Craigmillar – Portobello (2)

This area next to the railway line at Peffermill Road has new flats (apartment buildings) on the site of the old brewery. They look quite smart from the road and those at the back will have fine views across Prestonfield Golf Course to Arthur's Seat. This footpath in adjacent Cairntows park leads to Duddingston Road West.

This building is listed for preservation but is decaying due to the ravages of time and nids. The previous black and white picture was taken in March 2002.

Looking west along what remains of Wauchope Square. A solitary seagull sits on top of a concrete lamppost, the only type of structure still standing here. The road leading off the right is Hay Terrace.

One or two homes are still occupied but most of the windows are sealed with heavy metal shutters. This mother and children were the only souls I saw in my wanderings lasting an hour and 20 minutes.

Signs of life here include a car in Niddrie Mains Drive and a caravan in Wauchope Avenue. The caravan is used by security guards. Despite the paucity of people, the grass is kept short. Britain's hottest July ever (global warming) has turned it a bit brown.

This building has been only partly demolished and now houses a vast population of pigeons. The interior is probably not a pleasant place for a person to venture. Some interior walls are exposed and the ground floor has TOLERANCE neatly stencilled above the fireplace in big black letters.

Zooming in reveals the pigeons on the broken roof. Trees now grow up beside the back walls, covering the metal-clad windows.

One or two families must be waiting to be rehoused before demolition / reconstruction can proceed. The red colour of the blocked-off windows contrasts starkly with the dirty beige walls.

YNT have left their mark here at the roadside. YNT stands for Young Niddrie Team and their clumsy scrawls have been around for years. There's never been an Old Niddrie Team, maybe because they went on to better things.

The distinctive shape of Arthur's Seat shows that this is indeed Edinburgh. Nether Hill (on the right) is where the views of Niddrie were taken from.

A surreal landscape covering a large empty part of the city of Edinburgh. With property prices rising, this situation will not last. The old Craigmillar Primary School is at the right.

This was once someone's livingroom but is now a garden of weeds.

The ubiquitous rosebay willowherb adds a pink splash of colour to the untended greenery at the back of this block of flats and shops.

The same building as Niddrie 21 but seen from the other side. The pillar box is at the south west corner of the Niddrie Mains Road / Wauchope Avenue crossroads.

This is the security guard's caravan, seen in the distance in Niddrie 12

The corner of Wauchope Avenue and Wauchope Crescent, previously pictured.

Womanzone still occupy the top flat here. There are burglar alarms on the wall, as well as their big sign and some colourful decorations lower down.

My beatiful launderette revisited. Pictures on page 2 of this section showed how it looked a year or two previously. These images are likely to be the last ones by me.

This is my favourite shot, the row of shops in Wauchope Crescent.

This business may now finally be closed at the end of July 2006. It was still open quite recently.

The last view of this row of shops. The nids have left their mark.

Returning to the building last seen above in Niddrie 22. The right hand side has TOLERANCE stencilled on it and the roof space is a pigeon loft. At the front there are two shops and the entrance to 21 Niddrie Mains Drive. A sign on the shop on the right may be over-optimistic.

Judging by the smoke damage the fire went right up the building. The hole in the roof which lets the pigeons in and out may have been caused by the fire. If the shop ever does open up again it's unlikely to have crowds of Edinburgh shoppers flocking to its fire sale.

Some grass germinated here and took root at the rusty metal door but the recent heatwave has killed it off. The bush sprouting up on the left has got deeper roots and is still green.

This is a former chip shop which probably did rather well in the days before this was a ghost town. A high proportion of the shops in nearby Niddrie Mains Road sell take-away food.

Further west on Niddrie Mains Drive looking back along to the Wauchope Avenue Crossroads. Windblown seeds find the cracks in the pavement and there's nobody to walk on the weeds that sprout out of the tarmac.

An IRN-BRU vending machine lies smashed on Harewood road near its junction with Harewood Drive. It was probably stolen then brought here to have its money and cans of IRN-BRU removed by brute force. The perpetrators must have been thirsty or in need of cash.

The vacant lots have been mown but cleaning the gutters of weeds is too labour intensive. A lorry at the other end of Harewood Crescent is the only sign of activity.

Harewood Road connects to Peffer Place but the road is barricaded to vehicles here. Local people have left these flowers and toys here to commemorate an abandoned newborn baby found near this spot.

A final look back at Niddrie before heading west into Peffer Place.

There are some occupied premises here and this quite attractive entrance provides a contrast to the previous scenes of desolation.

These brick-built terraced houses are quite unusual for Edinburgh. Judging by the steel shutters, the intention is to preserve them.

A closer look at the defences against potential intruders. When the area is regenerated these properties could be quite desirable.

If you travel along Duddingston Road West you'll notice this block of tenement flats at the junction of Peffer Street and Peffer Place just south of the bridge over the railway. Their only unusual feature is their distance from similar blocks of flats.

Just north of the suburban railway line, looking southwest towards Peffermill Road which crosses over the train tracks near the two tower blocks. The Pentland Hills are in the distance. There's an industrial estate called King's Haugh on the right, accessible from Peffermill Road.

The former industrial area is now home to some small businesses. It's good to see some of these old stone buildings being preserved.

May 2007 and there is new housing going up nearby. This is probably my final look at this desolate urban landscape.

AQQA Stores is most likely closed for business now.

August 2009. New housing did go up but not here yet. The new houses are called Craigmillar Parc. A resident pointed out to me that Parc is Crap backwards.

