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Phyllis Young

Phyllis Young was born in the village of Saltburn, near Invergordon in Ross-shire, on 5 January 1930. The sea was on one side of the road, with fields and hills behind the house. Her parents were "getting on" when she was born. Her father (pictured below right in uniform), who died when she was 15, was in the Royal Navy and had to move to the naval base at Invergordon in order to obtain employment. Her parents were both born in Yorkshire. Her paternal grandfather was a shepherd in the Yorkshire village of North Burton. He had a large family who were very poor. She never saw him but vaguely remembers her maternal grandmother; she never met either of her maternal grandparents. She has no brothers or sisters.

Phyllis started school in Saltburn in a school with one excellent teacher, Miss Reid, who coped with all age groups until they were sent to Invergordon Academy to start Primary 3. Since Invergordon was a naval base, Phyllis and her classmates were sent to Dingwall Academy instead for reasons of safety when the war started. She obtained a Higher Leaving Certificate when she was 17, and as her father had been a Mason she obtained a bursary to go to Exeter University to study French and German. Unfortunately, she had to give this up after 2 years as her mother was dying of cancer.

Phyllis's father in his Royal Navy uniform Her condition improved for a short time, and in order to earn a living Phyllis started work as a medical laboratory technician at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. After her mother's death, she moved to Glasgow and qualified in bacteriology and haematology/blood transfusion, working in both the Victoria and Southern General hospitals. She took a post in bacteriology at Strathclyde University, but did not enjoy it very much. The difference between the life and death situations - stressful as they were - and the laid-back attitude at the university was too great, and she left the post. She later returned to Strathclyde University as a very mature student, and finally obtained her degree in French and German. As by this time she was nearing retirement age, she did not work full-time but lectured part-time in various Glasgow colleges for about 6 years.

Phyllis was brought up in a two-up, two-down house with an outside toilet in Saltburn. When she mentions this, people are inclined to say she must have been well off, but this was certainly not the case. This type of house was the norm in the Highlands. When she first came to Glasgow, she lived in the nurse's home for a year. She later shared flats in the South Side. She went to live in Thornliebank upon her marriage, but it was not a success and there were no children. For the last 30 years, she has lived on her own in a semi-detached house in Thornliebank.

Phyllis's father started taking her to church on his bike when she was 3. Although there were periods in her life when she did not go to church, she now attends regularly and has many interests through it. The best thing in her life has been that she can interest herself in many things. She has always been a very keen reader, an animal lover, a Scrabble player and much more. She is now getting to grips with her computer! She prefers to forget the worst things. All she feels she can now hope for is to have friends and to be able to remain reasonably active.