Anybody else remember Scotland’s “bona fide traveller” era?

[tonybvi]

Our neighbours and very good friends set off in their beautiful 1936 Alvis today for a week in Dumfries and Galloway. Because the car is pretty tough to drive (accelerator on the right pedal, brake on the left, vacuum wipers so the faster you go the slower the wipers, etc) they are staying at the Stair Arms Hotel just outside Pathhead on the A68 tonight to break the journey. This brought back so many memories for us!

When we first moved to Scotland in the very early 70’s after a period in Eskbank we bought a house in Pathhead. In those days Scotland’s licensing laws were pretty strict, including 10pm closing and no drinking on a Sunday. The only exception was that hotels (not pubs or inns) could serve drinks to bona fide travellers! So we used to drive half mile down the road to the Stair Arms (so we could show the polis we were in a car if they turned up to check) to get a drink. This involved signing in and stating where you were travelling to and from (in our case Edinburgh to Jedburgh!!) and you could get a drink. Then we would walk back home and collect the car the next day. Thank goodness the laws have been somewhat relaxed since those days.

 

[trevskoda]

Skoda were the first to sort pedal arangment out, the yanks say it was them but we all know the checks did it first.

 

[TeamRienza]

In the early to mid seventies I from time to time sailed up the West coast of Scotland and up the forth of Clyde in a flotilla of about 5 yachts. There was generally a party hosted by each boat every night. They were some crack! I remember on one occasion returning two navy ratings back to their submarine outside Rothesay after one fell off the pier at the end of an evening onshore, but that's another story of the many escapades on those trips.

I recall Rothesay because it had a hotel that would allow visiting sailors access to a bath for a small fee. This was before marinas with showers, laundries etc became common. We would often party onshore at local pubs and hotels and from time to time claim to be bona fide travellers (which we were). I don't think we had much of an issue getting served past closing as often we were in small villages were late hours were common. I dare say the potential income from 15 to 20 people spending freely was a factor too.

We even ended up at a wedding reception in the hotel near the harbour (the Royal ?) in Campbelltown on one occasion. I ended up sleeping in a bus shelter near the pier as it was more comfortable than the damp berth on the ancient 8 metre yacht I was on for that trip!

Davy

 

[runnach]

Our neighbours and very good friends set off in their beautiful 1936 Alvis today for a week in Dumfries and Galloway. Because the car is pretty tough to drive (accelerator on the right pedal, brake on the left, vacuum wipers so the faster you go the slower the wipers, etc) they are staying at the Stair Arms Hotel just outside Pathhead on the A68 tonight to break the journey. This brought back so many memories for us!

When we first moved to Scotland in the very early 70’s after a period in Eskbank we bought a house in Pathhead. In those days Scotland’s licensing laws were pretty strict, including 10pm closing and no drinking on a Sunday. The only exception was that hotels (not pubs or inns) could serve drinks to bona fide travellers! So we used to drive half mile down the road to the Stair Arms (so we could show the polis we were in a car if they turned up to check) to get a drink. This involved signing in and stating where you were travelling to and from (in our case Edinburgh to Jedburgh!!) and you could get a drink. Then we would walk back home and collect the car the next day. Thank goodness the laws have been somewhat relaxed since those days.

I do not recall the signing in part, Tony. But my goodness, they were the days!
Permitted Hours and Sunday Trading:

• Old laws included specific permitted hours (e.g., 11:30 am to 3 pm, and 5:30 pm to 10 pm) and banned Sunday sales. The 2005 Act abolished these restrictions, allowing for potentially 24-hour trading.
  back then there were numerous miners clubs, which traded on a Sunday, including British Legion establishments. Eskbank Motel/Derry, could trade on a Sunday, too.
  Pathhead. Were you located within the Main Street? My sis and bil own what I think was previously a church hall, opposite and a few metres down from The Forresters. Plan is convert to a home, I can’t see that happening soon.
• I may be mixing up my car models here, I’m sure I did repairs to an old Alvis? Body work, or part of is Aluminium, i did repairs to old stress cracks, car was a soft top. To compound the repairs, parts of the car had hardwood within as part of the build manufacture. It would have been nice to see the old motor.
• 
  .
• The Stair Arms do really good food, we sometimes pop in for Sunday Lunch.

