Portobello, Edinburgh

Portobello is a coastal suburb of Edinburgh in eastern central Scotland. It lies three miles (5 km) to the east of the city centre, facing the Firth of Forth, between the suburbs of Joppa and Craigentinny. Although historically it was a town in its own right, it is officially a residential suburb of Edinburgh. The promenade fronts onto a wide sandy beach.
History.
Early years.
The area was originally known as Figgate Muir, an expanse of moorland through which the Figgate Burn flowed as the Braid Burn continuation to the sea, with a broad sandy beach on the Firth of Forth. The name "Figgate" has been thought to come from an Old English term for "cow's ditch", but the land was used as pasture for cattle by the monks of Holyrood Abbey and the name is more likely to mean "cow road", as in Cowgate in Edinburgh. In 1650 it was the supposed scene of a secret meeting between Oliver Cromwell and Scottish leaders. A report from 1661 describes a race in which twelve browster-wives ran from the Burn (recorded as the Thicket Burn) to the top of Arthur's Seat.
1700s.
By the 18th century the area had become a haunt of seamen and smugglers. A cottage was built in 1742 on what is now the High Street (close to the junction with Brighton Place) by a seaman called George Hamilton, who had served under Admiral Edward Vernon in the capture of Porto Bello, Panama, in 1739, and he named the cottage Portobello Hut in honour of the victory. By 1753 there were other houses around it. The cottage remained intact until 1851, when it became a hostelry for travellers known as the Shepherd's Ha.
In 1763 the lands known as the Figgate Whins were sold by Lord Milton to Baron Mure for about £1,500. They were afterwards feued out by the latter to William Jameson or Jamieson at the rate of £3 per acre. Jameson discovered a valuable bed of clay near the burn, and built a brick and tile works beside the stream. He later built an earthenware pottery factory, and the local population grew into a thriving village. Land values subsequently rose, and by the beginning of the 19th century some parts had been sold at a yearly feu duty of £40 per annum per acre.
An advertisement for bathing machines for hire on Portobello beach appeared in the "Edinburgh Evening Courant" of 11 June 1795, according to a report in the "Evening Dispatch". It says the bathing machines have steady horses and careful drivers, and the bathing sands are perfectly free from stones and "danders", the water clear and the beach very retired.
1800s.
Portobello Sands were used at that time by the Edinburgh Light Horse for drill practice. Walter Scott was their quartermaster. While riding in a charge in 1802 he was kicked by a horse and confined to his lodgings for three days. While recovering he finished "The Lay of the Last Minstrel". "The Scots Magazine" in 1806 noted that the lands were "a perfect waste covered almost entirely with whins or furze". Portobello grew into a bathing resort, and in 1807 new salt-water baths at the foot of Bath Street and Regent Street were erected at a cost of £5,000. In 1822, a visit of King George IV to Scotland organised by Scott included a review of troops and Highlanders held on the sands, with spectators crowding the dunes.
Before Portobello had a promenade and public beach, there was only a belt of dry sand between the firmer sand of the beach and the private properties adjoining the shore. Access to the beach was restricted by these property holders, as Sir William Rae discovered in 1842 when he tried to gain access to his favourite section for bathing. The proprietor of a villa adjoining the chore had extended his garden to include the sand and had built a wall leading right down to the sea. Sir William, a former Lord Advocate, viewed this as interfering with his right of way, as a private citizen and as an officer of the Crown. After legal action over several years and an appeal right up to the House of Lords, the proprietor and his neighbours were forced in July 1849 to demolish the walls they had erected. Fifteen years later, Portobello Town Council began to build the Promenade, so securing public access to the beach along its two miles.
Portobello became industrialized in the 19th century, manufacturing bricks ("Portobello brick"), glass, lead, paper, pottery, soap and mustard. Joppa to the east was important as a salt producer.
In 1833 the town was made a burgh, and jointly with Leith and Musselburgh, it was represented by one member of Parliament. Then in 1896 Portobello was incorporated into Edinburgh by Act of Parliament. The Scotsman in 1912 noted that "It was by the provisions of the Edinburgh Extension Act of 1895 under which Portobello was amalgamated with the city, that Edinburgh gave an undertaking to build and maintain the town hall in Portobello, and in February of this year the Corporation decided to implement the bargain". A formidable red-brick power station was built in 1923 at the west end of the beach. It was extended by Ebenezer James MacRae) in 1938, and operated until 1977 when it was closed. It was demolished in the following 18 months.
