My father was born and raised in Prestwick, in an area called "The Glenburn Rows". He was a coal miner, as was his father before him. In fact my grandfather died in the "Glenburn Pit" as it was known.
I grew up knowing the area in and around Glenburn very well and I will never forget Johnny Hare's Fish & Chip Shop where my dad would send me round to get our tea. Sometimes we'd have Fish & Chips, other times we'd take mince pies, but it was always delicious. Johnny Hare's is long gone, God rest him, but the memory is one I'll cherish forever.
We would spend our summers in Prestwick, although my parents lived in Seattle, Washington, USA (I was born in Seattle, a first generation American). I loved to spend an afternoon sitting in Boydfield Gardens watching the older gentlemen play draughts on an oversize draughts board using long poles with hooks on the end to move the pieces around the board. Many of these men had known my father since they were young boys. I also remember going down to the sea shore in Prestwick and swimming in the bathing lake, playing games and taking rides at the shows. There was a little pavilion there with a restaurant (more like a lunch counter, short order grill kind of thing, really). One year I remember there was a big sign on the roof that claimed "Real American Hamburgers!" Well, I just HAD to try this, so I went in and ordered "an American hamburger, please!" What I got was a hot dog, split down the middle and grilled, served on a hamburger roll. It was a little bit of a let-down at the time, but I still smile at the remembrance of it.
Jim Burleigh (a.k.a. Wee Jimmy, frae America) can be contacted at jimmyb2112@qwest.net.
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