Rose Minto was born Rose McIntyre on March 13th 1920. She spent her first 14 years in Bridge Street in Leith. Bridge street is now known as Sandport Place. None of the buidings exist that Rose would have known. Aside from The Rose Leaf pub, known as The Black Swan in Rose's day. (see widescreen photo.) Rose had an amazing and detailed recall of her life. These are evocative memories of life in Leith in the 1920s and 30s. The streets, the backgreen, the crowded housing, the shops, the pawn brokers and offal butchers. The close community, poverty and complex family relationship. Rose paints a vivid, unsentimental picture of life 90 years.

Recorded in 2008 when Rose was 88.

Anrew Grant was born in 1937 and attended Leith Nautical College in Commercial street from August 1953 to July 1954. He gives us a brief history of the college and then talks about the training he received. Also about being on board the training ship 'The Dolphin.' We hear about rowing across the Forth, the huge cost of buying a sextant and the evening ration of two biscuits and a lump of cheese. 

Archie Minto tells us what it was like growing up with right side hemiplegia a form of cerebral palsy in 1950s Leith. At a time when disabled children were often taken from their families and placed in special homes Archie's Mother and Father fought to keep him at home and have him educated at main stream school where he was fortunate to have dedicated teachers including Sister Columba. His Father worked hard to buy a home for his family and his Mother fought for everything she could to get the right help for her son. It is due to their strong characters and the support of his maternal family that he is the man he is today.