Between 1846 and 1964 a railway station provided access for visitors to the resort, whose facilities came to include a large open-air swimming pool, heated by waste from the power station. The actor Sean Connery once worked there as a lifeguard. The pool was closed in 1979. There was also a lido (now demolished) and a permanent funfair, which closed in 2007.
1900s.
In 1901 Portobello Baths were opened on The Promenade overlooking the beach. These, now known as Portobello Swim Centre, include one of only three remaining public Turkish baths in Scotland. The Swim Centre will soon undergo a £2.5 million refurbishment.
Portobello Pier was a pleasure pier near the end of Bath Street, open from 23 May 1871 until the start of the First World War. All of 1,250 feet (381 m) long with a restaurant and observatory at the end, it cost £7,000 to build to a design by Sir Thomas Bouch, who was infamously linked to the Tay Bridge disaster. The iron supports rusted away and the pier was demolished as uneconomic to repair in 1917.
The Edinburgh Marine Gardens laid out north of Kings Road in 1908–1909 included an open-air theatre, an industrial hall, a ballroom (later a skating rink), a scenic railway, a "rustic mill and water-wheel" and a speedway track. It fell out of use in the First World War and never recovered, although the speedway/motor cycle track remained in use until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The site was cleared in 1966 for the Lothian Buses Marine bus depot.
The 1933 Portobello Lido received detrimental police and media attention with the July 1983 abduction of five-year-old Caroline Hogg from the Promenade area and her murder by Robert Black.
Portobello's peak as a resort in the late 19th century gave way to slow decline through the 20th century. Whilst visitors were mainly from Edinburgh, it was also once popular with Glaswegians, particularly as the Glasgow Fair "trade holiday" signalled the start of a two-week holiday for the west of Scotland. By the 1960s, it had become an area of amusement arcades and permanent funfair attractions. From the 1980s these gradually disappeared, and by the end of the 20th century the Promenade had hardly any attractions specific to a seaside location, although the Tower Amusements arcade remains in business.
2000s.
The 21st century has seen the emergence of community activities, some focused on the Promenade. The beach hosts regular beach volleyball, including Olympic beach-volleyball qualifiers, and the annual Big Beach Busk event. Other community activities focus more on the sea. They include the Portobello, Sailing, Kayaking and Rowing Club, Rowporty, and Eastern Amateur Coastal Rowing Club. Others concern community gardens, a monthly local food market, a youth theatre, and culture and music. Artistic activity has become popular, including the annual Art Walk Porty. In April 2020 the Portobello Pencil Sharpening Project, thought to be an art installation, went viral on Twitter.
In 2019 Portobello was voted the best neighbourhood in the UK at the 2020 Urbanism Awards. In 2021 it was considered by a Sunday Times panel to be one of the top eight places to live in Scotland.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) classed the quality of the swimming water as "sufficient" in its 2019 survey, a small improvement on the previous year, when dolphins were sighted off the coast. In 2020 there was a sighting of what was thought to be a swordfish. A wild swimmers' club has been braving the waves through the year since 2010. Meanwhile, a warmer alternative is provided by the Turkish Baths in Portobello Swim Centre.
In October 2016 Portobello became the first urban community in Scotland to register a Community Right to Buy after the 2016 expansion of Land reform in Scotland to cover urban areas. Purchase of Bellfield Old Parish Church and Halls by Action Porty for £600,000 was confirmed by Scottish Government Ministers on 3 May 2017. The purchase was funded partly by the Scottish Land Fund and partly by community donations and borrowing. The buildings and grounds formally passed from the Church of Scotland to Action Porty on 6 September 2017 and opened as Bellfield (Community Centre), Portobello on 23 June 2018.
Work in 2019 on re-laying the paving setts in Brighton Place caused controversy over the cost and duration: the main road was closed to traffic until the end of 2019 while the work was done. Ultimately, the new surface proved of high quality, including smooth sets for cycling and a refuge for safe turning into the Christian Path. The final cost of about £750,000 was less than predicted. Minor problems remaining with drainage were to be dealt with when the spring 2020 lockdown was lifted.
During the 2020 Coronavirus Lockdown, police praised the public for preventing the spread of the virus by avoiding Portobello over the Easter weekend, although as the weather improved in May the number of visitors increased, causing concern to senior politicians. Portobello continued to be busy over the summer of 2020, with a number of disturbances reported. In August a Ferris wheel appeared on the old Fun City site, but the licence was suspended before the attraction opened because it contravened government rules on the reopening of funfairs. Concerns about overcrowding on Portobello promenade continued into 2021.