Another look at this pigeon infested building on Niddrie Mains Drive and Wauchope Avenue. Lack of pedestrian traffic has allowed the weeds to grow in cracks in the pavement.

The east end of the building shown above. It's hard to tell if TOLERANCE was stencilled on this livingroom wall before or after the other walls disappeared.

The northwest corner of the once busy crossroads. Hazy morning sunshine glints on a fire hydrant cover. This area is currently very popular with learner drivers.

Wauchope Terrace is fenced off on the east side as work goes ahead. The 'Tolerance' building is in the middle distance behind a pile of rubble. Arthur's Seat can be seen in the distance.

The east end of Wauchope Crescent.

Number ten.

Looking over number 6's front garden towards those shops again. The old cinema at the rear has long since been demolished.

Looking east along Wauchope Crescent.

Apart from the buildings shown here, the whole area has now been flattened mid-September. The clearance has opened up the views which I've tried to exploit here.

A zoomed-in look at this building and its ornamented windows, painted by a variety of artists.

The empty space behind the Rex Launderette was once occupied by the local cinema.

A view across the cleared ground where houses once stood at the west end of Wauchope Crescent.

More cleared ground further east along Niddrie Mains Road.

Another wide angle view of the junction of Wauchope Avenue and Wauchope Crescent.

An updated (and possibly final) look at the Launderette and the adjacent shops.

The first of two views of the building at the north east corner of the crossroads formed by Wauchope Avenue and Niddrie Mains Drive.

Getting closer - but the wide angle lens reveals that the place is deserted. There's not a living soul in the neighbourhood.

Nature doesn't take long to reclaim tarmac. Grass and weeds are growing from cracks in the pavement. The first close-up look at the artwork in this sequence.

The changing face of number 21 Niddrie Mains Drive.

In view of these buildings' continued existence, as well as the new signs here, it seems possible that the roosting pigeons might be chased out and shops re-opened.

An overall view of number 21 and its two shops and fourteen decorated windows.

The SINGH sign and the other one are both are comparatively new. I don't know - but to my eye the pictue above the Open Soon sign looks like a self-portrait by the artist.

Looking up through a wide angle lens.

A square-on view from the other side of Niddrie Mains Drive.

Diagonal view from the edge of the footpath.

Six windows and eight works of art.

Unlike the licensed grocer, it's unclear whether a fish and chip shop will trade here again.

Again, six windows and eight works of art. (Different ones)

At the east end of the building. The ground next to it has been tidied up since my previous photos. The word TOLERANCE was previously stencilled but now it's been painted by hand.

A closer look. The new artwork implies moneygrabbing by unknown person(s).

From further back we can see the recognisable shape of Arthur's Seat as well the Queen's Drive following a contour line half way up.

In this view trees at Duddingston Golf Course can be seen at the north side of the suburban railway line. Arthur's Seat is mostly hidden.

This fence is at the east side of Wauchope Terrace. New buildings are being erected behind it.

Photographed from the unofficial path connecting the Royal Infirmary to Greendykes.

A bleak vision awaits those visiting Greendykes in 2009. The remaining houses are almost totally empty now, except for the multi-storey flats.

The criss-cross effect of the grass was never intended in this communal clothes-drying area. A crack or gap is all grass needs to thrive once the people have gone.

There are one or two houses still occupied here it seems. Not all the windows have metal shutters. Someone has covered up the word Greendykes but left the word Gardens on the sign.

The houses await demolition. The doors and windows are shuttered with metal to keep out those who would start fires or steal copper pipe.

The tiles are peeling on this floor - all that remains of a leveled building. In the distance are the two blocks of flats: Wauchope House and Greendykes House.

Portobello October 2015 - Neglected by me because it's awkward to get to from Bruntsfield - so I cycled there.

The app used for these two photos was Smooth Reflection.

Markedly contrasting styles of architecture overlooking Portobello beach and the Firth of Forth.

Zoomed right in on those ornate bay windows.

More stark contrasts here. The building with the welcome sign takes its name (Tower Amusements) from the adjacent tower.

An extreme long lens look towards Gullane from Portobello Beach. The difference in air temperature close to the water refracts the light giving a mirage-like effect at this magnification.

Another long lens photo looking towards North Berwick Law. The effect referred to in the previous picture gives the illusion of cliffs below the trees.

The second visit two days later was also blessed with sunshine. I diverted via picturesque Figgate Park and took these two photos at the pond.

The railings and benches along the promenade are this shade of pale green which complements the colour of the sand. Salty sea air means regular maintenance is needed.

That green colour stands out again in the benches along the prom. Despite it being October it's a pleasant afternoon and people are out for a walk.

Seafield is not number one as a tourist destination. Part of Leith Docks is visible behind.

The building at the corner of Brunstane Road North is reminiscent of some at Bruntsfield. There's that nice green paint job again on the iron traffic bollards.

Red sandstone tenements on the left are a familiar sight in many parts of Edinburgh.

Looking towards the east end of Portobello Promenade at Joppa.

Tower Amusements have been here for decades. I remember coming here after swimming in Portobello Pool (open air with a wave machine).

A long lens view looking east towards Joppa

When I parked my bike against the wall I left its camera running and accidentally got this shot of this young lad watching me eating my chocolate ice cream.

First in a sequence walking west from Portobello. Former cinema, bingo hall.

wee house in Bath Street

Figgate Burn

This and the remainder are from a walk westwards from Portobello to Leith.

To continue to Leith Docks via Seafield see the separate page.