A reflection on the evolution of Blackwood & Smith

I started working for Blackwood & Smith in 1988, the same year as the first Red Nose Day; the end of Crossroads; and Rick Astley’s rise to fame.
I recall my interview and I remember a few weeks after getting the job I entered my goth phase. I never really thought about it at the time but on reflection the firm were very accommodating to this very junior employee who suddenly appeared with dyed black hair, white face and eye make up that would impress Tutankhamun!!

Bill Goodburn was the Senior Partner and James Gordon Fyfe would still regularly pop in to the office. I made tea/coffee for the whole office, and was in and out with deliveries for the other solicitors or accountants. There were two other solicitor offices then, Thorburn & Lyon who were above the Bank of Scotland and J & W Buchan who were above the Royal Bank of Scotland. Blackwood & Smith was above what was the British Linen Bank. There must have been a symbiotic relationship.

I would often have to run over to the local court to hand in some urgent document. We dealt with Legal Aid and Court work then and Monday mornings were always busy with phone calls to represent whoever had ended up in Hawick over the weekend. Ken Town was the Sheriff Clerk and was obviously based at the Courthouse at the end of the High Street.

Online banking didn’t exist so all payments were by cheque and again I would go round the local businesses paying bills for the firm or clients. House settlements were by faxed instruction to the bank asking them to send the purchase price for a house to another solicitor, or we would have to go to the bank to hand in an instruction. The day was spent almost entirely on the phone chasing for funds to be sent, or checking for funds coming in.
I would help Mrs. Aitken with all of the office filing and the mail. The franking machine had to be physically taken to the Post Office to be topped up. It reminded me of the case for a Singer sowing machine. It was sealed by the Post Office and they would break the seal, add funds, and then replace the seal.

The sale particulars for the properties were printed in-house, and George Pennel would print the photos of the properties and add two adhesive strips to the back. I would collect them and Mrs. Aitken and I would make sure the photos were precisely placed on the front of the particulars.
All the solicitors and associates were referred to as ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’ or ‘Ms’. Things did eventually change and first names were allowed, but that took a bit of getting used to.

At reception we sold tickets for the Peeblesshire Trout Fishing Association, and the Salmon Fishing Association. There was a time in the late 80s/early 90s where my fishing knowledge was extensive! Long since forgotten but there was so many characters and people who would come year after year and you would get to know which type of ticket they wanted. We also dealt with insurances and last minute cover notes. We issued rent and feuduty notices, and I could tell my Martinmas from my Whitsunday. We operated various building society agencies, in particular Nationwide, Northern Rock and Universal Building Society. This was before Nationwide took over the Dunfermline, and sadly neither Northern Rock nor Universal exist. We’re not to blame for that!!

After about two years as the Office Junior, a Secretarial position became available. I was still very young and was mothered by every single secretary and it was lovely. I kept in touch with all of them as they retired. Some sadly no longer with us, but all very fondly remembered. You could smoke in the office then and I remember a few of the secretaries having their break leaning out of an open window. They also used to sunbathe on the roof!!
All of the secretaries could take shorthand, except me! It looked so fascinating like some alien language.
We had what I thought was an amazing bit of kit called a Gestetner machine. It was basically a machine which could produce copies of documents. You would type on to a wax type sheet and there was a very specific correcting fluid should you make a mistake. I can still remember the smell of it.
We were all using manual carriage return typewriters, but eventually we had terminals. The secretaries were so used to having to ‘thump’ the keys on the old manual typewriters that it had to be explained that they didn’t have to hit the keys quite so hard!! What a racket some days!
All deeds and important documents had to be sewn up, so we all had our own needles and thread. I quite enjoyed that too, it gave the document importance I thought.

I was a secretary for about 18 months and really enjoyed that experience. It added to my knowledge of legal work and when I returned to the cashroom as Assistant Cashier I felt the benefit of having worked in another area. The Head Cashier retired, and then I took over that position. The roles within the cashroom have changed but I like that every day is different. Keeps things interesting!

The firm have kept up with new technology and initially there is a little panic about whether you’ll be able to work the new system but it’s always fine. I do remember getting my first PC with a mouse, and that took a bit of figuring out, but now you just couldn’t work without it.
It’s odd to think what we did before Google and Adobe!? I also wonder how we found time to sell fishing tickets and run the building society agency and get our work done but then we didn’t have the immediacy of emails. We had to wait for a response by mail or phone call.

Lockdown most definitely impacted on how we work and brought in far more flexible working and equipment and programs to make working life easier, although somehow we still manage to completely fill our time.

We have PCs, laptops, mobiles, double monitors, internet, electronic signing, cloud dictation, programs for everything we need to do but one thing has remained the same and that’s the attitude of the people and the office environment. You feel you’re part of team, not just with your close working colleagues but the entire office. I’ve always felt looked after by the firm, hence still being here 36 years later!!

I couldn’t even count how many clients I have seen and dealt with. Some I have known since I started with the firm, and it’s so nice to hear from them and you get to know them and their family. That’s really quite something and long may that continue!