Portobello, Edinburgh
Coordinates: 55°57′11″N 3°06′50″W / 55.953°N 3.114°W
Portobello is a coastal suburb of Edinburgh once famed as a beach resort located three miles (5 km) to the east of the city centre, facing the Firth of Forth, in eastern central Scotland. Although historically it was a town in its own right, and is often seen as such by its inhabitants, it is now a residential suburb of Edinburgh, with a promenade fronting on to the wide sand beach. It lies between the suburbs of Joppa and Craigentinny.
Prior to its current revival, its heyday as a resort was almost certainly in the late 19th century, and it was in slow decline throughout the 20th century. Its attraction was mainly limited to the inhabitants of Edinburgh, but some claim also to Glaswegians, particularly when the Glasgow Fair "trade holiday" signalled the start of a two-week holiday for the west. By the 1960s it had evolved into an area of amusement arcades and some permanent funfair attractions. From the 1980s onwards these also gradually disappeared and by the end of the 20th century the Promenade had almost no attractions specific to its seaside location, although the Tower Amusements arcade remains to this day.
History
The area was originally known as Figgate Muir, an expanse of moorland through which the Figgate Burn flowed from Duddingston Loch to the sea, with a broad sandy beach on the Firth of Forth. The name Figgate was thought to come from the Saxon term for "cow's ditch". However, the land was used as pasture by the monks of Holyrood Abbey and the name is more likely to mean "cow road" as in Cowgate in Edinburgh.[1] In 1296 William Wallace mustered forces on the moor in a campaign that led to the Battle of Dunbar, and in 1650 it was the supposed scene of a secret meeting between Oliver Cromwell and Scottish leaders. A report from 1661 describes a race in which twelve browster-wives ran from the Burn (recorded as the Thicket Burn) to the top of Arthur's Seat.[2]
By the 18th century it had become a haunt of seamen and smugglers. In 1742 a cottage was built on what is now the High Street (close to the junction with what is now Brighton Place) by a seaman by the name of George Hamilton, who had served under Admiral Edward Vernon during the 1739 capture of Porto Bello, Panama, meaning literally "beautiful port or harbour", and who named the cottage Portobello Hut in honour of that victory. By 1753 there were other houses around it, and the cottage itself remained intact until 1851, becoming a hostelry for walkers and becoming known as the Shepherd's Ha'.[2]
In 1763, the lands known as the Figgate Whins were sold by Lord Milton to Baron Mure for about £1500, and afterwards feued out by the latter to a Mr William Jameson or Jamieson at the rate of £3 per acre. Jameson discovered a valuable bed of clay near the burn, and built a brick and tile works beside the stream. He later built an earthenware pottery factory, and the local population grew so that Portobello became a thriving village.[2] Land values subsequently rose, and by the turn of the century some parts had been sold at a yearly feu-duty of £40 per annum per acre.[3]
Portobello Sands were used at that time by the Edinburgh Light Horse for drill practice. Walter Scott was their quartermaster, and in 1802 while riding in a charge he was kicked by a horse and confined to his lodgings for three days. While recovering, he finished The Lay of the Last Minstrel.[2] The Scots Magazine in 1806. He noted that the lands were "a perfect waste covered almost entirely with whins or furze." Portobello developed into a fashionable bathing resort, and in 1807 new salt-water baths were erected at a cost of £5000.[3] In 1822, a Visit of King George IV to Scotland, organised by Scott, included a review of troops and Highlanders held on the sands, with spectators crowding the sand dunes.[2]
During the 19th century Portobello also became an industrial town, manufacturing bricks (the distinctive "Portobello brick" being locally famed), glass, lead, paper, pottery, soap, and mustard. Joppa to the east was important in the production of salt.
In 1833 the town was made a burgh, then in 1896 it was incorporated into Edinburgh by Act of Parliament.[4] A formidable red-brick power station (designed by Ebenezer James MacRae) was built in 1934 at the west end of the beach and operated until 1977. It was demolished in the following 18 months.[5]
Between 1846 and 1964 a railway station provided ready access for visitors to the resort, whose facilities came to include a large open-air heated swimming pool, where the actor Sean Connery once worked as a lifeguard. It made use of the power station's spare heat. The pool was closed in 1984. There was also a lido (now demolished) and a permanent funfair which closed in 2007. In 1901 Portobello baths were opened on The Promenade overlooking the beach. The baths, now known as Portobello Swim Centre, are still open and are home to one of only three[6] remaining operational Turkish baths in Scotland. (Other non-functioning baths exist.) They are open to the public.
Portobello Pier was a pleasure pier situated near the end of Bath Street. It operated from 23 May 1871 until the start of World War I. The pier was 1250 feet long and had a restaurant and observatory at the end. It cost £7000 and was designed by Sir Thomas Bouch, who was infamously linked to the Tay Bridge Disaster. In a similar ending, the iron supports rusted away and the pier was demolished as uneconomic to repair in 1917.
The Promenade/Esplanade was created between the town and the beach in 1876.
