When We Were Kids: Part 2

A Memory of Fishcross.

My Name is William Speirs, in the 1940's we moved from Bellshill Lanarkshire to live in Fishcross, Alloa, Clackmananshire, Scotland. This is a short story about when we were kids in Fishcross from about 1946 till I left in 1959. The people I played with, my schools, Fishcross, Sauchie, then Fore brae’s at the top of Sunnyside, the characters of that time and the things we used to do.

The Early Years - We left Bellshill ( Park Head Farm ) at the end of the war approx 1946, with all our worldly goods on the back of a cattle truck belonging to Park Head Farm, Bellshill, as my dad had got a job as a miner at the King O Muirs Private Mine which was down the Tullabody Road. We came to Fishcross and got a prefab, 54 Pitfairn Circle, as we were driving from Bellshill to Fishcross (about 20mph in those days) my dad was sat in the front with the driver and my mum and three sisters and me were in the back, sat on the chairs. When we passed some people at the side of the road we would go “Moo-oo" so they would think we were cows in the back. When we arrived at 54 Pitfairn Circle it had running water, gas cooker, electric lights and a bathroom. We had an outside toilet and outside water pump at the farm in Bellshill, so it was a bit of luxury for all the family. We lived next door to the Welch family, the Fitzpatricks and the Lee family lived across the road. There was a Prisoner of War camp at Benview and the prisoners worked the land. They used to put a slide show on for the local kids, so mothers would take the kids down the Burnee to the camp at Benview for the show and the prisoners gave us cake and sandwiches. It was great... as kids we had a great time. Rab Stevenson had a piggery up the Coalsnaughton Road and all the people in the circle used to save their potato peelings, cabbage leaves etc for him. He would come round Fishcross with a horse and cart to collect them and we would give him a hand. People would follow us with a shovel and bucket to get the horse droppings for their gardens. In the Coalsnaughton woods at the back of Rab’s piggery a Romany Gypsy family (the Foxans) used to live in their Romany caravan. They were a really nice family; mum, dad, granny and the kids - we all used to play in the woods together and the kids went to Fishcross School. They eventually moved into a council house in Sauchie. In later years Rab had an ice cream cart and would come round Fishcross Circle selling ice creams, all the Fishcross kids used to get their 'pokie hat' ice creams from Rab.

---

---