 

[El radge]

Our neighbours and very good friends set off in their beautiful 1936 Alvis today for a week in Dumfries and Galloway. Because the car is pretty tough to drive (accelerator on the right pedal, brake on the left, vacuum wipers so the faster you go the slower the wipers, etc) they are staying at the Stair Arms Hotel just outside Pathhead on the A68 tonight to break the journey. This brought back so many memories for us!

When we first moved to Scotland in the very early 70’s after a period in Eskbank we bought a house in Pathhead. In those days Scotland’s licensing laws were pretty strict, including 10pm closing and no drinking on a Sunday. The only exception was that hotels (not pubs or inns) could serve drinks to bona fide travellers! So we used to drive half mile down the road to the Stair Arms (so we could show the polis we were in a car if they turned up to check) to get a drink. This involved signing in and stating where you were travelling to and from (in our case Edinburgh to Jedburgh!!) and you could get a drink. Then we would walk back home and collect the car the next day. Thank goodness the laws have been somewhat relaxed since those days.

Pretty sure bona fide travellers rule didn't apply in the 70s ?
Licensing laws were changed early 60s
Again in mid 70s , allowing pubs to open on a Sunday

 

[tonybvi]

I do not recall the signing in part, Tony. But my goodness, they were the days!
Permitted Hours and Sunday Trading:

• Old laws included specific permitted hours (e.g., 11:30 am to 3 pm, and 5:30 pm to 10 pm) and banned Sunday sales. The 2005 Act abolished these restrictions, allowing for potentially 24-hour trading.
  back then there were numerous miners clubs, which traded on a Sunday, including British Legion establishments. Eskbank Motel/Derry, could trade on a Sunday, too.
  Pathhead. Were you located within the Main Street? My sis and bil own what I think was previously a church hall, opposite and a few metres down from The Forresters. Plan is convert to a home, I can’t see that happening soon.
• I may be mixing up my car models here, I’m sure I did repairs to an old Alvis? Body work, or part of is Aluminium, i did repairs to old stress cracks, car was a soft top. To compound the repairs, parts of the car had hardwood within as part of the build manufacture. It would have been nice to see the old motor.
• 
  .
• The Stair Arms do really good food, we sometimes pop in for Sunday Lunch.

We lived at 115 Man Street, two doors up from the Foresters so easy staggering distance. If I recall he also owned the Juniper Lea which his son ran for him. Both pretty decent pubs.
One of our next door neighbours (uphill side) was the Scougall family. He owned the local coal merchants and it was not at all unusual for him to dump a bag of anthracite (remember the old anthracite heating boilers!) over our wall free of charge at the end of the day if there was anything left on his lorry. For coal merchants their house was absolutely spotless.
Your sister must be just about opposite what used to be the best bakers ever - Wahlberg’s.

 

[runnach]

Now there is a name from the past “Scougall” they were friends with my parents, been at our house, Davie for his first name rings a bell?

As I mentioned previous, my dad worked at NCB Scottish HQ at Greenend. I reckon the connection with the Scougalls came from coal dealings, I can’t imagine it being anything else?

I don’t know if Walberg shop still trades, I’ll be passing up soon after I return home to check in sis property, I’ll see then.

Funny old place is Pathhead, it would be a far better wee village if the A68 bypassed the village.

Just came to mind, was the coal business not Scougall brothers?

 

[tonybvi]

Now there is a name from the past “Scougall” they were friends with my parents, been at our house, Davie for his first name rings a bell?

As I mentioned previous, my dad worked at NCB Scottish HQ at Greenend. I reckon the connection with the Scougalls came from coal dealings, I can’t imagine it being anything else?

I don’t know if Walberg shop still trades, I’ll be passing up soon after I return home to check in sis property, I’ll see then.

Funny old place is Pathhead, it would be a far better wee village if the A68 bypassed the village.

Just came to mind, was the coal business not Scougall brothers?

I used to play 5-a-side with Davie! The one on our team was the son of the guy who lived next to us but can’t remember if it was the Scougall brothers business. We simply referred to them as Mr and Mrs Scougall - salt of the earth people.

You said what I have always said - Pathhead would be a fantastic wee place f there was a by-pass. I can’t understand why there isn’t except that being such a straight run through it’s not exactly a bottleneck.

 

[runnach]

I used to play 5-a-side with Davie! The one on our team was the son of the guy who lived next to us but can’t remember if it was the Scougall brothers business. We simply referred to them as Mr and Mrs Scougall - salt of the earth people.

