Monday 16th August 1971

Edinburgh's David Jenkins winning 1971 European 400m Helsinski

For me I got up very late. 

I spread the word about my idea to hold an athletics competition up at Redford Barracks Stadium on the cinder athletics track. 

Well the word spread like wildfire and soon there were about forty of us all piling up there either walking up or on bikes and all in our various shorts, T-shirts, baseball boots and rubbers. What a sight it was seeing everyone climbing over the big metal fence; it was like we'd launched an attack on the Queen's Army! Fortunately there were no soldiers about or those who did see us just ignored us. We used the cinder track as well as the long jump pit. The track is great; you can fly along on it. Amongst doing all the organisation arranging the races and age groups as well as recording everything I managed to pick up four golds myself.

Everybody had great fun; it was a really big success and all down to BBC's David Coleman; the Europeans; and Scotland's inspirational David Jenkins! Amazing how something happening on the big world stage seeps through to a wee community like Oxgangs. A very happy day. 

However the air was taken out of my balloon a wee bit in that back home a lady had come up earlier about me to go the hospital on Wednesday. It's all about the skiving and the Biology lab incident! It's actually the day I go back to the school; the sunshine of the school summer holidays is about to come to an end when it meets the dark clouds of a new academic session at Boroughmuir Senior Secondary School. 

Gaga was up to see us and treated us all to Rissi's chips which I needed after all my exploits today.

Sunday 15th August 1971

I did Dougie's City Hospital paper round. Being a Sunday I only had to be down at Baird’s Newsagents around 7.30am. It was the first time I had to sell the Sunday papers as well as fags and confectionery. The biggest seller was ‘The Sunday Post’ - three out of four patients bought one. I also bought one for ourselves at 6/2 as well as a ‘Sunday Express.’ The hospital has a different feel to it on a Sunday. Somehow it's slightly quieter more restful and peaceful. In some of the wards there was a radio Sunday Service on in the background. I cycled back home to Oxgangs; with no workers heading off to work the streets were pretty empty. 

Sunday Post 15th August 1971

I enjoyed my Sunday rolls 'n Stork and a wee read of the sports pages in the Post before we all put in a very good shift in the house. It's now shining like a brand new pin. 

Afterwards a big bunch of us headed across to the nets at Redford Barracks for a good game of football. We played inside the stadium which was great fun and we managed to complete a full game without being chased off by the sudjers which is not always the case. Although being chased off is a beggar often spoiling a good going game it does give us all a bit of a buzz as we desperately try to climb the outside fence which is about twelve feet high. Ye cannae help laughing at some of the panicking strugglers or should that be stragglers! 

Back home it was the last day of the European Athletics Championships. It's really given me the bug for athletics. David Coleman is brilliant on the commentating. David Jenkins ran a great last leg in the relay and just missed out on us getting a bronze. I felt sorry for Scotland's Don Halliday and Les Piggot on the last leg of the 4 x 100 metres relay. The team ran the same time as the Italians down to a hundredth of a second yet were given fourth; you would have thought both teams would have got a medal. Somebody who did though was Brendan Foster who picked up a bronze in the 1500 metres. I've just had one of my ideas. There's a cinder athletics track around the football pitch up at the Redford Barracks Stadium; I think I might try to organise our very own Europeans or Olympics. I've just enjoyed some chips; it’s great having Rissi's open on a Sunday these days.

Friday 13th August 1971

I did the week's messages down at the Store. On the way down I somehow managed to lose a quid - a flipping disaster. That's a week's wages from my job at Baird’s Newsagents. Anyway on the way back I retraced my footsteps and managed to find it - PHEW! 

No Anne or Iain at home and Mum's away out so I was in on my own at 6/2 and stayed in all evening and watched telly; for me it was a perfect evening. First of all at 6.20pm the European Athletics Championships were on and Edinburgh's David Jenkins won the 400 metres. He ran absolutely brilliantly from the outside lane; he just took off like a bat out of hell flying down the back straight and remained strong right to the end just holding off the Italian. What an athlete he is. He's still only nineteen - that's only four years older than me. I think I can forget about any occasional dreams I might have about the running! He's a great sprinter as was the Russian bloke who won the 200 metres, Valery Borzov from Russia - he's a machine! 

After all that excitement I lolled back on the couch and watched ‘The Virginian. John McIntyre is in the series now playing a good part as Clay Grainger; he's less tart than Lee J. Cobb's the Judge - all 'n all a consistently good series. Afterwards I watched ‘It's A Knockout’ - what a flipping laugh; it was just a pity Iain wasn’t here to share the fun with! 

Tomorrow morning I'm doing Dougie Blades' paper run. Dougie's away trainspotting. I'll be selling all the different morning papers around the City Hospital wards. Pamela Baird must have confidence in me as it's the top job at the shop which must have around twenty paper runs. I've made the top of my profession aged only fifteen years old - at least temporarily!

