Looking Back: A Royal Occasion

A December 1934 report of the then Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) laying the foundation stone of Granton Parish Church, Edinburgh

A COMPANY of the Boys’ Brigade, very smart with their white bandoliers, came marching down Boswall Parkway. But where, one may ask, is Boswall Parkway? Two years ago such a place did not exist. Now it is a circle of two-story houses with neat gardens and green grass patches. The houses are fresh, newly painted. Everything is new and bright, and on this day, the 20th of September, crowds passed through Boswall Parkway and gazed at the site, not far distant, where the foundation stone of the new church and hall, which are to serve this great new housing area, was to be laid by His Royal Highness the Duke of York.

It was cold and the rain poured down, but crowds gathered none the less.

“Oh my! What a pity if it’s wet for the Duke,” said one woman, who, in spite of the inclement weather, had brought her pram along with her. The children had apparently had a half-holiday, for there were many in the throng. The windows in the new houses round the site were packed with people.

Twenty minutes before the Duke arrived the rain stopped, the clouds blew away, and the sun shone from a clear sky.

A burst of cheering heralded the arrival of the Royal visitors, who were met at the entrance by Dr. J. A. Aitken and Dr. G. Macaulay, and conducted to the platform under its striped canopy where the foundation stone hung suspended by chains. The Moderator, the Right Rev. Dr. P. D. Thomson was presented to their Royal Highnesses. The service opened with the singing of the Hundredth Psalm. Old and new met in the open-air singing of this ancient psalm at the initiation of another place of worship. Amplifiers had been installed at various points on the ground, so that the words of speakers on the platform came clearly even to those outside the enclosure.

Presently the Duke stepped from his place to the foundation stone and, tapping it on the four corners with a specially made mallet, which was afterwards presented to Mr. Macfarlane, minister of the new parish, declared the stone “well and truly laid.”

The Duke was later presented with a handsome silver box to mark the occasion, and two little girls, of ages corresponding to the ages of the young Princesses, presented the Duchess with books for Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose. Her Royal Highness was also pleased to accept contributions to the National Church Extension Movement, and the sum contributed in this way amounted to over £12,000.

In the course of his address His Royal Highness said: “You will have in this new district a church to minister to the spiritual needs of those who will reside here. This church will be one of many that will show the insistence of the Church of Scotland to give to its people an opportunity for spiritual guidance.”

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