Nairn Street.

[joette]

Is where my Grandfather was born in 1903.It was known as the Clyde Trust Buildings & my Great-Grandfather was employed as a stonemason by them.He helped to maintain the many miles of canalside & bridges.
It is now demolished & I am kicking myself that I did not take photos of it when it stood.It was a fine row of tenements very near to the Forth &Clyde Canal in Dalmuir.
Even more than that was I was fortunate enough to visit several times the same flat.At fourteen I babysat for one of the Sisters in my Ward at Church.
My Mother was very excited when I told where I was going & we worked out it was indeed her Father's birthplace.
When there I could visualise my long dead Great-Grandparents as they presided over their eleven children.Only not Wee Annie as she died aged two of Menigitis.I could see the huge table where they sat on a Friday evening with their numerous sons,daughters /daughters in-laws & grandchildren.I could see my three year old Mother on the special stool made by my Great-Grandpa which was placed on an adult chair to bring a small child up to height with the table.Her Granny tenderly feeding her tidbits
.According to her older cousins she was the favourite & could twist this tough stern woman around her little finger.I wonder if she could glimpse the curls or the eyes of her own Wee Annie in my Mum? We will never know as there are no photos of either of my Great-Grandparents or any of their children.
I wonder if Great-Granny was working in her huge kitchen-it had a sink at the window & a bed recess in the corner or in her "best" front room when the telegram came in 1917 to tell them that her beloved red-haired handsome boy Tommy would not be returning to them.I wonder if she took any comfort in the fact that he had been stretchering out a wounded comrade when he had been shot in the back by a sniper? I doubt it but I'm sure that her tears were cried in private & a brave face put on & no comforting rituals of a funeral to get them through the ensuing weeks & years.
I know it was the "front room" where she took my beloved Uncle Tommy when he was born seemingly lifeless after a protracted labour of my poor wee Granny -all 5 feet of her & alll 12 lbs plus of him.
She worked on him whilst the Dr & Midwife attended my Granny Peggy & I can picture Great Granny rubbing & slapping & plunging him into first cold then hot water in a determined effort to start him breathing.It worked much to the surprise of the Dr coming in to sign a Death Certificate for him.

I know Saturday were busy days as they prepared for Sunday when no work not even cooking was done-all the food was prepared the day before & warmed on the Sabbath.
Dalmuir Parish Church was built by public subscription & my Great-Grandpa's contribution was the material & building of the walls & front gates-the Church which housed Thomas Waddell's War Memorial is gone but the walls & gates still stand & when I touch them I feel connected to my Great-Grandpa.
There house was a place of congregation for the family not just the offspring but Great-Granny's Leitch "connections" whom everybody assumed were her siblings! Still haven't solved that mystery but I think they were her cousins.
The flat was the only one on it's landing & they had the luxury of an unshared landing toilet! So only about twelve folk jostling for position every morning.
Great-Grandpa passed on his passion for gardens & growing things to my Grandpa.They had a back garden & also an allotment where my country born Great-grandpa supplied fresh produce for the dinner table.

It was from here that my Great-Uncle left for San Fransisco with his wife & two boys in 1923 never to return.The Ellis Island records record Nairn St as his last address & where his next of kin were living.I wonder if they scanned the streets waiting for the postman to bring envelopes with US stamps to hear news of their live in the far away California.

Time passed & they left Nairn St.Great-Granny died first after complications & infection of an appendicitis.Great-Grandpa now a little "muddled" went to live with my Great-Uncle before he too died.

When home I often pass & look at the new flats & houses which stand in the place where the tenements used to be.My thought as always are drawn back to the family history of the place & all the stories & happenings which I will never know about,all the faces I never knew.
Yet I "know" of each one & can visualise them in my mind's eye & feel love for each one in my heart.

Oh & I'm still kicking myself that I did not take pictures inside & out when I had the chance.

[Currie]

A very nice story Joette,

Is this the right Nairn Street between Dumbarton St and the Canal or am I lost? http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&i ... 03047&z=18

One of these days, if we can get hundreds of light years out into Space, fast enough, with multigigapixel supercameras Google Earth will probably be offering overhead shots (movies?) of the ancestors going about their business. (hopefully not with blurred faces). But maybe the Dr. Who method would be easier.

All the best,
Alan

[joette]

Spot on Currie.Wouldn't that be lovely.That's one of the reasons I would love a Time Machine that & the bringing back of "antiques",buy shares low sell before they crash etc!