MARGARET Fergus and Isabelle Honeyman did not know each other when they walked in to our Thanks for the Memories event in Partick.

But within minutes of realising they attended the same school, the two women had dozens of stories to share - and the seeds of a friendship were sown.

“We both went to Hamilton Crescent Secondary, which was known as Fortrose Street Academy for Young Ladies,” recalled Margaret, 74, who also brought along her father’s impressive old postcard collection.

“It was a terrific place, although I’m not sure we were all ‘young ladies’ exactly.”

Isabelle, 70, joked: “We’d never get up to any high jinks, of course not. It was a terrific school, I really loved it.”

Margaret added: “It was a girls’ school, and the local boys’ school was just down the road. We used to go there for gardening lessons and they would come to us for cooking.

“The uniform was red and yellow – Partick Thistle colours.”

Margaret and Isabelle joined dozens of local residents, past and present, at the Partick Library event.

Throughout the year, the Evening Times is visiting libraries around the city to capture stories and photographs of old Glasgow – and to meet some of the characters who lived and worked there.

In the second of our three-week special on Partick in the west end of the city, we heard tales of childhood adventure and family fun.

Margaret remembered happy hours spent helping her grandmother at the Kelvin Hall in the 1950s, when it hosted many touring circuses.

“She was in charge of the usherettes, and she used to send me to the drycleaner’s to get the costumes,” she smiled.

“I helped to dress the young women who walked around the ring, announcing which act was up next.”

She said: “We sat with all the artistes at lunchtime and I helped to serve the food – handing out plates of corned beef and chips to acrobats and clowns!

“It was a bit odd at times – watching the ringmaster walking along in front of you with the elephants plodding behind, but I loved it.”

Isabelle recalled Partick as a “thriving wee place” with lots of great shops.

“Catherine’s of Partick for posh frocks, Bayne and Duckett’s for shoes and Kevin House for vests,” she laughed. “Catherine’s is still there, of course. It was always a busy place.”

Nan Hart, nee McNellan, and her brother Gilbert lived on Rosevale Street.

“I loved Partick, growing up – I went to school here, to Brownies at St Bride’s church, and joined the local Salvation Army,” said Nan, 75. “I moved to Drumchapel when I was older, but I have many happy memories of this place.

Gilbert, 78, who now lives in Clydebank, agreed. “We were a close family, the five of us,” he said. “I remember the old cinemas – getting in with a jar of sugar if you didn’t have any money – and the sense of community. Everyone left their doors open, it was a friendly and safe place to grow up.”

Andy Lochhead, who was born in Castlebank Street in 1937, said: “Partick was magic. The freedom we had, to play outside with our friends, the adventures we could have. Everyone knew everyone else.”

Jim McAteer recalled helping his mum with the washing at the local steamie.

“There were seven of us in a room and kitchen, no inside toilet, so my mother would bundle us up with a bar of soap and a towel and we’d go to the steamie for a bath,” he laughed.

For Jim, returning to Partick Library brought back many happy memories.

“I lived on Purdon Street, right here at the library, and I was always in here,” he recalled. “I’ve probably still got some books too – I was always late returning them and got fined.

“It’s strange to be back, I haven’t been in the library since I was 10 years old and I’m 66 now.”

Jim worked in nearby Johnston’s Bakery after he left school. “We had to make between 90,000 and 100,000 rolls a night, and my first weekly wage was £15.20,” he laughed. “That was a lot of money in those days.

“I remember going to the Tivoli Picture House, and the Sandy Road Stables, and the bike shop.”

He grinned: “We played football on Purdon Street and Billy Connolly used to come out for a kickabout. Happy memories….”

Read more Thanks for the Memories stories on the Evening Times website www.eveningtimes.co.uk and don’t miss the newspaper next Tuesday for more Partick tales.

If you would like to share your recollections or old photographs, email ann.fotheringham@heraldandtimes.co.uk