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, kno

Andrew Grant- Leith Nautical College and the 'Dolphin.'

Jun 29th, 2022 40m 38s

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 trainin

Archie Minto

Dec 7th, 2021 45m 15s

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 f

Gordon Munro :childhood memories and love of music

Apr 27th, 2021 28m 36s

Gordon Munro ( Labour Councillor for Leith) has had a love of music from an early age His parents said he could play the record player before he could walk We'll hear some records from his collection and memories of gigs he attended in Edinburg

Maureen Sweeney Leith jobs in the 1960s

Apr 20th, 2021 43m 56s

In this episode of Leith Lives Maureen Sweeney tells of starting work in the office of Bond 9 on Commercial Street at the age of 17 Maureen recounts the lively atmosphere in the Bond where all the workers were given 'an official' a tot of whisk

Derek Tilbrook talks about his documentary film Persevere.

Feb 9th, 2021 17m 46s

This episode was originally broadcast in 2019 on Thelma FM, our internet radio station. We were showing Derek Tilbrook's film Persevere during Leith Festival that year. Derek popped into the studio to talk about the making of the film, his own

Leith memories through old newspapers and books. Part two

Feb 2nd, 2021 38m 28s

Originally broadcast on Thelma Internet radio Evelyn Whitfield reads a selection of articles from Old newspapers- The Evening News, Despatch, Leith Gazette, quotes from a series of booklets produced in the 1980s called Leith Lives and a book ca

Leith memories through old newspapers and books. Part one

Jan 26th, 2021 32m 43s

Tim Bell - From the Lebanon to Leith

Sep 15th, 2020 35m 5s

In the 8th edition of 'Leith Lives' we are joined by author and Trainspotting Tour Guide Tim Bell. Tim takes us on a wonderful journey through his life from a Quaker boarding school and voluntary work in the Lebanon to hitch hiking home from G

Andrew Grant: Leith poems from World War Two. Part two

Aug 28th, 2020 38m 59s

Part two of Andrew Grant reading poems gleaned from Leith newspapers from WW1. He also gives some background into the events they commemorate. These may not be the works of the war poets Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brooke but neither are they casua

Andrew Grant: Leith poems from World War One. Part One

Aug 28th, 2020 45m 26s

Andrew Grant's second visit to the Thelma studios. Once again he talks about some of the extensive research he has undertaken into Leith and the First World War. This time round he reads poems gleaned from Leith newspapers from the period and g

Leith and World War One with Andrew Grant.

Jul 22nd, 2020 49m 4s

Andrew Grant talks about the twelve years he has spent researching those who served and died in World War One from Leith. It's been a work of dedication to say the least. Fascinating stories, history and background into the Great War and it's i

The Kirkgate Leith to the Palais in Edinburgh

Apr 29th, 2020 19m 1s

Once again our regular volunteer Stan Eadie tells us about his younger days in Leith. This time we are knocking about the Kirkgate. We're in Michael's cafe with it's Teddy Boys and juke box. We hear of the businesses in this busy shopping area,

Wartime childhood in Leith- Stan Eadie

Apr 29th, 2020 10m 15s

Stan Eadie was born (1936) and raised in Leith. Apart from a short time in London he has always lived in Pitt Street, Leith. He is a regular volunteer at our Wee Museum of Memory at Ocean Terminal. Stan is pictured at Trinity Academy in 1948- 4

Frank Condie- Childhood in Leith to shipbuilding in Henry Robb.

Mar 30th, 2020 37m 5s

Frank Condie was born in 1938 and was brought up in Leith, around Bonnington Rd. He talks us through school days, doing a milk round, memories of war, going to the pictures, the dancing, The Gaiety Theatre and an apprenticeship in Henry Robb's

George Hackland walsk around Leith in the 1930s

Mar 25th, 2020 9m 39s

George Hackland was born in Newhaven in 1920 but worked in Leith from 1934 until the begining of World War Two. Here he evocatively describes the businesses, industry, shops and buildings in the Streets around where he worked in Dock Street. Re

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