The Living Memory Association Podcast

In the 50th episode of The Thelma Tapes Cammy Alexander takes us on a magical mystery tour through his concert going experiences from the 1960s to the 1980s, from The Beatles, The Kinks, the Rolling Stones and Curtis Mayfield all the way to Bruce Springsteen with many more in between!   Many thanks to Setuniman for the intro music as sourced from Freesound.org  

The 49th edition of the Thelma Tapes dons its swimming togs as we commemorate the 125th anniversary of Glenogle Swim Centre in the Stockbridge area of the city! Since opening in 1900 the pool has gone from simply being a place to bathe and get clean to a facility serving the community in learning how to swim, joining a swimming club, getting fit at the gym and even creating an outdoor garden! In t...

The 48th edition of the Thelma Tapes features two more working life histories from Leith's Pilmeny Development Project, an organisation which supports and assists senior members of our community who may be facing social isolation. In this episode we hear from Joe McAvoy and Fred Mackenzie (from 12min 36 sec) both of whom began their working lives as apprentices in local Leith industries.  The Livi...

The 47th edition of the Thelma Tapes continues with our series on working lives in Edinburgh's past, our contribution to the city wide Edinburgh 900 heritage project (see episode 46). In this second episode we hear from Charlie Holligan and Andrew Bell, two members of Leith's Pilmeny Development Project which supports, and runs activities for, folk in their senior years. First Charlie tells us abo...

In this 46th edition of the Thelma Tapes, we begin a new series 'Our Working City' as part of the Edinburgh 900 anniversary celebrating 900 years of the city. To complement the topic of 'City of Industry' one of the Edinburgh 900 themes, we'll hear from folk about their working lives, work practices and attitudes around work and the workplace through the decades. In the first episode Kenneth G Wil...

Sikh Stories is a podcast series produced in collaboration with Sikh Sanjog, The Living Memory Association and funded by Awards for All Scotland. The project idea came from members of the Sikh Community after images of a Leith Sikh family were displayed at The Wee Museum of Memory. These podcasts highlight the commonality amongst cultures and people that cut across divides. Celebrating their indiv...

The 44th edition of the THELMA tapes, The Liming Memory Association Podcast, is a dive into memories of the 1930s through the 70s. They have been gathered from our collection of old interviews and features a miscellaneous assortment of stories that don't quite fit into our regular episodes. This episode goes from tales of a father's steam powered lorry, to working in sales in the 50's, to tenement...

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...

This episode of the Thelma Tapes was recorded in our Wee Museum studio by our friends Tynah & Jonathan and is a celebration of our partnership with Enkula Health.   Kamel's story is fascinating, from a childhood in #Libya in a culture of loyalty trust and alternate, this episode is a breath of different in the truest sense. Tradition, Education, and Perspective from a different view point.  The fu...

In the 42nd episode of the Thelma Tapes we dare to investigate what collections, themes and objects will form the stuff of future museums and the sort of stories future generations might learn about humanity. Working with our Wee Museum of Memory in Livingston and exploring the 'Marseum' resource, commissioned by Museums Galleries Scotland, in their digital skills development classes, pupils from...

The 41st episode of the Thelma Tapes continues our 'Away for the Messages' shopping and retail heritage project. This episode features oral histories from Ian Suggitt and Tom Hislop both of whom worked for Edinburgh's Co-operative Stores in the 1950s/60s and the 1970s/80s respectively. Ian tells us about his time with the St Cuthbert's Association Store and Tom recalls his work history with the Le...

The 40th episode of the Thelma Tapes is from our 'Away for the Messages' shopping and retail reminiscence project. This is the second part of a feature on the shops in the Niddrie and Craigmillar area of Edinburgh and focusses on 'Cunninghams' a ladieswear and haberdashery shop which first opened in 1954. In the episode we hear from proprietor Alan Cameron about his memories of this family busines...

The 39th Episode of The THELMA Tapes takes us back in time to a selection of weird and wonderful holidays taken from the 1940s to the 1990s, gathered from visitors to our Wee Museum in Ocean Terminal Edinburgh.  Thanks to everyone who shared their earliest vacation stories with us, we hope you enjoy joining us on a trip down memory lane to Scarborough, Ayr, Liverpool, France, Budle Bay, Cramond, U...

