Social Activities
'Facilities were provided for the people'
Many mills on the Water of Leith took responsibility for organising or sponsoring social events for their employees and those who lived in the villages where the mills were based. Villages along the Water of Leith, especially as far along the river from Edinburgh as Currie and Balerno, were quite separate from Edinburgh city centre. Most socialising took place locally and a lot of it was based in and around the mill. Annual dances were organised by mill employees, these were either subsidised or paid for by the mills and were often held at the Glenburn Hotel in Currie.There was not a lot of free time as mill employees did not get long holidays, in fact paid holidays were only introduced in many of the Water of Leith mills in the 1930s. Christmas was not a traditional holiday in Scotland, so employees would work that day and have a couple of days off at New Year. In addition to this they would only have two bank holidays and a week in the summertime when the mill closed for its annual shut; during which time essential maintenance and repair work was undertaken in the mill.
‘They did not have holidays at that time and they used to in the summertime hire a train and it took all the employees away for the day.’
Annual trips were provided by mills for workers and their families and places visited included Ayr and Largs. Galloways Mill also took others from the local community on the trips including the local postmaster and policeman. Trips were usually paid for by mills, but employees of Inglis Mill paid for their trips by selling scrap paper back to the mill for use in the papermaking process.
Aside from these activities employees organised societies and teams; many mills had their own football team which played in the Edinburgh league. Woodhall mill had its own social committee which ran various events including a fishing club that would visit many different areas to fish in Scotland. These trips were funded by a ‘numbers lottery’ which employees would contribute to.
Mills would also participate in local events, Currie and Balerno had its own gala day for the local community. Lorries were loaned from the local mills and these were decorated by employees into floats to take part in the gala parade.