More short-lived, the Edinburgh Marine Gardens were built north of Kings Road in 1908/09. This included an open-air theatre, an industrial hall, a ballroom (later used as a skating rink), a scenic railway, a "rustic mill and water-wheel" and a speedway track. It fell out of use in World War I and never recovered, giving it a mere six years of full use. The speedway/motor cycle track remained in operation until 1939 and the outbreak of World War II. The entire site was cleared in 1966 and is now home to the Lothian Buses Marine bus depot and various car showrooms.
The building of Portobello Lido in 1933, and of a pool equipped with the first wave-making machine in Scotland three years later, helped to revive the area for a while.
The abduction and murder of young Caroline Hogg by Robert Black in July 1983 from the Promenade area had a severe impact on the area, which spent months as the centre of police and media attention. This publicity did little to help the already declining attendances at the fairground attractions.
Transport
Portobello is served by a number of routes run by Lothian Buses. It is also the location of one of their three bus depots, the others being at Longstone and Elm Row. Lothian Buses provides 11 services to the area:
X15 Meadowmill Sports Centre – Strawberry Corner – Musselburgh – Portobello Town Hall – Princes Street -Tollcross – Morningside Station – Bush – Penicuik (Deanburn)
19 Wakefield Avenue – Lochend – Princes Street – West End – Western General – Pilton – Granton
21 Royal Infirmary – Niddrie – Portobello – Leith – Ferry Road – Davidson Mains – Clermiston – Sighthill – Gyle Centre/Wester Hailes
26 Clerwood – Corstorphine – Haymarket – Princess Street – Portobello – Musselburgh – Prestonpans – Seton Sands/Tranent
X26 Port Seton – Prestonpans – Musselburgh – Portobello – Regent Road – Princess Street – Balgreen – Sighthill – Gyle Centre
42 Portobello – Duddingston – Craigmillar – Causewayside – Edinburgh University – Fredrick Street – Stockbridge – Craigleith – Blackhall – Drylaw – Davidson Mains
45 Riccarton – Hermiston Park & Ride – Currie – Colinton – Firhill – Craiglockheart – Bruntsfield – North Bridge – Portobello – Eastfield – QMU
49 Rosewell – Bonnyrigg – Dalkeith – Sheriffhall – Royal Infirmary – Newington – Leith – Lochend – Portobello – ASDA
69 Portobello Town Hall – Piershill – Northfield – Willowbrae – Lady Nairne – Duddingston Crossroads
N26 Clerwood – Haymarket – Princes Street – Meadowbank – Portobello – Musselburgh – Prestonpans – Port Seton – Seton Sands
- Lothian Country Buses, services 104/113, start their journeys from Portobello to Haddington/Pencaitland in the early mornings. Some buses continue from The Jewel/Eastfield towards Portobello in the early evenings and on final journeys.
Notable people
- The tiny surviving cottage at 3 Bridge Street, Portobello, was the birthplace of music hall entertainer Sir Harry Lauder,[7] along with a memorial garden beside the New Town Hall named after him.(built in 1912 by architect James A Williamson[8]) Portobello's main bypass, skirting and enclosing the area to its landward side, is named Sir Harry Lauder Road.
- The Celtic fiddle virtuoso Johnny Cunningham was born in Portobello.
- TV presenter Gail Porter grew up in Portobello, attending Portobello High School.[9][10]
- Hugh Miller, a founding father of geology, lived in a house in Tower Street, where he committed suicide in 1856.
- Dr David Laing LLD (1792–1878), librarian to the Signet Library and noted archaeologist, lived at 12 James Street.
- Lucy Bethia Walford, née Colquhoun, the novelist, was born in Portobello on 17 April 1845.
Sport
2012 was the centenary year for Portobello Amateur Swimming Club. A section of the club is Portobello Water Polo Club who are 2012 British champions as well as holders of the 2012 Scottish Cup. They are the only Scottish team in the Premiere Division of the British Water Polo League. There is also a sailing club at the foot of Bath Street. Portobello Golf Club play over a nine-hole course in Stanley Street.
See also
References
- ↑ "Placenames of Midlothian" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Grant, James (1880). "14: Portobello". Old and New Edinburgh V. London: Cassell & Company Limited. pp. 143–149. Retrieved 2009-08-20.
- 1 2 Gilbert, W.M., editor, Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century, Edinburgh, 1901: 45
- ↑ Gilbert, W.M., editor, Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century, Edinburgh, 1901: 176
- ↑ Gifford, John; McWilliam, Colin; Walker, David; Wilson, Christopher, editors, The Buildings of Scotland – Edinburgh, London, 1984: 650, ISBN 0-14-071068-X ,
- ↑ http://www.victorianturkishbath.org/_6DIRECTORY/Lists/Scotland/ScotlandEng.htm
- ↑ Lauder, Sir Harry, Roamin' in the Gloamin (autobiography) Hutchinson & Co., Ltd, London, 1928, p. 34.
- ↑ Gifford, John; McWilliam, Colin; Walker, David; Wilson, Christopher, eds, The Buildings of Scotland – Edinburgh, London, 1984, p. 653, ISBN 0-14-071068-X ,
- ↑ Porter G., Irish Independent, They told me I'd be crazy to go into TV, , 29 November 2007
- ↑ BBC News website, Porter's star turn at old school, , 2 March 2007
External links
- Portobello Community Website
- Big Things on the Beach
- Portobello Sailing and Kayaking Club
- Porty Rowers
- Portobello Transition Town