The 38th episode of the Thelma tapes continues to chart our retail and shopping reminiscence project, 'Away for the Messages.' In Part One, of a two-episode feature, we focus on the memories of shops in the Niddrie and Craigmillar district of Edinburgh. We hear from Ruby Suggitt who worked at Cunningham's Drapers and Ladies' Fashions in the 1960s and from Heather Henderson, born and bred in Greend...

The 37th episode of the Thelma tapes continues to chart our retail and shopping reminiscence project. In this episode we hear from Helen Teviotdale of Casey's Confectioners and Sweet Shop as she recalls working with Jimmy Casey and serving sweets to the great Edinburgh public! Stay tuned as Helen reveals her own personal recipe for Scottish tablet! Thanks to Bigcat_Smauls for the use of his 'Witho...

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 35th episode of the Thelma tapes continues to chart our retail and shopping reminiscence project. In this episode we hear from June Wesley and her daughter Elaine Hutton about J A Nisbet's China and Glass Merchants which served Edinburgh shoppers for over 80 years during the twentieth century.         Thanks to Bigcat_Smauls for use of his 'WIthout a care' upbeat loop found on Freesound.org 

The 34th episode of the Thelma tapes introduces us to a new shopping and retail reminiscence and heritage project, 'Away for the Messages.' From victuallers in the West Port to sweetie shops in Portobello via Forsyths, Goldbergs and The Store we hear from our friends and visitors about some of their memories of shops from Edinburgh and beyond!   Thanks to Bigcat_Smauls for use of his 'Without a Ca...

The 33rd episode of The Thelma Tapes takes us ambling down a musical memory lane, with recollections from the 1950s to the 1980s of  acts such as The Beatles, Bowie, Generation X, The Specials, The Cramps, Val Doonican and many more!  We hear tales of meeting Tom Waits on the street and getting free concert tickets, of sheltering Robert Smith under an umbrella, of punk attitudes, homemade fanzines...

Remember, remember...the 32nd episode of The THELMA Tapes takes us back in time to memories of Bonfire Night and Halloween from days gone by.  We hear tales of dooking, treacle scones, guising, turnip lanterns and gigantic fires with no health and safety in sight!  With stories of squibs galore, bangers, catherine wheels and sparklers, and many traditions that have survived to this day.   Penny fo...

The 31st edition of The THELMA Tapes podcast is a celebration of Edinburgh pubs, taking us on a massive pub crawl of wonderful stories from the 1930s to the 1950s.  We pop in to The Old Chain Pier, The Beehive, Barney Battles, The Diggers, Bennet's Bar and many many more, and also discover the secret of Harry Lauder's shelf! Not to mention the black panther behind the bar at Fairleys...

The 30th edition of The Thelma Tapes is dedicated to memories of long gone pets. This Living Memory Association podcast is packed full of great reminiscences of much loved dogs and cats, budgies, neglected fish, rabbits galore and the occasional tortoise, each one emerging from the mists of time in story form.

The 29th episode of The Thelma Tapes is centred around wonderful memories of the Leith Walk and Kirkgate areas from the 1940s to the 1970s.  We hear tales of the Gaeity Theatre, the Alhambra, David Kilpatricks School, living with the Scott Brothers, earning two and thruppence an hour at The Capital and going to the Kirkgate offal butchers to buy the much maligned delicacy of tripe!

The 28th episode of The Thelma Tapes is a celebration of the life and career of Scottish boxing legend Ken Buchanan in his own words.  Britain's oldest surviving world champion takes us on a wonderful journey from living in Northfield and going to Portobello High School all the way to winning the Lightweight Championship of the world in Panama, dancing with Princess Anne and being inaugurated into...

The 27th edition of The Thelma Tapes takes us back in time to look at the clothes we have worn and fashions we have followed from the 1960s to the 1990s.  We hear wonderful stories of loon pants, patent leather boots, Beetle Suits, abysmal hats and tight perms from the people who proudly or reluctantly sported them in days gone by.