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Memories of a childhood in wartime Leith. The trials and tribulations of the period, allied to the camaraderie of the community in facing up to an uncertain future made a lasting impression on John Stewart.
Sweets were rationed during the whole period of my attendance at Dr Bells primary school in Leith. However, a sales girl from Smith the Bakers would come to the school gate with a tray of gingerbread squares. We would queue as orderly as children could be expected to be allocated one piece on producing the required penny.
We received our regulation one third of a pint of free milk each day. Senior boys and girls delivered this milk to each classroom. The cardboard tops of these bottles were collected in order to play a form of pitch & toss, the winner being the person with the top landing nearest the wall.
No school meals were available to us at Dr Bell's, which meant we had to go home each dinnertime - we didn't use the term lunch in those days. If it was raining as dinnertime approached and it didn't look like stopping, we were told not to return.
We would sit in anticipation of this, forever peering out of the tall windows and dreading that the falling rain would taper off. The bearer of the good tidings was a senior who relayed the headmaster's decision to each class.
Oh how we listened to hear the classroom door open and see the girl enter. She would whisper something in the teacher's ear and the latter would turn to us with a smile. She didn't have to say anything. A half-day had been sanctioned.
John Stewart, 2001
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