Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Bees of Edinburgh

You probably think I've been sitting in a lawn chair for the last month, but actually I have been hard at work conducting intensive postcard research (cough, cough). Well, it's almost true. Between stops for fish and chips, beer samplings, scenic outlooks, and visits to blog friends, I did make one side trip to track down the former residence of one of my favorite postcard recipients, Nettie Bee. You may remember some of the previous postcards to the Bee family, such as this one, sent to Edith Bee.


Nettie Bee lived in the Rosemount Buildings in Edinburgh, Scotland, with at least two sisters (Chrissie and Edith). Her mother also lived there, but her father is never mentioned, so I'm not sure if he lived there or not. The apartment would have been very small, with one bedroom, one bathroom, and dining in the kitchen.

Rosemount buildings is a three-story brick building built in Edinburgh's West End. The building, which was constructed for working class families in the 1860s, is now part of the West End Conservation Area.

Here's what it looks like today.

 And here's the inner courtyard.

The door to # 9 is on the second floor (first, if you're from the UK), the blue door with the potted plants in front.

As with a  number of the cards to Nettie and family, this one was sent from a young soldier in World War I. I can't help but wonder if he made it home safely.


On the front of the card of John o'Groats in northern Scotland, he wrote: I would like to take you here for a day.

The message on the back reads:

8th Aug.  21 Shore St. Thurso

Home today for six days Leave, spending most of the time with Jessie and Maggie. Sorry you did not come along with them. Drop a line + let me know how you are getting on. I would like to hear from you before  going away with best love I remain yours faithfully
B. Thompson

Hope you enjoy your holidays
xxxxx
xxxxx
xxxxx

To read more posts about the Bee, family, click here.

11 comments:

  1. Glad you are home safe. I will e-mail you with the image for the joint posting (I have told A that you are home and asked her to suggest a day next week for the enterprise). We were sorry to see you go - but one slight compensation is that we get your blog back on air.

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  2. Sounds like you had a great 'month off', hope that you managed to have some weeks over here with the good weather (which has just finished).
    Lovely to see you posting again :)

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  3. Welcome back! It sounds as if you had a successful and interesting trip. These are lovely cards and how nice to be visiting the locations.

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  4. Yes, it is good to have Christine back at it, since our fine trip was inspired by one of her Edinburgh posts- let's see what she comes up with next and where it will take us!

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  5. Hello Christine. Glad to see you arrived back home safely after your long trip. I've suggested to Alan next Wednesday for synchronised posting... but if that doesn't suit you, let us know.

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  6. I'm always totally impressed by your researching prowess. You bring life to history. :)

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  7. Welcome back to to blogging, and thanks for the photos of the Bees amongst the Roses.

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  8. So glad you are back - missed your posts!

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  9. Welcome Back, Christine!!! Hope you had a rejuvenating adventure:)

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  10. Glad you're back: I missed your posts! But your trip sounds fabulous.

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  11. I was really interested to find your site. My Nana used to live at No 3 Rosemount Buildings and her name was Nettie too - well technically her name was Janet but she preferred to be called Nettie. I'm thinking of doing some research into Rosemount Buildings which is how I came across your site. All the best, Lorraine Mackenzie

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