A 1940s flitting

Anne Marie Madden recalls the excitement of a flitting (house move) in 1940s Scotland.

It was the day of the flitting (house move) and my brothers and sisters and I were excited. The local GP who lived just across the road was giving up his tenancy and we were to have his hosue. From now on, we've have three bedrooms instead of two and also a large garden, garage and garden shed. We already knew our neighbours and could continue to play with the same friends.

Whilst furniture removal was in progress, the youngest members of the family were cared for by friends but the two sisters next to me in age and I were pressed into service carrying towels, canteens of cutlery, etc to our new home.

Once the house where we'd all been born had been emptied of its contents, the grown ups gathered in the new living room, the women to drink tea and the men to partake of a glass or two of whisky.

The sister next to me in age and I, meantime, went outside to explore our new garden which, unlike our previous one, had flower beds and a vegetable plot. In one of these, we noticed some rows of pretty white flowers that we thought would make a nice 'moving in' present for mother, so we gathered them and ran back into the house to present them to her. We fully expected her to put them in a jam jar on the sideboard but instead of being touched, she scolded us. Our gesture had deprived her of the home-grown strawberries she'd been so looking forward to!

Read more memories of bygone Scotland in every issue of Scottish Memories magazine, available in print and digital versions.

Sign up now for our FREE e-newsletter for more news stories, sneak previews, exclusive content and special offers.