Nostalgia: Easter fun

EASTER time always means a host of colourful and egg- citing events across the Capital for adults and children alike.

From Easter Egg hunts and chocolate treats to the 19th century tradition of creating fantastic Easter bonnets, the celebration always brings the city to life.

While today’s children might favour eggs of the chocolate variety, back in 1969 the favourite pastime at Easter was rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down a hill – to see whose could survive the longest.

Once known as “pace-egging”, Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh was the traditional spot for rolling the eggs, which were wrapped in onion skins and boiled to give them a mottled gold appearance.

And while the youngsters were busy decorating their eggs, the ladies of the time were doing their best to impress by creating eye-catching bonnets, whether they were decorated with flowers, ribbons or even a golden cage of straw.

Of course the tradition of chocolate treats at Easter has always been a favourite, and while today’s children might be curious to know who got the most chocolate eggs, a few decades ago the real prize was to see who could get the biggest.

Little Maureen Allan would certainly have been the envy of all her friends in 1959 when she was presented with a giant egg during her stay at the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital, something the hospital did frequently at Easter.

Giant eggs were also used as gifts for local luminaries.

In 1976 two-year old Anna Sansom was presented with a decorated Easter Egg as a prize after her family became the 25,000th to move into Livingston New Town.