News

Haddington Club participate in unique ethnology project

Our Haddington Club members and volunteers have been involved in an activity which has seen them share memories about their lives and their working careers for an ethnology book published by the Regional Ethnology of Scotland Project. 

The project has been turned into a book entitled ‘All in a Day’s Work’, which focuses on the working lives of members and is a fascinating read that explores the many occupations and different places our members have travelled for work and the changes that have taken place in the workplace over several decades. 

However, more than just their working lives, the project enabled members to rediscover a wide range of moments from their past – including some sporting memories! 

Background 

The project involved Haddington Active, Haddington Care Home and Sporting Memories - who have been working closely together in Haddington for the past three years, with the separate groups being facilitated by Ruth Fyfe and our own Graham Cross.  

The groups share the same membership and the partnership has been particularly important in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic since reopening in 2022. They have welcomed many new faces and it is still inspiring to see how friendships are formed and how our members support each other. 

“Ethnology - the study of different societies and cultures” 

A new word for many, we suspect, and it certainly was to us back in 2018. How on earth could Sporting Memories be part of some study of cultures? To the members, they are just a bunch of happy folks who meet regularly in Haddington.  

Our Haddington Club members have participated in a multitude of sports over the years – football, rugby, athletics, fly fishing, cricket, American football, horse riding and tennis to name a few.  

The Active Memories sessions run supported by Regional Ethnology of Scotland Project allowed members to explore different topics although there’s always time for a bit of sports chart too. Usually about football the club is based in East Lothian so there is a keen but friendly Hearts-Hibs rivalry - other teams are of course supported   

As the late George Cunningham, one of our former members said: “It doesn’t matter what sporting team you support, what background you come from or where you were born, everyone comes together on a Tuesday for some great banter and camaraderie.” 

Seemed like yesterday 

‘All in a Day’s Work’ was researched and put together by interns Katie, Ailsa and Caroline from the Regional Ethnology of Scotland Project. They visited the regular meetings as well as carrying out field work for the book.  

Interviews were conducted with all Haddington Club members and as one member said: “It brought back an awful lot of memories of things that were still in your head but in the past you never thought about, but as you were telling the girls about your life it was amazing how it actually brought back your lifestyle.” 

One of our members, Dick Short, recalled how he started work at the age of 16 and only retired at the age of 80 when the pandemic made working life difficult – incredible. 

Scottish Battleships – a sporting memory 

There were so many recollections to choose from but one of the highlights was from Matthew McKendrick. 

Matthew played rugby although he didn’t start until he was 25, but when a club opened up in Biggar he joined and in fact he started to play quite seriously, playing for Scotland. 

He said that when he was a prop, he was heavy and thought the wingers were the fastest men in the world but a few years later the Scottish Nationals came to visit the club in Biggar and he met a lot of them and saw the size of them “...they were nothing like a prop they were actual Scottish battleships”. 

What’s next 

The interns, Aisla and Katie, were both from Edinburgh University and multi-talented girls too. The written word and the book are further supplemented by the spoken word and audio recordings of interviews which will also be uploaded to The Regional Ethnology of Scotland Project .  Ailsa and Katie also produced and presented a supporting film shot in and around Haddington which had the interviews overlaid with music they had composed.  

 

This internship project will leave a lasting legacy and we are more than thrilled that Sporting Memories has played its part in this vital work. 

 

(Copies of the book are available for anyone interested in the project from the Ethnology Department at Edinburgh University or from the John Gray Centre in Haddington.)