1950s and 1960s
In 1954 Doug Dundas, my Father, died. He had a bad ulcer which burst his main artery. He was only 50 years old!
Thelma was the first of the four sisters to be married. She married Stewart Gray in 1959.
Then it was Marlene's turn. In January 1960, she married Albert McNally.
I married Samuel Binder in July 1960 and then Anne married Michael McKay in July 1961.
After we all left home, Mother moved to a ground floor flat in Beauly Square, Kirkton, Dundee. She used to go on holiday for a week every year to New Tile, near Blairgowrie. She went with her sisters, Emmy and Minnie. The above photo was taken when I went to visit them there. The dog (Spring?) belonged to the owners of the house.
In the 1960s, we all had our children. I had Merle, Marlene had Grant, Karen, Kim and Gillian. Thelma had Alison, Jacqueline, Stephen, Stewart and David and Anne had Lucinda (Cindy) and the twins, Brian and Michael.
Memories - 1950s
In 1950, I remember travelling by bus from Edinburgh to Liverpool (shown in the photo to the right) to spend a holiday with my Uncle Frank and Aunty Peg. Uncle John - who was pianist with Angus Fitchet's Scottish Dance Band - had been in the area and came to stay for a few days too. We all went through the Mersey Tunnel to Chester and New Brighton and back to Liverpool on the ferry. We also visited Speke Hall where there was a picture of The Child of Hale which was said to be 9 feet tall!
Our neighbours in Helmsdale Drive, Kirkton, Dundee at that time were: next door - Ed and Nell Traynor. They had a large family: Ellen, Eddie, Pat, Marie, Jean, Gordon and Denise. On the other side were the Patersons. Esther was about the same age as Thelma. I heard recently that she died at the end of 2005. I was friendly with Charlotte McLeod who lived a bit further up the road. Opposite us were the McDonalds. They had two boys; Danny and Davie. When Danny married Nancy, they lived in that house. Davie went to Australia. Danny and Nancy now live in Broughty Ferry, Dundee and I still keep in touch with them.
Some of the others I remember include Betty Wilson, Janie Robertson, Bella Mackie, Mary Mains, Helen Crawford, Dody Robertson and Mac Campbell. If any of you - or anyone who knows of you - see this, please get in touch! Thelma would love to hear about you too.
Memories - 1960s
When Sam and I got married, we lived in a flat in Park Avenue, Dundee (shown in the photo to the left). It was on the third floor. It was very near Baxter Park and I often used to take Merle a walk there in her buggy (shown to the right). We lived there until 1968 (Merle was born on 4 March 1966) when we moved to Barnhill, Dundee. The cottage was nearly 70 years old then and belonged to Crolls Nursery where Sam worked. We bought it and, over the years, did it up by building a garage, sun lounge, extra bedroom and adding double glazing and gas central heating. Sam transformed the garden from the jungle that it was in 1968 to the beautifully kept flower (especially roses), fruit and vegetable garden it was when we left. We were in that house until 1990 when we moved to Ayrshire.