“Who are all these executives?”
Simple answer is ‘same as ploughmen in ploughmen‘s lunch.
Bigger question (asked before) is ‘are people buying these houses because it’s what they WANT or overwhelmingly what’s being built?’
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
“How Edinburgh was transformed from dump that inspired Trainspotting”
(51 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
-
Ok so the population of Edinburgh has risen steadily over several decades. Migration from other parts of Scotland, from england and other countries.
The divorce rate has also increased necessitating two houses where one was previously enough.
The government has relaxed planning permission.
Petrol is cheap.
So every scrap of land in and around Edinburgh is now having houses built on it?
Next to railway lines, in rivers, buildings that were previously shops, pubs, workplaces etc now all houses.
Is this sustainable?
You can buy whole streets of new houses in the West of Ireland that sit derelict following the Celtic Tiger being turned into a floor rug.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@gembo: The Victorians then took the train back to Edinburgh from west Linton.
Involving a change at Leadburn. Does anyone know the status of the old railway station at Leadburn? I'm led to believe that the area between the old platforms was supposed to have been turned in to a picnic area but every time I've had a nose around there recently a firmly closed gate seems to have been preventing access. Its proximity to the residential property that used to be the station building probably doesn't add to its appeal as a rest stop on the A701/A703/A6094.
In theory it was also possible to reach Glasgow by train from West Linton (aka Broomlee) by taking the train to Dolphinton and then crossing what is now the A702 to get to the Caledonian's station. From there you could get a train to Carstairs and thence to Glasgow. Unsurprisingly, given the rivalry and animosity between the Caledonian and the North British (which took over the Leanburn, Linton and Dolphnton Railway two years after it opened), there was no co-ordination of train times to allow easy connections at Dolphinton, and not even any way to book through tickets. All in all, it would quite likely have been quicker to reach Glasgow from West Linton, should you have had a need to do so, by going via Edinburgh.
The building of the Caledonian line to Dolphinton severed the "Queen's Curve" at Carstairs, which gave a much easier link between the West Coast Main Line and the line from Edinburgh. Much of the solum of that piece of line is still easily traced on the ground, on the OS 1:25,000 map, and even on Google's aerial view. The result was that the Caley's determination to stymie the NBR's ambitions led to it effectively throttling capacity on its own main line to Edinburgh from the south. Even today Trans Pennine Express trains have to slow down to IIRC 25mph to negotiate the original and much tighter curve just east of Carstairs station, and all because a bunch of Victorians couldn't grasp the concept of "co-opetition". (There is a story that, in the days when the APT was under development, re-instating that chord was actively considered for a while, to allow services to access Edinburgh less of a speed restriction. However, railway ownership of the land had long been lost and the then owners were not at all receptive to the idea.)
Posted 5 years ago # -
@ejstubbs, great detail.
I wish to link these carstairs arcs of Victorian construction (Irish navigators I assume) to the feature of Glaciation known as the Carstais Esker. Before I knew of this feature of Glaciation I used to cycle up a very curvy railway embankment.
The esker is the other side of carstairs from the railway.. The level crossing after auchengray is where I no doubt erroneously situate the parting of the Victorian iron works and the features of Glaciation.
I am not serious here just improvising. So always happy to be corrected
Posted 5 years ago # -
My father claims to have landed a ball in a wagon of a passing coal train while playing golf at Carnwath - longest shot he ever hit.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Re executive homes - the size of them out of proportion to their tiny garden space and I bet they have 3 bathrooms at least. What's wrong with people that they can't share bathrooms?
Posted 5 years ago # -
We are OK with our family sharing a bathroom, but the toilet situation becomes a bit of a nightmare with 4 people and a sink that's virtually on top of the toilet.
So I am all for two toilets.
Have frequented the Good Companions on many an occasion, not so much recently... Defo helps to know the "right" people. aka local hardmen
Posted 5 years ago # -
We have 4 toilets (not in Edinburgh), seemed like a good idea when we bought the house. In hindsight, the boy's en-suite would have been better as a cupboard, we don't have nearly enough storage.
Re Trainspotting, it's quite reminiscent of how the 90s was for me, not he heroin, but other softer drugs and the laddish goings on. Everyone has a Begbie in their lives, and I remember those 'here we go again' moments when 'ours' instigated some fight we rather he hadn't. I always watch it with fondness of those times.
Night clubs I remember were Cinderella Rockefeller's, and getting dressed up in suits to try and look older. Later Calton Studios, and the monthly all nighters at Ingleston.
