41 Years at The Toll: Celebrating Our Longest Serving School Crossing Guide

As the school's head off for summer, we are celebrating the council's longest serving school crossing guide, Sandra Gray.

Helping generations of children

For 41 years, Sandra Gray has been a reassuring constant at Bonnyrigg Toll—on the corner in every kind of weather, raising her lollipop and keeping generations of children safe on their way to and from school.

All change

As we celebrate Midlothian Council’s longest serving school crossing guide, Sandra is looking back on four decades of change. The job, the town and the children are all different but, her commitment and love for the job remains the same.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she says.

Crossing over

Sandra’s first seven years in the role were spent across the road outside the Black Bull. But when her colleague Mr Milne announced he was ‘hanging up his lollipop,’ she didn’t hesitate. She applied for his post and moved to the corner where she’s remained ever since—now outside Al Wahhab Food Store.

Smart thinking

“When I was over the road, I’d get soaked,” Sandra laughs. “But I noticed Mr Milne was always dry and looking very smart in his tie because he could stand underneath the shop canopy. When he left, I thought, I’m going over there.”

Strict rules

At the time, school crossing guides were employed by the police, and even though Sandra was simply moving sides, she still had to apply. “They did say ‘you’ll get it’ but you had to do it—it was an admin thing.”

Mum's the word

Sandra took the job when her youngest son Colin started school, after a friend recommended it. She loved the idea of work that fitted school hours. The family lived on Cockpen Road, so she didn’t need to take Colin—or his big brother Mark— to Bonnyrigg Primary, but Colin’s pals knew to behave when they crossed with his mum.

Sandra's school days

Bonnyrigg has always been home. Sandra grew up locally, living in Dundas Street before moving at nine to Campview Road. Her mum, Janet Cranston, turns 97 this month and still lived in the family home until recently; she’s now in a care home. Sandra went to St Mary’s Primary (so close she didn’t need a crossing guide herself), then St David’s High, leaving school at 15 to train as an apprentice hairdresser in Newington for three years.

Romance blossomed

She met her husband Bill Gray in Davy Reid’s the Butcher, married at 17, and the couple moved into a brand-new three-bedroom council house. “It was lovely… Can you imagine getting that now?” she says. Bill later became a car salesman and, after retiring, would often wait for Sandra on the corner—until he passed away around nine years ago.

Shops long gone

The Toll itself has transformed. There used to be a light in the middle of the road. Peggy Lawrie’s shoe shop sat near the corner, and Cathy Davidson’s—now Ladbrokes—sold “everything you could think of.” The children have changed too: they once “came and told you everything”; now they’re polite but more reserved—a sign of the times, she says. And while Sandra once had “ten boxes of chocolates” from children at Christmas, later rules mean gifts were not permitted, although this has recently been revised.

Stepping up

These days Sandra lives on Pendreich Grove, around a 15-minute walk away. She’s at the Toll twice a day, and the trips easily add up to more than 10,000 steps. She loves her garden, enjoys a timeshare in Tenerife, and has no plans to retire—a commitment to community that’s truly worth celebrating. Many thanks Sandra for your service.

In the picture

Sandra is pictured at Bonnyrigg Toll in her uniform and carrying her 'lollipop'.