The Neilsons

The Neilson family of Ratho were very significant in the development of the Seagull Trust in Ratho.

It started when Lily Neilson was working as administrator in the Bridge in. An Edinburgh Evening News article of 18 May 1984 tells the story:

After passing on her administration responsibilities, Lily regularly supported the Trust by knitting and dressing dolls to raise money through raffles and "naming" competitions.

Bob Neilson - Maintenance Engineer

The story goes that Ronnie was talking to Lily about the need for someone to do refuelling and routine checks on the barges and Lily "volunteered" her husband Bob. Bob must have been a willing volunteer because he did it for the next 35 years.

Checks had to be done every weekend and for a long time fuelling was at the Bridge Inn which involved moving the boats to the fuel pump close to the Ratho Bridge so it was time consuming. (The Trust installed its own fuel supply when Ronnie Rusack retired from the bridge Inn).

Once Bob retired from full time work (about 30 years later!), he volunteered to join the regular barge crews. Ironically he hadn't qualified as a skipper until this time but quickly qualified and was a very expert helmsman having handled the rather difficult refuelling manoeuvres single handed for years.

Bob was to be awarded the BEM for his services in the Queen's New Year Honours 2014 but the award was brought forward a few days because Bob was terminally ill. He had actually known this for a year but rather than take things easy, he had actually intensified his volunteering.

The story is told in the Edinburgh News article of 3 January 2014:

Neilson family involvement continues. Lily's sister Ruby Black helps with souvenir purchasing. Grandson, Ryan, raised £1000 for the Trust by participating in the Great Scottish Run: