INTVEE is a 62 year old widower who lives with his married son and daughter in law who are also present for some of the interview. Previously lived in Albert Street, Leith, where the children (all sons) slept in a bed recess off the main room. The family then moved to a four apartment house near Ferry Road. He left to live with his son on the death of his wife. INTVER wonders if the married couple are embarrassed having rows in front of the INTVEE but this is denied. The house has two bedrooms upstairs and a living room and kitchen downstairs. The kitchen opens off the living room and the garden accessed from the living room. The INTVER thinks the house unduly small - approx. 800 feet, but this was not a complaint of the family. They think the back boiler in the fire is efficient but annoying in the summer because they have to have a fire on to get hot water. INTVER comments that the house is furnished liberally but not expensively, furniture old but probably post-war.

Leith: INTVER did not get the impression that the interviewee thought Leith was especially friendly although thinks women might have a different view. There were 14 tenants in the stair in Albert Street. He doesn't think people went in and out of each other's houses. He occasionally visited the pubs but thought if you had a wife you couldn't drink as much. He was unemployed for five years between the wars. INTVER notes that he is not particularly responsive to questions about his early life. They got their house near Ferry Road after being on the list for four years, had been very overcrowded with five children. The rent for their large house was 21/- a week. When he lived there alone children used to break in and steal from the gas meter. There seems to be less children in Drylaw so less trouble.

Work: INTVEE no longer works due to ill health but had travelled to Leith every day which was cheap at first at 3d return but got more expensive. He would have liked to have stayed on to work after 65 and says this is common at the docks.

Personal Finance: INTVEE receives a National Health pension and National Assistance. The former is due to increase but the latter due to decrease from 4/6d to 1/- which by the time he's paid his bus fare to collect it will only be worth 6d a week. He received a £7 grant for clothes with the help of Labour MP of Leith, Mr Hoy; they would not ask local MP for help as they are from Leith.

Shops: INTVEE's daughter in law thinks the local shops add a penny or halfpenny on everything compared with Edinburgh and Leith. She usually shops at St Cuthbert's in Davidsons Mains.

Leisure: INTVEE is not very active due to health, he watches some television. He likes detective plays but not very enthusiastic about it. INTVER comments on his general apathy and thinks he may be lonely but doesn't want to join an old age pensioner's club because he doesn't feel that old. INTVER asks him about his day and quotes him as saying "Oh they're very dull now. It's a very long day just looking out of the window. I just sit and I have my dinner and I have my tea, watch the television and go up to bed. That's all I do". INTVEE's son prefers the BBC to the ITV. At weekends he goes to Mackenzies,the pub in Davidson's Mains. INTVER asks him about the Doo-cot and quotes him as saying "Oh that place is a honkey-tonk place, it's in the middle of a scheme, that's the trouble".

INTVER's thoughts: Interview does not give a satisfactory impression of life in the district. Main interviewee is lonely and may also feel a burden to his family. Thinks INTVEE's son is becoming very much urban middle class in his attitudes - preferring people to keep themselves to themselves, but his pub going is compensation for this.

A kinship diagram is included.