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'Some say we were healthier, even with rationing. I was in Galashiels during the War. I remember that night when they came over to bomb the Forth Bridge. I mind my Dad saying if we were to be killed we could be killed in our beds, so we didn’t go anywhere. We heard them going over — horrible. We thought ‘oh my goodness, somebody’s getting it the night’. We had a relative in London at the time, and she spent more time in the air raid shelter than she did anywhere else. We had a shelter doon at the school. We didn’t have much in there. We used to sing while we were in it. We sang something to give you a lift. I thought Churchill was a great man, he kept you going. When he said everything was going to be all right, you believed him. It was a shame they got rid of him as PM after the War.

I mind going to dances at the Happy Valley — we danced to all the latest tunes. I went to all the dances — eightsome reel and spanish waltz, drops o’ brandy too — Scottish Dances. We used to cycle doon the road wae nae light on — hoped the moon was shining'.
(Collected by SMC Museums)

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