Gracemount Youth &
Community Centre:
The Boag years... -
The Mansion lay vacant for a period until 1963 when John and Elizabeth Boag with their three young children moved into The Mansion and resided in the ‘flat’ on the first floor.
John started a youth club and after knocking on the doors in the local neighbourhood, he managed to get the first group of five kids through the doors … ‘the originals’.
Word quickly spread and the numbers attending increased rapidly. Within a matter of months, The Mansion was a thriving youth club.
Queues of youths lined Gracemount Drive waiting to get into the Friday and Sunday night discos (featuring live bands and disco lights). Fear not though, any nonsense from the youths and they’d be given a two-week ban, which no-one wanted!
The Mansion was also busy throughout the week with activities such as table tennis, a TV room, a coffee bar, archery, and in the basement there was a beauty room, workshops for pottery, enamel, jewellery, photography development and so much more on offer! There was even a quiet room in the foyer for those who needed some chill time.
Over the years, groups of youths were lucky enough to partake in many of the trips on offer:
- Photography sessions to Roslin Glen and other local places. Upon return to The Mansion, the groups learned to develop the photos in the basement darkroom
- Canoe trips (using the glass fibre ones that had been hand made on site). They canoed to places like the Bass Rock where they collected sea urchins to make lamps with, and amazingly they partook in the 100-mile race!
- There were swimming trips, cross-country races and dance competitions. The dance group made the Team Disco Dance Championship Finals in the Hammersmith Palais, London
Trips were not just limited to local areas and groups were lucky enough to go abroad on many occasions to places like Germany, France and Yugoslavia. Exchange groups of students were lucky enough to come and stay in The Mansion too.
Although a big part of Mansion life was the youth community, John also introduced a lunch club for the elderly where he took joy in cooking the meals himself.
There was so many groups and classes held over the years for all ages.
The youths will never forget The Mansion as the place to see the 'tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh' - The Bay City Rollers, who frequently gigged at The Mansion during their early career in the 70’s.
There was also a lot of hard work put into developing the outside grounds…
At the back of The Mansion, John built the sports pitch where football games and other sports were regularly played, as well as the still well used BMX track.
The Stable Block, being the former Gardeners Cottage, also had various uses over the years from a workshop (where the glass fibre canoes were made), to a store room, before being transformed into a gymnasium.
In the Walled Garden, a wooden assault course was built as was a tennis court.
During the 80’s John wrote to the Beach Grove Garden and was delighted when they acknowledged his letter and came in to help develop the garden area.
John also worked with youths to build sculptures in the garden, many of which you will still see today if you take a walk around.
The Boag family not only welcomed the community into their lives but The Mansion was also home to Gracie the Goat.
Gracie was rescued during a hill walk by John Boag and was nursed back to health by the family, becoming a resident in her own right.
Dinkie the dog was another fond and well-loved member of the family as was the ‘Green’ cat.
Love of The Mansion shone through when John asked his father George Thompson Boag to paint a picture of The Mansion.
The Oil Painting hung on the wall of The Mansion for many years.
John Boag retired in 1992 and in a civic reception held at the council buildings, John was awarded an MBE for his services to the Youth community. He said he could never have achieved what he did, without the help and support of his wife Elizabeth, children George, Wilma, and Clive.
John did not move far away and always had a keen interest in the Mansion. Over the years, the grounds were not well maintained so John and two local friends 'The Musketeers' set about tidying the overgrown foliage and making the space a bit nicer again for all.
Despite The Mansion closing in 2018, John would often visit the grounds and walled garden.
Sadly, John Boag MBE passed away in 2021.
It was John’s dying wish for The Mansion to be reopened as a place for the community.
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