Lothian Road was always a dump, but I remember Goldberg's, and the Co-operative across the road - I always thought the old lift was the coolest thing.
I never thought Edinburgh became refined, just expensive, but then yesterday we were in Nandos at Fort Kinaird, and we were sat next to 2 young lads, who sounded much like I did when I was younger, but had paid £12 for chicken and chips. Skinny dudes left half their chips too, I was taught if something was 12 quid you cleared the plate, as I did yesterday - didn't matter how uncomfortable I was for the rest of the day.
*Edit
I once went out with a girl from Pilton, and I remember once getting a bus from Muirhouse after being to someones flat. I remember hearing dshh, dshh, dshh, as 3 windows got smashed, 2 lads came running out from the side of the block followed closely by 2 policemen. It was a surreal moment, I knew some pretty mental people, but the thought of breaking windows just for a chase was newn on me. There's definitely a scale of poor though, I remember that girlfriend coming to my house and thinking I was rich, and I definitely was compared to her, there's definitely more than 2 half's...
Nostalgia is a weird thing, I remember those times with fondness, but my word I wouldn't go back!
Posted 5 years ago # -
@gembo, "I exhort all Edinburgh residents to get out to the further flung parts of the pentlands. "
Absolutely. I've been intending to walk that very route from Kirknewton at some point soon.
The Pentlands are a blessing for the folk of Edinburgh, I love those hills.
Posted 5 years ago # -
You can buy whole streets of new houses in the West of Ireland that sit derelict following the Celtic Tiger being turned into a floor rug
yeah, i remember cycling down south from Derry around 2004 and there were all these new build ghost estates, it was tearful to behold
thats all still there?! well now, if they give me a passport, perhaps i could be persuaded to buy in
Posted 5 years ago # -
paid £12 for chicken and chips. Skinny dudes left half their chips too
this now everywhere, innit... five minutes on a train and they're shelling out four quid for an egg sandwich that gets poked and picked at without much enthusiasm
and what is going on with they ankle socks in mid winter
Posted 5 years ago # -
Executive house buyers do seem to be happy with being given tiny gardens and even less storage space. Even with small gardens they seem prone to carpeting them with plastic.
The Celtic Rug is certainly one scenario we may be facing very shortly. If we do I only hope it's before they build another 35,000 houses on the green land around us.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Can't say I recall Edinburgh being a dump in the 80s but admit that when I go in to the centre now, particularly at this time of year, I find it increasingly so. And not entirely due to various threads on here.
There was much more pride in the place then and the infrastructure was much better maintained. You could use the pavement without disappearing down a hole, the roads did not have vegetation growing down the middle and somebody actually cleared away such litter as was deposited. I wonder how many visitors ever make a return visit; they must be disappointed.
Some development actually took place for the benefit of the citizenry, as opposed to large scale projects designed to line the pockets of organisations with no connection to the City.
As for having dealt with Craigmillar's unemployment problem (I was surprised to read it was only 25%), well, you can solve any area's unemployment problem by bulldozing the housing stock and moving the unemployed along then importing wealthier people to the rebuilt area. I doubt whether those unfortunate enough to have been the sufferers of this suddenly found themselves in employment but have sometimes wondered where they ended up.
I'd better stop now or there'll be a full page.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@crowriver & others - I do a walk every New Year with a friend who lives near the Pentlands. Snowy one year, icy another, soggy another. Especially beautiful this year with frost and crunchy mud. The Pentlands are a fantastic bonus to the city.
@gembo Will check out that route.
Posted 5 years ago # -
“you can solve any area's unemployment problem by bulldozing the housing stock”.
Which in the case of Craigmillar probably never should have happened as they were well built.
Initially there would have been little unemployment, but the nearby pits and breweries disappeared.
Posted 5 years ago # -
When i were a lad in the '60's in Edinburgh... half the new town was slums...and we all lived in boxes ..if we were lucky ..
Posted 5 years ago # -
and what is going on with they ankle socks in mid winter
An I hinna seen a simmit in years.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Posted 5 years ago #
-
Nice shed.
Is the wheelbarrow linked to whatever the person us up to at the right of the photo?
Posted 5 years ago # -
They're getting canal-water to cool the barrow-load of craft lager and caraway vodka. That's the actual nascence of Akva, caught on ISO100 Fujichrome right there.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Looks more like disposing the body from Baptiste last night sans tete.
Posted 5 years ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
posts