Thursday 12th August 1971

I don’t consider myself to be much of a handyman but I managed to make a pretty decent guider (go-cart) for Colin Hanlon. The bogie will give a lot of us some fun as we push each other around the four blocks at full speed or fly down the hill on Oxgangs Place. 

Colin and Alan Hanlon

In the afternoon I did my papers up at the City Hospital; once I sold them all I happily wandered home to watch the European Athletics Championships which I've been hooked on the past few nights. 

Although it's not my favourite event it was great to see Barbara Inkpen win a silver medal in the high jump for us. It must be great to be an athletics hero on the telly - they just live different lives to the rest of us; we might think we're pretty good at running 'n jumping but they're all just different class; still we can always dream.

I watched the first episode of ‘The First Churchills’ - actually I watched it because I thought it looked quite interesting. I could have watched ‘The Two Ronnies’ on BBC 2. It was okay and I wasn’t disappointed; let's see how it pans out. I enjoyed some pie 'n chips from Risi’s. I seem to have been eating more healthily recently with fewer chips in my diet most probably because it’s the school holidays and I’m away from Boroughmuir.

Tuesday 10th August 1971

Ali; Boo-Boo; Les and I went for a very long cycle run today. We set off seeking out adventure feeling as fit as butchers dugs! We set off mid-morning and cycled all the way out to Dalkeith with a few breaks en-route. It was a pretty long way compared to being in Gaga’s car; they all depended on me for directions. 

We took the old back roads from Oxgangs which are lined with all the lovely Scottish hedgerow plants like thistles; buttercups; pink clover; cow parsley and primroses. It was a hot day and we arrived at London Road Dalkeith feeling pretty thirsty and of course with no money. 

With everybody's encouragement I plucked up the courage to call round to Pumpa’s (great-grandfather aged 89 years) house at London Road. All he offered us was a glass of water so we really didn’t bother hanging around too long. At the very least I was hoping we could get some of his Cremola Foam but he was having none of it. He's always been a bit of an inhospitable auld bugger but at his age what can you expect. Although I'm one of nine great grand-children I don’t really mean anything to him. 

Photograph SPL

We didn’t hang around Dalkeith for too long and instead cycled down to Portobello going past the old Cockatoo pub at old Craighall and down to Durham Road to Nana and Gaga’s where we were guaranteed to get a braw welcome and a massive feed as well as drinking down gallons of orange squash. It's great being able to take friends round to Nana’s knowing they're all so well received despite some dubious manners on all our parts. We had bacon and eggs and she also rattled up some scones and buns too. 

Nana’s back garden is at its lovely best. It's the height of summer and we all wandered about and then sat out for a while on the garden seats. Boo-Boo was eating the goose-gogs! In fact after all our cycling today, followed by a slap-up feed and sitting in the sun, we were all starting to stiffen up and nod off to sleep especially me being the only one up who was up at the crack of dawn to do my milk run. 

Photograph Wullie Croal

I was just thinking what a prospect - seven miles uphill back home through Arthurs Seat to Oxgangs. However once we got going and re-energised and with everyone's good company we soon got into our stride again; mind going along Morningside into Comiston Road was a bit of a long haul and with the prospective climb up through Greenbank to follow we instead cut through Braidburn Valley. 

We all got back home to the Stair around 7pm - tired but happy; a long fun-filled day with lots of good laughs - just how we should spend a school summer's holiday with adventures aplenty before the dark prospect on the near horizon as Boroughmuir and Firhill all start again next week. 

Back home at 6/2 Oxgangs Avenue I sat and watched the first day of the European Championships. I love my athletics; however a bit of a disappointment for Britain; Dave Bedford was dismal in the 10000 metres final. They pulverised him on the last lap. David Coleman was braw on the commentary as always but perhaps he built him up just a wee bit too much but Bedford did break the European record on a hot day at Portsmouth a few weeks back. 

Afterwards I went out to the coolness of an Oxgangs evening to have a wee chin-wag with Reg (Brian Rennie) and Guy Henderson. Oxgangs is a braw place in many ways with the only downside really being an undercurrent of violence and bullying from a few guys who I dislike and tend to avoid.

Wednesday 4th August 1971

Last night's rain continued; in fact it was pouring down and stayed like that all day which put a wee bit of a dampener on today's proceedings. Iain and Anne went down to 6 Henderson Row to spend the day at Maggie and Andy's house. I meanwhile went up to Ewart's Newsagents at Oxgangs Broadway and bought a copy of a new publication called the Rangers News and also the Radio Times. The Gers are quite go-ahead with their own publication; with a big fan base I suppose they reckon it will pay off attracting a big readership. 

Part of the reason I bought the Radio Times was because there's a wee feature about the European Athletics Championships from Helsinki which starts soon; I really like watching the athletics on the box. I ended up staying in all day; in the evening we had a right laugh with Maggie 'n Andy.