Jean Blair's Memories

Jean Blair (née Petrie) was born on 18th July 1928 and has lived in Kirkmichael all of her life. She and her late husband, Jock Blair, ran the Kirkmichael garage for many years until they retired in 1987.

In the audio clips below, she talks about her life growing up in the village, refugees who came to the area during World War Two, the buying of the garage in Kirkmichael, and much, much more!

This interview took place on Wednesday 24th July 2013.

The interview was conducted by her grandson, Richard Stratton.

Childhood

Jean talks about the house that she grew up in and her early life.

Childhood (part 2)

Jean's grandmother kept lodgers during the summer months - this was not atypical. Local people could make a bit of extra money by letting holidaymakers stay with them them. These were people who came up from places like Dundee for their holidays.

Childhood (part 3)

Jean talks about where the best places were to buy sweets when she was young. She also talks about the way her great grandmother treated her and her experience of the church as a youngster.

Community and school

Each village had its own separate social life and identity. This meant that many children only met their peers from the surrounding villages when they went to high school together.

Estates and employment

The large estates used to employ locals as maids and farm labourers. Jean worked for a while at the manse and at Balvarran House.

Garage

Jean and Jock Blair took over the Kirkmichael garage about 1970 and ran it until they retired in 1987. Jean did the bookkeeping for the business.

Strathardle Gathering

Jean talks about the Strathardle Gathering and Evans family who brought the shows with them.

Kirkmichael's fortunes

Jean talks about a mysterious Brahan Seer who apparently predicted that Kirkmichael village would almost die and then reawaken.

Comments about this page

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My mum and my son having a chat!
The Blairs in one of the other oral histories are my aunts and uncle, on my dads side.
I was brought up in Kirkmichael and left the village to go to college in 1974. My dad, Jock Blair died in 2010 and mum sadly passed away 6 years ago. Richard (the archivist) is now happily married and lives in Glasgow.
By Ann Stratton (05/09/2024)
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Sadly Jean passed away in 2017. She was a true glenner, born in Kirkmichael, lived her whole life in Kirkmichael and died in Kirkmichael.
By John Milne (16/08/2017)

Jean Blair's Memories

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