LifeStory

Episode 54 of Lifestory takes us from the Punjab in the 1940s to 2020s Edinburgh in the company of married Sikh couple Akbal and Jagdish.  We hear tales of facing racism at school, fighting for the right to wear a Turban on Lothian buses, becoming the first Sikh bus driver in Edinburgh, building successful businesses, raising a wonderful family and following traditions which have lasted thousands...

The 53rd episode of 'Lifestory' is an unreleased show from our audio archives, an interview with the wonderful Evelyn Whitfield who sadly left us on 18th December 2023.  In this episode (at the age of 77) Evelyn tells us about growing up in Auchtermuchty, of her teaching career and a huge range of volunteering posts, from St Columba's Hospice to the RVS, Reading Newspapers for the blind and The We...

In the 51st episode of Lifestory we are joined by the wonderful Margaret Ann Rutter in our Wee Museum studio.  At the age of 80, Ann takes us through her family history via a rocky relationship with her Mother, vacations in Cornwall, teaching and lecturing in Edinburgh and a near death experience on the water, as well as everything in between! 

Episode 52 of Lifestory sees us joined by the remarkable David Flucker, who is still volunteering for the St Columba's Hospice charity shop in Ocean Terminal at the wonderful age of 102 years old.  David begins by taking us back in time to his childhood growing up in a family of fishermen and attending school in Newhaven in the 1920s and on to a wonderful series of adventures.   We travel with Dav...

In the 51st edition of Lifestory we are joined by regular Wee Museum visitor William Van Der Velde, who looks back on 78 years of life in Edinburgh.  We travel back through his attending David Kilpatrick school up until the age of 14, reaching the ABA boxing finals at the Royal Albert Hall, accompanying Ken Buchanan on his rise to the world championship and a long working life at Scottish and Newc...

In the 50th edition of Life Story, we are joined by Sophia. She takes us through stories from throughout her life, from growing up in Newhaven, to her father's gambling, to singing lessons in school and delivering mail and packages over college breaks. Eventually she tells of life working in Conveyance with the National Service and finally about her work after retirement with the Newhaven Heritage...

In the 49th edition of Lifestory, at the age of 86, Melvin takes us through the ups and downs of his life. Starting with his childhood playing on the train tracks in his back yard, to his time studying Engineering at Heriot-Watt University. Later his time in the national service, and eventually his life studying and then subsequently practicing law, first with his father's law firm and later with...

In the 48th edition of Lifestory at the age of 80 Alistair looks back on 40 years of working life with the store, from joining Alloa branch as a clerk at 15 to becoming Chief Executive of Borders Co-Op.  

The 47th edition of The Living Memory Association's 'Lifestory' podcast sees 85 year old historian Andrew Grant looking back on his working life in the 1960s after he had returned from time spent on the ocean waves.   Taking us from the Royal Infirmary to record shops and driving Globe Juice bottles around in search of a daily wage!

The 46th edition of our Lifestory podcast features the colourful life of Stuart Roy McIvor, who spent 30 years in the Metropolitan Police and 5 years as a City Councillor in Edinburgh for the SNP.  At the age of 78 with a great appreciation of the where he is now, Stuart looks back on a life packed to the full with both sunshine and shadow.  

Episode 45 of The THELMA Lifestory podcast introduces us to David and Hilary Thomson, happily married for 55 years in September 2022.  We hear tales of growing up in Portobello and Ratho in the 1950s & 60 and of a romance born on the badminton court!  Packed with great stories of a full life, working hard at business and family with a lot of laughter along the way.

Born in Hackney in 1954, Martin Penny grew up in King's Lynn and then moved to Enfield.  His father was a successful businessman who sold feather dusters then moved into selling packaged butter, taking the family from no central heating into a house with all mod cons, from proper East End to privileged. We follow Martin's journey from throwing objects at passers by from the safety of a silver birc...

Our dear friend Tommy Carson sadly passed away in June 2022. He was 99 years old and an absolute force of nature. This is a short podcast where he goes through his eight tips for a good life. All practical suggestions from a man who remained active and living independently right until the end of his life. One thing shines through though, his positivity. A lesson to us all. Also never take life too...

