Bobby Walker has been away from Dundee for over half a century but still pines for the good early days of his life.
On various social media sites, he has been trying to identify names from an old Blackness Primary School football team.
He has had some success and has now turned to BwB to fill in the gaps.
“I have an old photo of the Blackness Primary School football team, taken about 1951-52,” said Bobby, now living in New Zealand.
“The photo was taken at Caird Park and I’m sure it was against Hill Street Primary School.
“I recall it was a long away trip on the tram and I think we won the game 6-0 or something like that.
“As you can see, the strip looked like it had seen better days but we didn’t care about that.
“We also played with the old bladder ball with the stitched panels and the lace to close the ball up.
“It fair made an impression on your legs on a cold bitter day if it hit you full on.”
The players in the photo, at the top of the page are (back row, from left) — Bobby Walker, Ewan Cameron, Billy Walker, possibly Davie Mair, Graham Rennie, Unknown.
Front row — Unknown, Bill Dalziel, Roger ‘Pogie’ Smith, Unknown, Sidney Blair.
Bobby continued: “My brother Billy and I are twins from Peddie Street.
“Graham Rennie and Sidney Blair lived in Annfield Row, while Roger Smith lived in Annfield Road.
“Graham signed for St Johnstone later on I seem to remember.”
Bobby also remembers the surfaces young budding footballers had to play on at that time.
He continued: “As I said, the game was at Caird Park and to play on grass was a bonus.
“Many of your readers may remember the cinder pitches on The Coup (Riverside), then having to pick the grit out of your legs and other parts of your body after the game.
“My mother would send my brother Billy and I to the steamie down in Millar’s Wynd between the Hawkhill and Perth Road if my memory serves me right.
“I can remember the baths there.
“They had a first-class bath — that meant you had a bath with hot and cold water taps inside the room plus a shower with a head on it like a watering can.
“Second class was a bath with hot and cold taps but no shower.
“Third class didn’t have the taps on the bath or a shower as they were outside the wee bathroom.
“When you wanted more water, hot or cold, you would shout to the cleaner outside: ‘Can I have hot or cold water in No 3’ – or whatever the number was.
“She would turn the water on or off from the outside.
“Your time in the bath was pretty limited because there was always somebody else sitting on a bench at the end of the row of baths
waiting for their turn.
Moving away from football, Bobby put out another plea.
“I left Dundee 53 years ago and have been back to the city five times. How things have changed.
“While on the subject of old photos, there was one I would dearly want to see again but for the life of me I just can’t find it on various archives sites.
“It was a photo looking up Peddie Street, taken either late 19th or early 20th century.
“The photo shows a couple of children on the right-hand side of the street.
“Ahead of them was a man with an old cart standing outside a shop.
“The photo was taken right outside my bedroom window.
“It would great to see a copy of it again.”
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