping precinct.

We would always climb to the top of the steep slope and roll down the grass steps (outdoor seating for the theatre). This was always great fun. 

Sandra Young and her sister on the grass steps

All the while, mums would chat contentedly with other mothers or read the Woman's Own or a novel all the while knowing the children were safe and happy.

These picnics were simple little affairs. And then before we knew it, it would be time to head back home to The Stair. This was the hard part; not just because it signalled the end of the picnic and the afternoon but because with our little legs it was a very long walk home. We were at the far end of the valley; the cinder path was long and wynding and before we left the park we had to negotiate a slight uphill incline out of Braidburn Valley. However, at least there was the doo'cot to look at. And then there was the challenge of walking all the way along Oxgangs Avenue, a long weary walk in to the west. The sun was in our faces making us too hot and the breeze was against us. We were all a little weary from being on the go all afternoon and were all looking forward to getting home and our tea.

Braid Burn Valley and the Long Walk Home to The Stair

The smaller children might be lucky to get a collie-back ride or to find a spot on the push-chair. It was tough on the mums; being the eldest I never got a ride back to The Stair. There would be regular moans from some of the kids, I'm tired Mum. And then it would be over. Home was in sight. It was grand to get home and back to The Stair, pooped, but content; tired, but happy.

Approaching the border line where two communities, Greenbank and Oxgangs meet

And the answer to the question is that perhaps no, there wasn't exoticism in Oxgangs.

Instead it was to be found at Greenbank. It was where two worlds met. The doo'cot served as a metaphor and perhaps summed up the difference between two communities at the border-line; the gap between the working class, council owned, grey housing schemes of Oxgangs and the middle class, privately owned bungalows and villas of the leafy suburbs of Greenbank. 

Even the two names seem to jar against one another - the tougher sounding Oxgangs against the soothing image of Greenbank

Thursday 13th July 1972

Note to Self Peggy’s (Burbank) Birthday (New York Penfriend)

When I got back to Oxgangs from Portobello there was a large brown A4 envelope waiting for me. It was the O Level results. I got two, Arithmetic and History so I was quite pleased; especially after that strange letter back in June stating it was doubtful whether I would get any at all. It’s amazing to think Mum got six plus four Highers in things like Latin and Greek in 1954. 

I went down to the school record office; since it was such a lovely day we popped across to Bruntsfield Links for a wee game of putting. 

It’s been a great day all rounded off with a big group of us going jumping the burn working our way from Colinton Mains to Braidburn Valley before squelching our way home.

The School Summer Holidays

It was always a delicious moment awakening on the first few days knowing that you didn't need to attend school.

For many of us at The Stair it didn't mean a long lie in bed as we would often have a job on the go, either delivering milk or newspapers, usually the latter.

However, out-with our paper runs and Sundays when we visited our grandparents at Portobello there was no structure to each day. Games of football would occur spontaneously, but mainly in the early evening.

During the day we'd go jumping the burn, following the burn from the lower part of Redford, through Colinton Mains, Firrhill and on to Braidburn Valley.

Small villages would appear in the back field when the girls draped blankets on the fence to form tents.

Sandra Young and her sister, Braidburn Valley grass steps.

Sometimes families packed a picnic and some blankets and headed to Braidburn Valley for an outing.We’d go deep into the alley toward the grass steps; an outing wasn't an outing without the children rolling over and over and down the steps from the top to the bottom.

The picnic wouldn't include anything much more than a sandwich.

And as with the Pentlands I always felt a certain sense of apprehension and excitement when I ventured to The Craigies, because they always felt both familiar and unfamiliar; this was because we would only visit them once or twice each summer.

Part of the excitement of the Craiglockhart Hills was that we (always visited as a group) might bump into other older, bigger boys from other parts who could be menacing and second the groundsmen who looked after the Merchants Golf Course who often spotted us when they were out on their tractors.

They would chase us away giving us a real frisson of excitement.

On the blind par three third hole we'd sprint on to the green, place a golfer's ball in the cup as if they'd achieved a hole in one and then hide in the woods. The golfer would search all around for his golf ball before taking a desultory glance in the cup followed by a merry jig!

Another memory was the hypnotic effect I felt whilst standing high up on the top of one of the hills, quite close to the edge, and looking down at the long grass on the valley floor which was gently swaying in the wind; I thought how easy it might be to be drawn over the edge such was the effect.

It was great fun being up on the Craiglockhart Hills because it would have been a sunny day which had attracted us up there; and sitting up high on the dry ground with the grass gently swaying and the sun beating down looking over 360 degree views enabled us to take in the panoramic view and enjoy everything that is wonderful about the city. The whole of Edinburgh was laid out before us and being a clear day we could see clear across the River Forth and to the north and to the Highlands; turning around we could look to the Pentland Hills and to the south.