In June 2019, Portobello Town Hall was closed by the City of Edinburgh Council at short notice. While no formal announcement was made as to the reasons, there had been some small falls of plaster on the stage. In November, a meeting between Councillors, CEC officers and community organisations heard that the council would offer it for proposals for reopening. One issue was that outgoings far exceeded income and a planned programme of refurbishment would have to be deferred in face of other demands on the capital budget. In January 2020 an informal community group assembled to examine ways in which the Town Hall might reopen. The Council put the building on the market for lease in February 2020. Over the summer of 2020 the informal group, under the name Portobello Central, conducted a substantial public consultation despite the problems presented by COVID–19. In September a company limited by guarantee was formed, Portobello Central Ltd, to formulate a proposal to the council and raise necessary funds. The closing date for proposals was 30 November 2020. The Council made it known that two proposals had been received, one from Portobello Central, the other from Peter Schaufuss. A decision was to be made in March 2021, however in February 2021 the Council called for "best and final" proposals to be submitted by 19 March; such a proposal was made by Portobello Central Ltd (and published). It is not known if there are others but the Council is expected to consider the issue on 20 May 2021.
Transport.
Buses.
Portobello is served by Lothian Buses and East Coast Buses, which provide eleven services to the area, continuing towards Joppa and Eastfield to Musselburgh, Port Seton, Tranent or North Berwick, or down Brighton Place to Fort Kinnaird or Royal Infirmary, or from Kings Road to Craigentinny.
21
Wester Hailes/Gyle Centre – Corstorphine – Clermiston – Ferry Road – Leith – Lochend – Portobello – Niddrie – Royal Infirmary
26
Clerwood – Corstorphine – Murrayfield – Princes Street – Abbeyhill – Piershill – Portobello – Musselburgh – Prestonpans – Seton Sands/Tranent
X26
Haymarket – Princes Street – Abbeyhill – Meadowbank – Portobello – Musselburgh – Prestonpans – Port Seton (Alder Road)
42
Craigleith Retail Park – Stockbridge – Hanover Street – Bristo Square – Causewayside – Kings Building – Cameron Toll – Craigmillar – Duddingston – Willowbrae – Portobello
45
Riccarton – Currie – Colinton – Firhill – Merchiston – Brunstfield – Tollcross – North Bridge – Abbeyhill – Piershill – Portobello – Queen Margaret University
49
Rosewell – Bonnyrigg – Hardengreen – Dalkeith – Sheriffhall – Royal Infirmary – Cameron Toll – Southside – Leith Walk – Lochend – Portobello – The Jewel – Fort Kinnaird
69
Willowbrae (Meadowfield Drive) – Northfield Broadway – Portobello Road – Sir Harry Lauder Road – Brighton Place – Portobello Town Hall
124/X24
Edinburgh (Semple Street) – Usher Hall – Princes Street – Meadowbank – Portobello – Musselburgh – Wallyford – Prestonpans – Longniddry – Aberlady – Gullane – Dirleton – North Berwick
Railway.
Portobello's first railway station was initially served by the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. The Portobello (E&DR) railway station operated from 1832 until 1846, when it was replaced by the Portobello (NBR) railway station operated by the North British Railway. The station closed in 1964 under the Beeching cuts.
Hovercraft.
For two weeks in 2007 there was an experimental hovercraft service to Kirkcaldy in Fife. Stagecoach was interested in running a regular service, but the local authority refused planning permission for the infrastructure. Stagecoach planned to use a terminal to be built in Leith using public funds, which failed to materialise.
Sport.
The Promenade and beach host two annual four-mile (6.4-km) running races: Portobello Beach Race every summer since 2013, and the Promathom most New Year's Days since 1987. A weekly 5-km (3.1-mile) Park Run every Saturday in Figgate Park provoked press-reported controversy and exhibitionism in 2018.
Town halls.
As an independent burgh, Portobello had aspirations for a town hall, the Town Council having first met in rooms in Brighton Place and then in Rosefield House. The first purpose-built hall (now the Baptist Church in the High Street) was designed by David Bryce and erected in 1862. This proved inadequate for the purpose and was replaced in 1877 by a building designed by Robert Paterson, which is now the Police Station.
The Edinburgh Extension Act 1895, which amalgamated Portobello with Edinburgh, gave effect to a number of undertakings, including extension of the Promenade, building of the Baths, surfacing various streets, providing drainage, extending the trams, providing a public park and a town hall for public meetings. This hall was intended to hold at least 800 people and was built on the site of Inverey House to a design by the City Architect, James A Williamson, opening in 1914.
Notable people.
In birth order: