Edinburgh History

[Fxxx the SPFL]

3 hours ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Good pub.

Used to be a few characters in there moved back to Auld Reekie and went in and there was a guy with a big white beard and a red suit standing at the bar I’ve been told his name previously but can’t remember.

No wise cracks it wasn’t Santa.

[The Real Maroonblood]

1 hour ago, **** the SPFL said:

Used to be a few characters in there moved back to Auld Reekie and went in and there was a guy with a big white beard and a red suit standing at the bar I’ve been told his name previously but can’t remember.

No wise cracks it wasn’t Santa.

👍

[Tazio]

2 hours ago, **** the SPFL said:

Used to be a few characters in there moved back to Auld Reekie and went in and there was a guy with a big white beard and a red suit standing at the bar I’ve been told his name previously but can’t remember.

No wise cracks it wasn’t Santa.

His name was Martin, depending on the day he could be the most charming man you've ever met or a total pain in the arse. He was a big union man in his younger days. 

[Fxxx the SPFL]

49 minutes ago, Tazio said:

His name was Martin, depending on the day he could be the most charming man you've ever met or a total pain in the arse. He was a big union man in his younger days. 

Cheers he used to have different coloured suits positive he had a yellow one on one time died a few years ago I believe.

[The Real Maroonblood]

[Tazio]

2 hours ago, **** the SPFL said:

Cheers he used to have different coloured suits positive he had a yellow one on one time died a few years ago I believe.

Yeah he died about 7 or 8 years ago. And he did indeed have many of his eccentric suits including a black one with hummingbirds all over it. Loved a good debate with a few glasses involved. 

[Morgan]

1 hour ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

I’ve only been in there twice.

 

Good wee pub, tbf.

 

 

[The Real Maroonblood]

13 minutes ago, Morgan said:

I’ve only been in there twice.

 

Good wee pub, tbf.

 

 

Is it still open?

[Morgan]

3 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Is it still open?

Not for years now.

 

 

[The Real Maroonblood]

10 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Not for years now.

 

 

👍

[The Real Maroonblood]

[The Real Maroonblood]

[The Real Maroonblood]

[Libertarian]

21 hours ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

This is an incredible photo. By the fashions it looks as though it was taken around the 1850s. The junction of St Mary's St, Cowgate,  Pleasance,  Holyrood Road. St Patricks (which dates from the 18th Century) spire can be seen top left. 

Edited May 4 by Libertarian

[The Real Maroonblood]

12 minutes ago, Libertarian said:

This is an incredible photo. By the fashions it looks as though it was taken around the 1850s. The junction of St Mary's St, Cowgate,  Pleasance,  Holyrood Road. St Patricks (which dates from the 18th Century) spire can be seen top left. 

👍

[davemclaren]

On 30/04/2026 at 21:19, The Real Maroonblood said:

Played in the basement there a few times in 1979. Sweat was running down the walls. 

[Sydney]

On 04/05/2026 at 01:42, The Real Maroonblood said:

In the picture you can see the sign for the Operative Hat Factory - St Mary's Street was called St Mary Wynd back then.  It's amazing what you can learn about the past in Edinburgh. This newspaper ad / warning was from the early 1860s.

Edited May 5 by Sydney

[The Real Maroonblood]

10 minutes ago, Sydney said:

In the picture you can see the sign for the Operative Hat Factory - St Mary's Street was called St Mary Wynd back then.  It's amazing what you can learn about the past in Edinburgh. This newspaper ad / warning was from the early 1860s.

Brilliant stuff.

 

[The Real Maroonblood]

[John Findlay]

6 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Making the Mound have under road heating 

[The Real Maroonblood]

7 minutes ago, John Findlay said:

Making the Mound have under road heating 

👍1962.

[Maroon Sailor]

 

[John Findlay]

7 hours ago, Maroon Sailor said:

 

Goldbergs in the background.

Queue an old joke.

It was Jews that sank the Titanic.

Goldbergs, Icebergs, they are all the same.

[The Real Maroonblood]

[John Findlay]

1 hour ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

The one street the council havent made a pig's ear of......................yet.

[Libertarian]

11 hours ago, Sydney said:

In the picture you can see the sign for the Operative Hat Factory - St Mary's Street was called St Mary Wynd back then.  It's amazing what you can learn about the past in Edinburgh. This newspaper ad / warning was from the early 1860s.

That's amazing. How did you manage to find that ad?

[The Real Maroonblood]

30 minutes ago, John Findlay said:

The one street the council havent made a pig's ear of......................yet.

True.

[Sydney]

11 hours ago, Libertarian said:

That's amazing. How did you manage to find that ad?

Used the British Newspaper Archive (a paid subscription) and then did a search and played around with filters to narrow it down to Lothian in the 1860s.  The Operative Hat Factory was a BIG advertiser in its day.

[Maroon Sailor]

St Leonards

 

[Maroon Sailor]

East Crosscauseway 1927

 

Always wondered what there was for kids to do then

 

[John Findlay]

1 hour ago, Maroon Sailor said:

East Crosscauseway 1927

 

Always wondered what there was for kids to do then

 

Kids had vivid imaginations. Sorted out their own entertainment.

[Maroon Sailor]

 

[N Lincs Jambo]

On 04/05/2026 at 14:54, davemclaren said:

Played in the basement there a few times in 1979. Sweat was running down the walls. 

 

If you played there around 79 there's a good chance I would have seen you. Loved that basement dive when there was live music on.

[The Real Maroonblood]

[John Findlay]

31 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

York Place. With that traffic heading West.

[The Real Maroonblood]

1 hour ago, John Findlay said:

York Place. With that traffic heading West.

👍

[Maroon Sailor]

[Maroon Sailor]

[Maroon Sailor]

[Footballfirst]

1 hour ago, Maroon Sailor said:

King's Buildings

[Jamboross]

On 04/05/2026 at 14:22, Libertarian said:

This is an incredible photo. By the fashions it looks as though it was taken around the 1850s. The junction of St Mary's St, Cowgate,  Pleasance,  Holyrood Road. St Patricks (which dates from the 18th Century) spire can be seen top left. 

 

Taken in 1854 by James Tunny. There's a lot of really interesting photos of the Cowgate and wider Old Town area taken in the 1850s-1870s, some by Tunny but mainly by Archibald Burns, that document the parts of the city that started to be levelled for the City Improvement Act in the late 1860s. 

 

Quite a few of them on here : https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search?artists[2855]=2855

Edited May 6 by Jamboross

[The Real Maroonblood]

[Libertarian]

1 hour ago, Jamboross said:

 

Taken in 1854 by James Tunny. There's a lot of really interesting photos of the Cowgate and wider Old Town area taken in the 1850s-1870s, some by Tunny but mainly by Archibald Burns, that document the parts of the city that started to be levelled for the City Improvement Act in the late 1860s. 

 

Quite a few of them on here : https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search?artists[2855]=2855

Many thanks 

[Sydney]

1 hour ago, Jamboross said:

 

Taken in 1854 by James Tunny. There's a lot of really interesting photos of the Cowgate and wider Old Town area taken in the 1850s-1870s, some by Tunny but mainly by Archibald Burns, that document the parts of the city that started to be levelled for the City Improvement Act in the late 1860s. 

 

Quite a few of them on here : https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search?artists[2855]=2855

Those are brilliant.  

 

It is amazing how many of them are so familiar, even with the pictures being over 150 years old.  There arent many cities in the world that have retained so much physical history.  Edinburgh is quite amazing.

Edited May 6 by Sydney

[Jamboross]

30 minutes ago, Sydney said:

Those are brilliant.  

 

It is amazing how many of them are so familiar, even with the pictures being over 150 years old.  There arent many cities in the world that have retained so much physical history.  Edinburgh is quite amazing.

 

Aye, I particularly like some of the photos looking down the Waverley Valley where you can see the original Waverley and North bridges, both of which were replaced in the 1890s. 

 

We've been pretty good at preserving our history in Edinburgh even with the constant development in the city centre. So many towns and cities lost that in the post-WW2 era, I'm just glad the post-war plans for Edinburgh never came to fruition, we'd have lost so much. Probably wouldn't have to run the gauntlet of tourists walking through town though so wouldn't have been all bad! 

[Footballfirst]

9 minutes ago, Jamboross said:

 

Aye, I particularly like some of the photos looking down the Waverley Valley where you can see the original Waverley and North bridges, both of which were replaced in the 1890s. 

 

We've been pretty good at preserving our history in Edinburgh even with the constant development in the city centre. So many towns and cities lost that in the post-WW2 era, I'm just glad the post-war plans for Edinburgh never came to fruition, we'd have lost so much. Probably wouldn't have to run the gauntlet of tourists walking through town though so wouldn't have been all bad! 

I disagree, at least in the capital's premier thoroughfare, Princes Street. The buildings that have been lost are a disgrace by the planning authorities, e.g. the original Boots, Life Association and North British & Mercantile.

[Tazio]

49 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

I disagree, at least in the capital's premier thoroughfare, Princes Street. The buildings that have been lost are a disgrace by the planning authorities, e.g. the original Boots, Life Association and North British & Mercantile.

That’s one street though. I was out with my camera today for a wee wander and walked from Canonmills up Dundas Street and through the streets off it and it’s remarkable how much is still original compared to most cities. Princes Street has been the most altered street since the New Town was built with pretty much none of the original existing for a long time, replaced by the buildings you mention. 

[Jamboross]

2 hours ago, Footballfirst said:

I disagree, at least in the capital's premier thoroughfare, Princes Street. The buildings that have been lost are a disgrace by the planning authorities, e.g. the original Boots, Life Association and North British & Mercantile.

 

I'd agree with the Life Association and NB&M buildings, whilst neither were part of the original Princes St they were both cracking looking buildings from what I've seen in photos (too 'young' to have seen any of the buildings you mention in the flesh) and I'm sure could have been adapted to suit the needs of retailers in the 60s. A little more on the fence about the original Boots building though, it was a relatively modern addition so not particularly historic at the time (it only stood for ~50 years) and while it was undoubtedly more aesthetic than what replaced it, perhaps a bit too gaudy for my tastes. 

 

Given the scale of what the Abercrombie Plan and later the Princes Street Panel wanted to do to the city centre we got off pretty lightly losing only a handful of buildings, the initial Abercrombie Plan recommended only retaining three buildings along the whole street! The reaction to losing those buildings meant all future plans were scrapped and since then I think we've done a reasonably good job of preserving historic buildings around the city although there will always be some that go in the name of progress. At least two of those modernist buildings that were built on Princes St. to replace the buildings you mentioned are now listed so I suppose in some cases we're now a little too good at preservation as I'd happily see them razed! 

 

As Tazio says, away from Princes St. huge swathes of the New Town are original. Most of the Old Town is at least 150 years old with plenty 4-500 year old examples and the cities various little 'villages' all have their own historic buildings dating back hundreds of years. We're doing fairly well imo. 

[Footballfirst]

7 hours ago, Jamboross said:

As Tazio says, away from Princes St. huge swathes of the New Town are original. Most of the Old Town is at least 150 years old with plenty 4-500 year old examples and the cities various little 'villages' all have their own historic buildings dating back hundreds of years. We're doing fairly well imo. 

Preserving the New Town has been a huge success story, as has the Royal Mile and its closes. However there were areas of lower quality tenement housing stock that have gone e.g. Greenside, St James (could have been refurbished?), High Riggs/Riego St and St Leonards.  

 

Maintenance of domestic housing will also depend on the wealth or otherwise of the residents. The New Town was built to house the well-to-do, allowing them to relocate from the slums of the old town.

 

I guess longevity depends on two key things, first the quality of the original build (as in the New Town) and second the desire to retain historic buildings (Royal Mile).  I don't expect many modern buildings will last the 150-250 years that the New Town has survived thus far. A number of multi storey dwellings around the city have come and gone since they were built in the 50s and 60s.

[Jamboross]

1 hour ago, Footballfirst said:

Preserving the New Town has been a huge success story, as has the Royal Mile and its closes. However there were areas of lower quality tenement housing stock that have gone e.g. Greenside, St James (could have been refurbished?), High Riggs/Riego St and St Leonards.  

 

Maintenance of domestic housing will also depend on the wealth or otherwise of the residents. The New Town was built to house the well-to-do, allowing them to relocate from the slums of the old town.

 

I guess longevity depends on two key things, first the quality of the original build (as in the New Town) and second the desire to retain historic buildings (Royal Mile).  I don't expect many modern buildings will last the 150-250 years that the New Town has survived thus far. A number of multi storey dwellings around the city have come and gone since they were built in the 50s and 60s.

 

Again the bulk of those tenements were demolished in the '60s as part of the Abercrombie Plan. Both Greenside and St Leonard's would be part of a massive ring road now if that had gone ahead. At the time I'm sure it made sense, the car was the future and they were moving people from low quality, unsanitary housing out to new developments in Craigmillar, Granton etc. I'm sure they could have been saved and refurbished if there was the will and the finances to do so but I think many were too far gone and had become dangerous - there were at least two partial tenement collapses in St Leonard's. Things don't need to be preserved solely because they are old, there needs to be some room for progress, and there are much better examples of tenements across the city so, with the possible exception of St James Sq, I'm not sure any of those tenements are a massive loss. 

 

Would agree that housing built for the wealthier end of society is more likely to survive, use of better materials and generally privately owned so better maintained. Given so much of the housing that was built to house the people displaced from those slum clearances has too now been demolished and that we are living in a world that places much more emphasis on sustainability I would hope that we've learned our lesson and that the more recent developments in these areas are of higher quality and stand the test of time a bit better.

 

I don't see why some of the more significant modern builds won't be around in 100 years+, there are plenty good quality developments and there's no telling what will get listed status in 30+ years time.