Billy Collie was born in a flat at 644, Woodside Road in the 1950s, delivered by his Gran, who helped introduce many of the family to the world.
On one side of 644 lived his grandma and Aunt and on the other, he lived with his mum, dad and eventually his baby sister.
Woodside was Bill’s stomping ground until the age of 13 when his family moved to Bucksburn where his dad was originally from. After six years in Bucksburn, he married his wife, Wilma, and the couple moved to Heathryfold, where they live to this day. But Bill has never forgotten that he’s a Woodsider and remembers his childhood there very fondly.
Bill shared some of his best memories of the area with the Woodside Free Press.
His mother had lived in Woodside all her life, brought up in her Grandma’s flat on Woodside Road and it was in Woodside that she met Billy’s father.
He said, “My father came from Bucksburn, he and his best friend met at Bucksburn Fountain on a Sunday night and would walk all the way down to Woodside fountain.
It was called the walk to walk, and seemingly, teenagers would walk from Bucksburn down to woodside and back again. And that’s how my father met my mother. And eventually they got married.”
There were plenty of good stories of his parent’s romance. “Before they were married, during the war, my father was said to be missing in combat. Of course, my mother was really upset, then a telegram came through, saying that he was on his way home on the train.
When she found out, my mother actually ran from Woodside all the down to the train station.
Just because she was so relived. And I said, ‘she couldn’t have run ah the way doon’, and I was telt, ‘Aye she run ah the way doon’. That’s a real good story.”
Woodside wasn’t just the place his parents fell in love but is also the place of all his best childhood memories. The setting for many of these fond memories, none other than the Silver Grill chipper, across the road from his home.
“I was friendly with the mannie, Bob English, who owned the Silver Grill. I just loved hanging aboot the place. There was the chipper on one side and then a café with a duke box on the other.
“A lot of the bikers hung aboot there after their work, I was amazed by it. I sometimes used to get a lift on the back of a motorbike, my father would ging aff his heid like. We just went along, doon muggiemoss road, doon by Perslay and back up here, nae helmets on or nothing.
“I remember when the chipper got its first coca cola machine. It was a big barrel and you put in your bottle and pulled this big handle, and the coke came out frozen. It only cost like six pence or something and it was really cold.
One day when he opened it up to refill it, I saw how it worked and I was blown away with it, it to me it seemed like magic.
“I had a lot of great times in there, I was fascinated with the Duke Box too, to this day when I hear a record playing that was on that duke box, it takes me right back.
Another of Woodside’s characters, Billy remembers vividly is Andy McKessock, a man who shared his love of Woodside. McKessock was the owner of the shop, the Little Wonder, that Billy’s family lived next door to. “He sold everything, I’m nae joking, hoola hoops. He made orange juice icicles. He had white jeans and baseball boots when they first came oot.
“He also sold ornaments. I remember buying an ornament for my mum, it was like a crinoline lady, and had a pin cushion on her bum and you pulled it oot and it was a tape measure. Funny the things you remember.”
One of Billy’s most prized possessions is ‘Woodside Way’, a short book by McKessock, which Billy searched high and low for, for many years.
“He wrote all about Woodside because he was just that kind of guy, he was very knowledgeable and very educated. Everybody knew him and how much he loved the area.”
Billy also spent a lot of time playing football, he even got injured when having a game of footie, but he didn’t let it bother him. The Playground on Station Road was my stomping ground, I played on the swings here, played football, I burst my eye in the park playing football. I still have the scars from that. An older lad kicked the ball and it hit me in the face, there was blood everywhere.
“The park was looked after by what we all called a granda. I remember he used to lock the park up for an hour and go awa for his lunch. We used to get back in and when he’d come back, he’d chase ye.
Eventually, it came time for the family to move to Bucksburn, but Billy desperately wanted to stay. After a while of trying to think of any way that would allow him to remain among his friends and continue to attend St Machar Academy, he had no option but to move to Bankhead. But he always looked back on his time in Woodside fondly and he was never too far as his Gran’s house was never empty of family.
“Oh aye, I missed Woodside when we left. It was like a community, you just kent a’body.
Billy has lots more memories of Woodside to share and The Free Press editorial team want to hear your memories of Woodside too.
Share your stories
Share your stories of Woodside over the years with the editorial team, by emailing Rose on [email protected] or calling shmu on 01224 515 013.