Born in 1949, David Franks takes us on a reminiscence journey packed with stories from growing up in Jarrow and Hebburn all the way through to retirement in Glasgow.  David's adventures take him from Junior School to Newcastle University, from audit assistant to partner in Price Waterhouse, with many twists, turns and laughs along the way.

Former manager of Meadowbank Thistle, Stenhousemuir and Alloa Athletic and head teacher of Ainslie Park and Musselburgh Grammar, Terry Christie has packed an awful lot into his 78 years.  Moving from Ireland to Edinburgh at a young age, Terry's love for football was born in the streets with a tennis ball and in going to watch Gordon Smith play for his beloved Hibs with his Mum and brother.  We hea...

In the second part of our conversation about living with dementia, with Otto still listening and making his presence heard,  May talks about the loss of communication with Douglas and how she felt they had lost much of the laughter in their lives. As Douglas lost interest in many of the things he had loved doing, the day-to-day routine dominated and May's own health did suffer. May movingly descri...

Douglas Barbour and his wife May lived with Douglas's Alzheimer's Dementia for many years .In this podcast May describes noticing early changes in Douglas's memory and how these changes affected their lives .May's background in nursing as well as volunteering at the local day centre meant she had a bit of experience ,knowledge and some insight into the challenge that faced them. Her primary concer...

Andrew Grant decided at the age of 15 that he would like to join the Merchant Navy  He did the deck apprentice course at Leith Nautical College and after applying to several shipping companies got a job with Shell Tankers. His first voyage took him to the Carribean  then he was off to the Middle East in fact he saw the whole of the  World apart from the Antartic during his career. We hear how he r...

Robert Hume Patterson is 100 years old and has amazing memories of growing up and working in Portobello. He takes us on a tour of the different streets Bridge St, Tower St, Pipe St to name but a few and we hear what happened to them with with the passing of time. We get to hear about different characters who lived in Portobello including Ned Barnie who was the first Scot and oldest person to swim...

May Hoare was born in Malawi on the 24th May 1935.Her Father had an engineering business in Malawi and May lived with her older sister and parents in a house that had been built especially for them. May takes us a tour of the house and the large garden that were maintained by several servants. Holidays were spent on the Zomba plateau or swimming at Lake Nyasa. We hear of the school aeroplane which...

In this episode we meet Robert Hume Patterson who was brought up in Portobello in the 1920s & 30s. He was the youngest of 4 children and they lived at no 4 Bridge Street with their Mother and Father. We hear how he nearly drowned at the age of 3 only being saved as he was wearing his wee red coat and how he continued to be accident prone He and his friends had a lot of freedom and they explored th...

Margaret Laird who was born in 1948 tells us about growing up in Corstorphine in the 1950s and 60s Her father opened a large Ironmongers on St Johns Road and it was there that he met Margarets Mother. Margaret had two brothers who attended Heriots  but she was sent to Mary Erskines where the headmistress Miss Jennings was feared by the pupils and teachers alike. We get to hear what  Margaret did t...

In this episode Tommy Carson takes us out dancing. Its 1935and Tommy who is 13 years old puts on his Dads flannels and heads out to Dalgleish Dance Hall on St Mary's Street Edinburgh. This is the first time he's ever gone to the dancing and he copies how the older dancers move and hold themselves. He loves it and not only that he's good at it. From then on Tommy goes dancing every night and some a...

The episode starts at the end of the War and VE day with bonfires and singing in the streets. Then we hear of attempting to camouflage the Power Station difficult when the chimney was 60ft high and barrage floating in the sky over Woods Park. Then James goes back to his life in the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy. Looking after the Commanding  Chief of Portsmouth and meeting the stars of the day...

In this episode James Yorkston Reminisces about his school days at Tower Bank and Portobello High He enjoyed school but wasn't averse to skipping .If caught the punishment varied. It could be lines, kept in after school or being hit with bend and over his teacher Mr Walls 2 rulers. This didn't stop James from admiring Mr Walls and thinking he was a good teacher. He played for the school and enjoye...