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“All of these ‘spit and sawdust’ pubs have all become more gentile, because the whole nature of Leith has changed. The Volunteer Arms was really a throwback to earlier times.”
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http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/trainspotting-pub-becomes-upmarket-whisky-bar-1-3534485
Really?...
It's true - I'm pretty certain that none of the pubs on Leith Walk are Jewish.
We took a stroll down Leith Walk the other week, at the tail end of Festivus. It's true that the area is changing, but it's fits and starts rather than wholesale transformation, at least for now. Noticed quite a few hipsterish outlets nearby Pilrig that didn't exist a few years ago: vintage knick-knacks, interesting cafes, a record/book shop, etc.
All good to see. Pubs still look in rude health, though of course pubs all over the place are closing or being reinvented. Partly smoking ban; partly the crisis we are only just emerging from; partly the price of drink; partly changing clientele.
Have to say Leith Walk and Easter Road areas are getting quite interesting these days: diversity is key.
@crowriver, I think you've just not been there for a while — Elvis & Shakespeare has been open since 2005...
But you're right, within a block either direction of my flat there's delis or eateries for Pakistani, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Italian, Thai food. If only crossing the road weren't so fraught with danger!
I think the 'glass getting chucked over the balcony' scene was filmed in Oddfellows on Forrest Rd. That pub is still there - its called Murphy's now...
I think the 'glass getting chucked over the balcony' scene was filmed in Oddfellows on Forrest Rd. That pub is still there - its called Murphy's now...
No, like most of Trainspotting, that scene was filmed in Glasgow. The pub was Crosslands on Queen Margaret Drive.
I was at Uni when it was being filmed and it seemed like every second person you met claimed to be an extra. The only one I definitely know for sure appeared in it was a mate who is in the club scene wearing an acid house smiley t-shirt. (Filmed at the now demolished Volcano; another of my friends had a flat next to it on Benalder St, a bit too handy for the Three Judges)
@dougal, I've been up and down Leith Walk lots of times on the bike as I live nearby, but rarely actually walk it. Must admit I never came across Elvis Shakespeare before, but it's a great shop.
Been a customer of Pat's Chung Ying for many years, and more recently the Sicilian pastry shop on Albert Street. But now keen to shop more at some of the interesting independent shops on Leith Walk: great Turkish deli near the foot o' the Walk for instance.
Reminds me a bit of what Stoke Newington used to be like: lots of cultures mingling,\\\ cosmopolitan feel. Edinburgh's getting more international every year (as are many other places) but it's quite noticeable in Leith of late.
As for Leith Walk as a road, it is getting a bit better now that some resurfacing is completed. Still need to sort out the double parking epidemic, but a good surface would help a lot.
Still a real dearth of places to park your bike though! Some bike hoops wouldn't go amiss on these fancy new pavements. I know there are plans for bike parking in former car arming bays, but that has not been done yet.....still all a work in progress.
I t.ink the 'glass getting chucked over the balcony' scene was filmed in Oddfellows on Forrest Rd.
Can confirm this was Crosslands in Glasgow. Was there last week, plotting the downfall of the British state through non-violence.
the Sicilian pastry shop on Albert Street
Ooh! Tell me more!
We're closer to Easter Road and are regular customers at Manna House bakery and Cornelius for Beer and other quaffables. I was dissapointed to find Edina Home Brew was gone, but pleased to find it had only moved up to Newington and is now the big brew store place and in rude health.
Los Cardos on Leith Walk does excellent burritos. There's a Tacqueria place at the top end which was interesting but we weren't massively impressed.
The Dalmeny Bar has gone, now a tapasy type place. Can't recall what Victoria Bar used to be called but I'm sure it was spit and sawdust.
The Volly was not all that spit and sawdust any more, my one and only time in there it was a few years back after there had been a fire and the place had all been redecorated with fancy wallpaper and leather cubes and sofas.
There's a Brass Monkey which I recall as a child getting off bus to visit my Nana's was a threatening-looking place painted blue and with windows you couldn't see through. Woodland Creatures (?) looks like it's attempting to be a hipster bar. Never been in either though.
My big regret is that the Egg and Cheese Merchant on Dalmeny Street has gone. He used to sell eggs and cheese. And by cheese I mean one type of cheese which was called "cheese". None of his wares were on offer, and my Nana would go in and ask for a half dozen eggs and howevermuch of cheese and he would dissapear off through the back before returning with said wares. It seemed like an odd sort of a business, modelled on the tripe shops of yore.
"modelled on the tripe shops of yore"
Is the Offal Shop on Duke Street gone? We used to pop in there when I was a kid.
My first flat was in Sloan Street, at that time the Alhambra bar was my closest, although I used the Dalmenty and occasionally the victoria (dump IMO).
Personal favourite was Robbies though - at the time was a Real Ale oasis in a sea of nitrokeg nonsense.
food shops have definitely improved though, my early morning stop off was always the kebab shop opposite and just up from the Alhambra - did a mean Pizza with Doner meat !!
"Tell me more!"
A bit sticky/creamy, cakewise, but worth trying. Not as bad as those shops consisting of nothing but stickily-glazed fruit tart things which make you start checking around for wasps. Better than the Manna House for variety.
There's a place down on Henderson Street we discovered recently - forgotten the name - but it did a nice selection of beer/wine/cider and what I can only describe as "northern European deli" menu: pickles, pork pies, sour dough, varieties of cheese strong and smoked and similar. Much stodge, very filling. I think it was where Cafe Fish used to be.
By strange coincidence I live a block up the hill from the Cask & Still (ne The Volunteers) and lived a block down the road from the Crosslands in Glasgow. So, the place it was based on and the place that stood in for filming. And of course I never actually went into either establishment...
No, Sofi's has been there a while - it was The Vintage.
http://www.thevintageleith.co.uk/
I remember going to my first Greener Leith meet years ago in Sofi's then being quite unaware how drunk I was on Staropramen until I stood up. If anyone sees Ali Tibbit...
"I was dissapointed to find Edina Home Brew was gone"
Me too! Good to know it survives though. Where is it now in Newington?
(Not for me brewing beer, but maybe making sarsaparilla...)
"My big regret is that the Egg and Cheese Merchant on Dalmeny Street has gone. "
It never seemed to be open. A pity it has gone, but perhaps not surprising.
The Sicilian pastry shop is worth a visit if you haven't been before. Try and go just before lunch, as they sometimes run out of savoury stuff in the afternoon. My kids love going there.
There used to be a very similar shop in Tollcross a few years back, I wonder if they just moved to Leith or is it a different outfit?
"There used to be a very similar shop in Tollcross a few years back, I wonder if they just moved to Leith or is it a different outfit?"
Pretty sure that was an offshoot.
Don't know if it's 'recent' or has pre WW2 origins - Italians being just one of Leith's immigrant communities -
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Despite Eduardo Paolozzi’s colossal contribution to 20th Century art, his childhood home on Albert Street remains plaque-free and unrecognised.
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http://www.leithermagazine.com/2010/04/15/eduardo-paolozzi-1924-2005.html
http://www.edinburghspotlight.com/2011/02/review-sicilian-pastry-shop-leith
"So, the place it was based on and the place that stood in for filming. And of course I never actually went into either establishment..."
You are right about where it was filmed, but although the Volly was a regular haunt of the Trainspotting boys, the 'who threw the gless !' scene was not based on the Volly - it didnt have an upstairs IIRC.
I think it was supposed to be when the boys were up town doing some Festivaling and was based loosely on The Guildford arms upstairs bit.
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