Thursday, February 10, 2011

St. Ninian's Wharf; the Birthplace of Jamie Leith

St Ninian's Wharf, Leith, Edinburgh, 1850.

I know, it's not quite the 1698 images you'd like, but it does show the 17th century tower on the Leith Parish Church.
The town was separated from Edinburgh in those days. A tree lined "walk" led from the edge of Leith, all the way up to the gates of Edinburgh.
The Capital City has grown, swallowing the 'minnow' of Leith, but the wide connecting street is still commonly known as "The Walk", and proudly 'Leith Walk' on the street signs.
The wharfs are long gone, the new developers capturing every parchment of real estate, but the history will never die.
You can't change the cobbled streets (law) and new buildings must "maintain the integrity and period" of the area.
Leith will always be a harbour town. As long as Giovani's is by the the river (Water of Leith), it will always have Edinburgh's best Pizza, and the cobbled streets will continue to twist the ankles of the tourists.
And it will always be the birthplace of James Ross Leith.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Ian
    Thank you for sharing your blog.
    This looks quite intriguing.
    I will tell my brother about your blog.
    My oldest son is an improvisional piano player and guitar player. He was going to do the trailer music for my brother's book to promote it but has no recording studio, but does have a friend who he creates music with. I know... it takes money to get anywhere these day.
    May fortune be with you with your book being published.
    Cheers!
    Teresa in CA
    tscat@sbcglobal.net

    ReplyDelete