g bulloch furniture dealer

[davidpaul]

stewart if you google james wingate peel police you will find some good reading he became a police chief in canada.

[Stirling 76]

Behind the right hand side of Baker Street going up are some of the oldest buildings in that area.
If you go up the street and stop at the first corner, that is leading into what is known as Dalgleish Court. The building on the corner is in fact number 30, and because of that entrance most people assume that the other corner is number 32 where the old Lawsons shop used to be. That is wrong, it might be that corner is now 32 but 32 was up that little lane. Dalgliesh Court is that area in front of the big house, what is called Dalgliesh House. 32 Baker Street were the houses on the left hand side, all that area was numbered 32. Let me explain, I lived at the red sandstone building at 23 Baker Street, there were 9 flats in the building, and they were all numbered 23, 24 Baker Street had even more houses, but they were all the same number as was all the tenement blocks at that time, now mind, were going back a while now. So that whole are was 32, there were not only houses but also worksops and businesses, all numbered 32, confusing? not then, the whole area was teeming with tenements, pubs, shops, workshops, vendors you name it. The shops were on the ground level and the entrance to the tenements were by way of closes, still the same today. A great example is if you go up number 24, there were entrances halfway up the close, and then right at the back of the close you could go either to the left or right to get to the other tenement flats, but all numbered 24. Occasionally up some of the penns, not to be confused with the same as a close, there were houses, with their own front door. You might now understand, 32 Baker Street was a penn, not a close, and certainly not a vennal. And if you go round the back and to the side of Dalgliesh House you will see the old houses of 32 Baker Street. The entrance to them is blocked with a gate now. And when I was up there a few months ago, I took this pick. I also spoke to an old guy who had lived in this house and asked him what the address was, yup! 32 Baker Street. I hope this is of help to you.

[Stirling 76]

Now if we have a look at the corner of Dalgliesh Court and Baker Street you might get a better understanding of what I mean. Look just past the red shop front at the green bins, you will see the entrance to number 24, its coloured sort of beige. That's the close leading to the tenement flats. Now this took you to a number of different flats, and lead to all the houses in the three main buildings in that picture, above that entrance and also to the left and to the right, and they were ALL number 24, it wasn't till years later, and it filled with students that it became 24/1, 24/1a that sort of thing.
Now if you look at the gable end of the building at the far corner, there used to be a building there, it has a shop front and an overhand type of window jutting out on the first floor, that is where Blewitts was, there was also a window round the back of the building. I know this very well, you see, Jimmy Wingate, Stuart Pickles and I went into the old shop, (through the windown) and got balls of wool, and strung them like a spiders web all over the place, to try and give old Nellie a fright.
Years later when I was older, when I was walking up Baker Street, Nellie was sitting out side the shop in Baker Street as she did, and I stopped to talk to her asking about Jimmy. And suddenly a got a bout of guilt and asked her if she remembered the spiders web of wool and confessed to us being the culprits, she smiled and said, 'I've known for years it was you rascals." And that's why I'm trying to get in touch with Jimmy Wingate, to see if he remmbers when we were boys. Now that has brought tears to my eyes. I hope this has helped you, I think I also took a pic of the big house in Melville Terrace when I was up, if you would like I'll look it out for you.

[Seoras]

Stewart, thank you for the pics and also for that very detailed description. I get far more of an idea now. I will have a wander down there when I am next in Stirling.

George.

[davidpaul]

stewart will see what i can do have passed a massage on that ur wanting to get in touch wih him and i would like to see where nellie lived as her and my mother where full cousin thanks stewart regards david