BridgetonMemories

My brother and I both went to Dalmarnock, staying in Dunn street. My name was Marion Gilmour, and my brother James Gilmour. I actually started at Queen Mary Street then moved on to Dalmarnock. I remember Mr Page, Mr Wright, Miss Kerr (she tried to teach us to knit...I still remember that horrible blue scarf she kept unravelling because it was not right!). Incidentally, I now knit very well! A teacher that I kept in contact with until her death a few years ago was Miss Dow. She lived with her sister, and in later years I did visit them at home a couple of times. I remember breaking my arm walking over the ice in the playground (I would not have been sliding as that was a NO NO). I was taken to Miss Dow who always kept a jar of sweeties in her desk. The test if the arm was broken or not was if you could reach the jar with an outstretched arm! I could not - but she gave me a sweetie anyway and Miss Campbell took me to Hospital to get "plastered". Miss Dow took great pride in her writing. "lightly up, and firmly down" was her saying when she was trying to instill her love of writing on us! I can still imagine it to this day!........ Marion Major (nee Gilmour)

*23 memories in year order*	Last update 21 July 2008 13:29
Years DPS & Topic	NAME
1928 to 1935 - Dux memory & teachers	Chrissie Edgar
"I attended Dalmarnock Primary School from 1928 to 1935. My brother Andrew and my sisters May and Nessie also attended. We lived in London Road with my brother Sammy and sister Ina. My husband Jim Forrester also went from 1926-1928. He stayed in Fairbairn Street but I didn't know him then. I was dux in 1935. I remember Margaret Mills, Peggy Pringle, Betty Lunn, Mattie Grant, Jessie Tennant, Archie Lindsay, Sam Forsyth. Does anyone know if they are still out there? Head teacher was Mr McGregor and other teachers were Mrs Cooper, Mrs Walker, Miss McDonald, Mr Johnstone, Mr French and qualifying teacher Miss Smith. She started a Girls Guide company for the pupils from the school. I remember marching into school and up the stairs to the music of a piano. I am hoping to visit the school soon " ( Oct.2003 )
1930 to 1937 - My teachers	Peter Scott
"My first teacher was MISS TAINSH, then, in chronological order (if my memories serve me) MISS STEWART, MRS WILLIAMSON, MISS CLARK, MR CAMPBELL, MR WRIGHT, and finally, MR DAVID ORR. The headmaster was MR. MACGREGOR, and headmistress was MISS BERTRAM. My classmate George Storrie and I were forever curious about where our teachers lived, imagining addresses in Hynland, Bearsden, Mt. Florida, and other (to us) far away places. Much to our astonishment, Mr. Campbell (1934 - 35) lived at 525 Gallowgate. The Gallygate, for heaven's sake, our aunties lived there, which to our small minds was about as classy an address as Fairbairn Street. (webmaster:-easy now Peter I lived in Fairbairn St) Anyway, one Friday at four o'clock, George and I set off in search of the truth. To our surprise, 525 Gallowgate wasn't some run-down tenement, instead it was a posh, red sandstone two storey building with stained glass windows. While I stood guard at the close-mouth, George ran upstairs to check out the nameplates. Suddenly I spotted Mr. Campbell heading straight for the close. I yelled "George - he's coming!" and bolted. George, in a flash of genius, pulled his jersey over his head and calmly walked right past Mr. Campbell on the stairs. Talk about a close encounter! MR. WRIGHT (1935 - 36) was nearing retirement and was what today would be described as a "laid-back" type of guy. George, again, was teacher's pet - clean the blackboard, tidy the cupboards, etc. Mr. Wright lived in East Kilbride, and every Friday, George would wait for Mr. Wright, and offer to carry his case to the bus stop in Dalmarnock Road, where George would be rewarded with a thrupenny bit. On this particular Friday, they reached the bus stop - but no thrupenny bit. George was in a panic, as he saw the bus fast approaching - Heron Street, Hozier Street, Ruby Street - and George kept seeing his pocket money disappear with every turn of the wheels. Just as Mr. Wright moved forward to board the bus, George - never one to miss a trick - said "Mr. Wright, d'ye know what I did wi' the thrupence you gave me last week?". Mr. Wright must have given a wry smile as he dipped into his pocket and produced the precious coin for his helper. You may guess from these stories that George went on to achieve great success, and he emigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto in 1954. He and I are still great pals and phone each other often. Now about me - after Dalmarnock, I attended Bernard Street School and left in 1939. Early in 1944, I trained as a wireless operator in the Royal Signals, and served in Italy, managing to catch the tail-end of that campaign. I married in 1955, and emigrated to Vancouver with my family in 1965. I have three children and three grandchildren."
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1935 - Fond Memory of a special teacher- Mr Wright	Peter Scott
"I was totally amazed to see on the D.P.S. website the 1937 class photo with our beloved Mr. Wright, teacher extraordinaire, in the foreground. I remember that Mr. Wright always kept a tin of Zubes (remember them!) on top of his desk. I'm not sure if he had a chronic sore throat, or if he just liked to suck a Zube! It was late in 1935 that Mussolini's troops invaded Abyssinia, and used poison gas and machine guns to defeat the natives whose spears were useless in the face of such fearful weapons. At the time, a number of senior M.P.'s in the British government were afraid of Mussolini, as were the governments in other countries, and those of us who are old enough will remember Haile Selasse (the lion of Judah) appealing in vain for help to the League of Nations. But our Mr. Wright was in no doubt as to how we should deal with this bully, as with a withering look sideways at an imaginary Mussolini, he would deliver him a knock-out blow with the back of his hand. It was a history lesson I never forgot, and who knows, if those in power in Whitehall had taken Mr. Wright's advice, we might have been spared the horror that followed just a few years later. Mr. Wright's description of Mussolini was "The bullfrog of the Pontine marshes", and I will always believe that it was Mr. Churchill who borrowed the phrase from Mr. Wright and not the other way round.
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1936 Teacher Miss Forsyth	James Thomson OBE
Who could ever forget their first teacher? Ours was Miss Forsyth - an elderly lady of about twenty-three or so, as I remember her. She was beautiful and a genius who knew absolutely everything. We were all very sad when we grew out of the infant class and left her behind. I don't remember her being there for long after that - she probably married and left - married women had to leave teaching in pre-war days. All of our teachers were "misses" or "misters" - no "Mrs" or "Ms" then!

