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Dave Henniker Princes Street page 12
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At this stage, pedestrians can walk around freely but there's no traffic at all - which lends the scene a ghost town appearance. The tramworks excavations have been neatly filled in and topped with black tarmac. (The bus lanes were originally green.) | |
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Castle Terrace above, King's Stables Road below. This is the west end of this road which connects the Princes Street end of Lothian Road to the Grassmarket. | |
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Princes Street opposite the foot of Lothian Road. Much new plumbing in evidence under the surface. These blue pipes really look the business. | |
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Tramworks
'08 July (1) |
90m to the east at Princes Street's junction with South Charlotte Street. The top of the Caley hotel can be glimpsed behind St John's church. The orange digger waits until it's time to fill in the trenches again. |
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Peering between the wires of the fence to get a closer look reveals two makeshift bridges reminciscent of some 3D games. | |
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William Pitt the younger is the statue at the junction of George Street and Frederick Street. (George Street runs parallel to Princes Street.) | |
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Three rather incongruous features interrupt the waves of glass panels covering the railway station: a gold painted lamp post, a balustrade and a stairway. | |
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Taken more than 30 years after my first picture of the ramp on page 1 of this section. | |
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It's the end of February 2009 and Princes Street is now totally closed to all vehicular traffic. Pedestrians can walk on the north (shops) side but may have to divert into the gardens on the south side. | |
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If you want a bus you'll have to walk up to nearby George Street. If you want to cross the road, you may have a long walk. The barriers mean business. You can cross at South Charlotte Street or just east of The Mound. These crossings are 600 metres apart. | |
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We hope it'll be worth the upheaval; display signs reassure us it will. Shandwick Place businesses didn't fare so well when their street was shut and Princes Street is a bigger job. More information from edinburghtrams.com | |
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A mother leads her two children cycling along the pavement. The alternative route of George Street is too dangerous for young cyclists. | |
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The normally busy pedestrian crossing (it's double normal width) is shut off by a barrier fence at the bottom of Castle Street. Shoppers like to cross over for a seat in the gardens or to get closer to Edinburgh Castle. Office and shop workers need somewhere to munch their lunch. | |
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It's all a bit hostile to visitors too, not being able to get from the shops to the gardens. I have dangerous visions of razor-wire coiled along the top of the fence... | |
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The barrier meanders ever so slightly. Between bus stops pedestrians have more room but the fence must veer round the abandoned bus shelter. In case weary shoppers don't realise the implications of the fence, the sign advises that the bus stop is temporarily out of use. | |
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PEDESTRIANS LOOK BOTH WAYS is on numerous signs vying for your attention. The paucity of pedestrians is partly due to it being 10.25am on a Sunday. | |
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This is the view west from the steps at the bottom of The Mound. I expect there might be some archaeological finds with all this digging. | |
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Yet again: PEDESTRIANS LOOK BOTH WAYS. A useful reminder to those from countries where driving on the right is normal. Stepping in front of a bus could be tragic. Maybe the signs should be relocated to George Street. | |
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The barrier has rather an attractive logo of a rhinoceros, to emphasise its toughness, I'm sure. Their web address is on the pop-riveted label. | |
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It's 8.30am on the 20th of April 2009. Normally this scene would be very busy with commuters going to work but it's virtually deserted on this sunny morning. | |
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From left to right: Lothian Road, Caledonian Hotel, Rutland Street, Rutland Hotel, Rutland Place. | |
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A similar vantage point to the previous picture. Taken from what used to be known as Binn's corner. It's now Frasers rather than Binn's - next picture. | |
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A lone cyclist emerges from Hope Street into Princes Street - but she'll have go into Lothian Road because Princes Street is closed to all traffic - except for the short section from South Charlotte Street to Lothian Road for buses diverted along George Street. | |
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Queensferry Street is on the left with Hope Street on the right. Ryan's Bar sits between them. | |
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Shandwick Place is on the left, connecting the west end of Princes Street to the Haymarket junction. Mather's Bar is just a little bit down Queensferry Street on its left side. | |
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Tram
Works April'09 - 7 1280 x 854 264K |
Just in case there's any doubt, this semi-transparent banner advises onlookers that this is, indeed, Princes Street. Facing East. |
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Tram
Works April'09 - 8 1280 x 1011 226K |
Let's just hope it's all worth it. I'm old enough to remember traveling on the previous (double decker) trams. I've seen extravagant plans for underground shopping malls the length of Princes Street. |
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Tram
Works April'09 - 9 1280 x 872 300K |
Visitors just love to take photos of Edinburgh Castle, and rightly so. The remaining unobstructed vantage points might become busier. |
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You can cross Princes Street at the Hanover Street junction or South Charlotte Street junction to visit Princes Street Gardens but the crossings are 600M apart. It will be worth it, though for somewhere nice to relax with good views of the castle. | |
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Sensibly, they haven't tried to cram multiple languages into this information display. Destinations are shown next to bus numbers. The material it's printed on isn't totally opaque and consequently you can see the castle through it. | |
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Huge pipes are ready to be inserted in the ground under Princes Street. The pillars of the Royal Scottish Academy can be seen through the fence. | |
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Taken from the only place to cross over. It was very quiet here at 9.24am on a Monday morning. Strange, especially when it was such a lovely day. | |
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Looking west from the foot of The Mound towards Shandwick Place. Coloured posts in the ground mark out where something is (e.g. utilities) or will be (tram rails). Some workmen in dayglo jackets are walking along by Princes Street Gardens. | |
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The previous picture was taken from the steps of the Royal Scottish Academy. This one's down on the pavement at the side. The Mound is closed altogether and signs try to entice the errant motorist to a car park. It was empty and deathly quiet. | |
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Zoomed in here for a closer look at the hole under the road. There's a steel girder visible which may be a rail..? (I remember the old tram rails sinking between the granite setts under the heavy, two-storey trams.) | |
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Interesting shopping along Rose Street, sandwiched between Princes Street and George Street. It's still quiet at 9am. | |
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You can escape the hurly burly of Princes Street and explore the grounds of St Cuthbert's at the west end of West Princes Street Gardens. Up the steps ahead are Lothian Road and the red sandstone building of the Caledonian Hotel. | |
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There are three parallel paths here but the centre one provides important access to the public toilets. The path on the right leads to St John's and the left one takes you into Princes Street Gardens. | |
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The view from the West End in September 2009. | |
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Work continues. There'll be a huge sigh of relief when it's done. | |
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October 2009 and there's finally visual evidence of tram rails amidst the chaos. | |
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A wider view shows the entire length of Princes Street telescoped by the long lens, with Waterloo Place and Calton Hill at the east end. | |
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The end of November 2009 and there's a rush on to reopen Princes Street (albeit temporarily) for Christmas. This is the Hanover Street junction at the foot of The Mound. | |
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A hive of activity (of the standing about talking variety). I'm sure the workers would rather keep busy but logistics or management can't always be perfect. | |
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The sign directs pedestrians to a shortcut through East Princes Street Gardens but only during daylight hours. Today, 28th November, the sun sets at 1547 meaning late afternoon shoppers may have extra distance to walk. |
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