You said what I have always said - Pathhead would be a fantastic wee place f there was a by-pass. I can’t understand why there isn’t except that being such a straight run through it’s not exactly a bottleneck.

What a small world!!

Plenty land to the left of the village as you head south for a bypass. I reckon it would take the Thomas Telford Bridge to begin to collapse before a bypass would be considered, and that won’t happen, as Thomas knew how to build bridges, to the same par as the Stevensons building lighthouses!

 

[tonybvi]

Another memory of a tradition we had never come across before moving north. Our eldest son was born when we lived in Pathhead and the first time we took him out in his pram for a walk round the village people would stop, lift the pram blanket and leave money underneath it. From there on in whenever we were short of a bob or two (which was quite often as we’d overstretched on the mortgage despite doing all our shopping in the dreadful “pick’n’save” in Dalkeith) I would offer to take him out in his pram! Sue told me off saying that was outwith the spirit of the tradition.
Not sure if it was a local or nationwide tradition but what a lovely idea.

 

[runnach]

Taking the bairn for a walk/push in the pram to earn a few pennies, certainly beats sitting outside what was Pick N Save (we shopped there back then) selling the Big Issue.

 

[runnach]

Speaking of the back in the day Scottish alcohol law.

Using a non drinking designated driver, we would drive to Eyemouth, have a few till closing time, then drive down to Berwick Upon Tweed, to a night club, where the alcohol law was different, as in, not as restrictive as Scotland’s.

A young lads worst nightmare, trying to buy a beer on the Outer Hebrides on a Sunday

 

[El radge]

Now there is a name from the past “Scougall” they were friends with my parents, been at our house, Davie for his first name rings a bell?

As I mentioned previous, my dad worked at NCB Scottish HQ at Greenend. I reckon the connection with the Scougalls came from coal dealings, I can’t imagine it being anything else?

I don’t know if Walberg shop still trades, I’ll be passing up soon after I return home to check in sis property, I’ll see then.

Funny old place is Pathhead, it would be a far better wee village if the A68 bypassed the village.

Just came to mind, was the coal business not Scougall brothers?

Eddie and Willie certainly ran the coal business. As well as being the local coal men they also supplied mills in the borders .
Lachie had a sweetie shop near the top of the village . Their might have been another brother .
Eddie and Willie both had sons called David . Eddie's son was the football player .
As far as I know Wahlbergs still going . Shop a bit further down the street .
Think church hall you're talking about is the wee hall . I lived next door

 

[runnach]

Eddie and Willie certainly ran the coal business. As well as being the local coal men they also supplied mills in the borders .
Lachie had a sweetie shop near the top of the village . Their might have been another brother .
Eddie and Willie both had sons called David . Eddie's son was the football player .
As far as I know Wahlbergs still going . Shop a bit further down the street .
Think church hall you're talking about is the wee hall . I lived next door

Wow, what a forum, an innocent post from Tony, opens up so many memories from the past. The name Willie rings a bell too, was such a long time ago to be precise.

They did indeed supply coal to the borders, I recall the times my dad was at Butlerfield coal stocking ground (behind the lady victoria pit) and me just a bairn, getting a run doon the Boorders in the wagon delivering a few ton of coal.

Do you remember the sweetie shop Edgehead? I use to pop in there after gathering tadpoles at the sandpit, then return home past the redundant oil field at Darcy.

The wee hall, left or right as you view the building?

 

[tonybvi]

Eddie! - that’s the guy next door (or Mr Scougall to us). Used to drive through Edgehead and Ford on my little Honda 50 on the way to work in Edinburgh to avoid the main road but dnt remember the sweetie shop. Lovely little villages and I always loved driving past the orange mansion in Ford.

 

[El radge]

Wow, what a forum, an innocent post from Tony, opens up so many memories from the past. The name Willie rings a bell too, was such a long time ago to be precise.

They did indeed supply coal to the borders, I recall the times my dad was at Butlerfield coal stocking ground (behind the lady victoria pit) and me just a bairn, getting a run doon the Boorders in the wagon delivering a few ton of coal.

Do you remember the sweetie shop Edgehead? I use to pop in there after gathering tadpoles at the sandpit, then return home past the redundant oil field at Darcy.

The wee hall, left or right as you view the building?

Left of wee hall . Former church , though not obvious
3 sources of sweeties in Pathhead so no need for Edgehead .