1936 to 1943 - War year evacuees	James Thomson OBE

"On 2 Sept 1939 Dalmarnock School was evacuated to Glencaple 5 miles south of Dumfries. Within a week most of the evacuees had gone home but there were still a good number of us left and a school was set up for us in the new village hall - the "Barber Hall". We were taught there by a single teacher - a Miss Douglas who was actually a science teacher from Bernard St School. She was the kind of teacher from whom her pupils simply seemed to soak up tuition - I'll be grateful to her forever!"

1939 to 1946 - Duck Pond	Charlie Robb
" My grandmother remembered when the Dalmarnock School site was a DUCK POND! She also said one of the workmen was killed during the construction of the school. My mother attended Dalmarnock Primary School in 1915" See Profile of Charlie and Shirley Robb ( nee Crainey)
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1941 to 1948 - War year memories	Shirley Crainey ( now Robb )
.. I lived across the street from Dalmarnock School at 56 Albany Street. I went to the nursery school in Dalmarnock School from 1939-1941 then I went to Dalmarnock School from 1941-1948. Does anyone remember the air-raid shelters in the playground and running round to the dinner school in the church at Boden Street. That was the best mince and potatoes and custard pudding that I ever tasted. Of course everything being rationed then and people queuing in long lines whenever a fruit shop got Jaffa oranges in and never seeing a banana or fresh egg for years (remember the American powdered eggs - the silver can with the stars and stripes on it) we relished those dinners in the dinner school. Although we were running to air-raid shelters every other night with our Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck gas masks, they were frightening, yet happy times. See Shirley's Profile
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1941 to 1948 - The 'Dummy'	Shirley Crainey ( now Robb )
Do the children still call the park across from the school (which was a vacant lot) 'The Dummy'? It got its name from the school for the deaf mutes that used to be on that site. A little bit of history !!! I also remember during the war watching the barrage balloons being sent up and taken down on the spare ground behind the school we used to call 'The Bully' See Shirley's Profile
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1952 - Teachers Mr Williamson & Miss Hamilton	Agnes Mercer
It surprises me and saddens me at the same time that nobody has mentioned the "great, Mr Williamson." He was a giant of a man with a heart as big. Beware if you did not pay attention in the class, for he would throw the blackboard erasor at the boys and the chalk at the girls. But when you were through with his class, you can bet you came away with a lot more knowledge than you had before. He shared his class with Miss Hamilton, another wonderful teacher and a Lady. If anyone has any information on either these two teachers I would love to read it. I understand Mr Williamson has passed on, but what of Miss Hamilton?

1956 -1962 March of the Toreadors	Sadie Biggar ( now Milis )
Mr Wright and Mrs Campbell were some of my favourite teachers, along with Miss Kenny. I also remember marching to what we then called the "Esso Song". I think it is the 'march of the Toreadors.' boy did they get mad when we would be singing "Esso sign means happy motoring!" June 2004 - Sadie visited the school this month whilst on holiday see her old class photo 1961


1947 to 1954 - Fresh Fruit	Rosemary Morton ( now MacMillan )
I started DPS in 1947, just as were slowly recovering from World War II. Many foods were in short supply, fresh fruit being one of them. One day Mr. Blake our headmaster had all the children assembled in the drill hall. He told us we were lucky boys and girls and that he had gifts for all of us. He and Mr.Irvine, the janitor, were surrounded with cardboard boxes and each pupil was given two of the biggest apples I had ever seen, Mr Blake said they were a gift from the good people of Canada. I was thrilled to think that someone on the other side of the world had thought of our wee school and had enough money to buy apples for us all! Excitedly I ran all the way home to show my Granny my two lovely apples, to be shocked when she cut them up and shared them with my wee cousins! I started crying and told her I didn't want to eat them but keep them on top of our sideboard to look at them! Rosemary MacMillan ( nee Morton )