The Palladium Cinema

I was born in Perth but moved to Dundee when I was still very young. I lived in Dallfield Walk and went to 'The Rosie' (Rosebank Public School) in Tulloch Crescent.

My Dad was a wood turner. Once he made a 'piler' (cart) for my brother. It didn't last long though because he took it out and went flying down Dallfield Walk right under the legs of a horse! When dad found out about it he broke up the 'piler' right away!

During the war I was for a time an usherette at the King's Theatre. The management was very strict and we had to get inspected in our uniforms every night.

I married Willie Ritchie who had gone to Hawkhill Primary School. During the war he served in the Navy.

I remember going to the Peak (The Palladium Cinema) in Alexander Street. It was terrible. They used to spray some perfume all over the place. They just had wooden forms in some of the cinemas and when the house was full they just put extra ones nearer and nearer the screen. I remember one time I went to Macs in Wellington Street and came out with a stiff neck because I had sat so near to the screen.

After the war I worked in Dryden's the fruit shop at the top of the Wellgate steps and when sugar melons started to come back in I managed to get one and took it home. We all had a bit but my father had two or three slices - I could see the juice running down his mouth and he said 'my, lassie this is braw!' Next day he was in agony - six years of inferior food meant that the melon was too rich for him.

I remember being taken on annual picnics with the Sunday School to Downfield. The trams were hired and dropped us at the terminus. We went to Baldovan School and some of the boys who had been behaving themselves were allowed to join in. Mr Shepherd, a local housing factor, sponsored the outing and also ran the Sunday school where he used to preach every Sunday.