I was to leave 138 Main Street when I was six years old. Our old home was then promptly demolished by the local authority…just in case we should feel the need to sneak back to enjoy the dubious delights of our somewhat primitive living arrangements. Over the coming years I would reflect with some wonder on my paraffin lamp guided visits to the block of outside toilets during the freezing winter nights of the late 1950s. These days I live in a house with 3 inside toilets on the hard-learned principle that one can never have enough of such luxuries.
But, toilet arrangements not withstanding, my life at 138 Stirling Street was a happy one if somewhat solitary, the neighbours having left some years prior to our own departure. It was to be here that my earliest memories would be anchored. I still remember my father entertaining me at bedtime with his musical repertoire. “I see the Moon” was a favourite – that record coming in at No.9 in the top 100 singles of 1954. I am forced to conclude that 1954 was indeed not a stellar year for the top 100.