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Dave Henniker Tollcross - Fountainbridge area page 11
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As you descend Viewforth past Boroughmuir school the scene is mostly unchanging. Crossing Gilmore Place onto the canal bridge reveals the demolition of the old brewery site. Photographed June 2011. | |
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A barge called the Red Grouse is tied up below at a new jetty. Behind the black fence everything has been flattened and there's a new view over towards Grove Street. | |
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From the same bridge but on the west side facing west towards Gibson Terrace. On the left is Dorset Place. The white building at the right is Fountainpark. | |
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The steps from Viewforth down to the Union Canal towpath. 3rd June 2011. | |
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More accurately, that's Dundee Street (a continuation of Fountainbridge) as seen from the north side. The bottom of Viewforth is 50m to the right from the corner. | |
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From further down the new, short street (pictured above) is an uninterrupted view north towards the boxy building at the western corner of Springside. The curved building in the centre is Morrison Crescent at Haymarket. The West Approach road runs behind the fence on the left. | |
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A single decker LRT bus passes by on the left, heading for Lothian Road | |
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Looking up Viewforth from its junction with Fountainbridge on the left and Dundee Street on the right. The canal bridge is at the top of the hill. | |
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Viewforth is on the right. This is the view towards Springside and Grove Street. The building on the left is student accomodation. | |
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Looking down Viewforth towards Fountainbridge, the opposite view of the one 2 pictures back. | |
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The digger driver has to wait to dump the next load into the crusher machine while a colleague clears a blockage. | |
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The Before pile is on the right and the After pile is on the left at the end of a small conveyor belt. Human intervention seems to result in another, smaller pile of wires and root-like objects. | |
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Dundee Street runs left-right behind the single storey buildings, and Cineworld at Fountainpark is showing Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp. In the distance is Corstorphine Hill. | |
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Clearly, this particular minister has had parking issues in the past. Purpose-built signs are complemented by KEEP CLEAR written on each gatepost. The chains are probably not used to punish parking perpetrators. | |
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The scene at Gilmore Park, the continuation of Leamington Place north of the canal. June 2011. | |
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At the south west side of Gilmore Park. The former gatehouse is about to become rubble. | |
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The same gatehouse as photographed 4 years earlier. | |
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Peering between the bars of the gate, back in September 2007. | |
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Four fat pipes, sliced off with an oxy-acetylene torch or similar. Photgraphed from near Grove Street. | |
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The recent gales have flattened the fence, revealing a subterranean chamber. | |
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One of the very few parts of Fountainbridge which hasn't utterly changed in recent years. Fountainbridge is on the left, Grove Street on the right. There's a craft shop here but they don't sell Cascading Style Sheets, despite the CSS sign. | |
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This and the next few photos taken 22nd June 2011. The demolition continues apace, opening up new views to St Mary's Cathedral behind Morrison Circus at Haymarket. The squarish building behind the blue vehicle stands at the corner of Fountainbridge and Gilmore Park. | |
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Zoomed in a bit showing Palmerston Place Church's grey-topped spires in front of St Mary's Cathedral. | |
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Showing more of the foreground in this shot, particularly the steps which used to lead down to the Union Canal towpath from the north east corner of the Viewforth Bridge. | |
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The steps remain but the graffiti covered wall shown in Viewforth Canal Brewery F is now rubble. Hopefully public access to the canal will soon be restored. Meantime the nearest access is at Leamington Road / Gilmore Park or much further west at Harrison Road. 22nd June 2011. | |
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Down to the bottom of Viewforth and round the corner to the left and there's a few buildings destined for demolition between here and Gibson Terrace. Quikfit is opposite the Fountainpark entertainment complex and is still in business, but this establisment has ceased to be and will probably be flattened soon. | |
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In total contrast (literally) across the road is this garishly coloured entrance to the innovatively spelt 'monkey bizness' whose function escapes me - but it's probably for children. | |
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Fountainbridge |
Scottish and Newcastle Breweries used to dominate this area. Their central engineering workshops have long since succumbed to nature. This is opposite 'monkey bizness'. |
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I visited the area again on 22nd July 2011 to record changes but first I snapped this Hare Krishna devotee chatting to some cyclists on the canal bank. | |
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Looking across Viewforth next to the canal. Pedestrian access had been restored since my previous visit. | |
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A squad of mechanical diggers on caterpillar tracks tidy up the rubble. St Mary's Cathedral is in the background. | |
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The steps down to the canal bank are to the right of this embankment of rubble. Seepage from the canal means pumps are necessary to drain the excavations. |
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Zooming on on the diggers reveals the horseshoe shaped Scottish Widows building at Morrison Street. Part of Edinburgh Castle can be glimpsed behind the big chimney. | |
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The crane on the left is lifting a large skip with one occupant. | |
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He appears to be pointing downwards. | |
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The skip has twisted round. | |
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The crane has rotated. Edinburgh Castle is more clearly visible. | |
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It's not a particularly deep hole despite the warning. | |
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The skip is now in front of the big chimney. | |
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On the other side of Viewforth it's now possible to see Fountainpark entertainment centre. | |
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A wide view looking across to Gibson Terrace. | |
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Zoomed in for a closer look at Dundee Street and part of Fountainpark. | |
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Looking down Viewforth from beside the Union Canal. | |
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On the left, running parallel to and in front of the buildings, is the canal. The Leamington Lift Bridge is just to the left of the remains of the brewery building. Windblown seeds have sprouted into sizable bushes after the recent sun and rain at the start of August 2011. | |
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The scene is quiet today - Saturday - but the demolition men will be continuing after the weekend. | |
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The heavy machinery will be difficult to dismantle, making this a longer job than the area to the west side of Viewforth. | |
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An overall view of what remains of the building. | |
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A tangle of girders and rubble lie beneath the lower of the large blue structures. | |
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The stairway is gone but the diagonal lines on the brick wall show where it was. The exit doors to the left of the machinery give an indication of its size. | |
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The exit door on the left is dwarfed by the blue painted tank and its associated machinery. | |
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The canal runs close by the site, underneath the Leamington Lift Bridge. | |
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This is at the corner of Gilmore Park and Lochrin Basin. |
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