George Washington Wilson - Lantern Slide - Edinburgh Old Town and Waverley Bridge

© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Alastair Griffiths, Middlewich, Cheshire, England

George Washington Wilson

Lantern Slide

1873-93

Thank you to Alastair Griffiths, Middlewich, Cheshire, England, for allowing me to reproduce this lantern slide by George Washington Wilson of Aberdeen.

Alastair wrote:

"This slide is from a collection of slides given to me by my father, 40+ years ago in Liverpool.

This picture is of Edinburgh Old Town. It seems to be later than those that you show, of about 1859-60, as the stone bridge has been replaced by a steel one.

It seems GWW wanted to replicate his old images to compare the views from the same spot."

The old stone Waverley Bridge was replaced by a lattice girder structure in 1870-73. It's the lattice bridge that can be seen in the photo above, so the photo must have been taken between 1873 and 1893. (GW Wilson died in 1893.)

If you can suggest a more accurate date for the photo, please e-mail me.

1894-96

The bridge was rebuilt again, this time using plate girders, in 1894-96, when Waverley Station was redeveloped to accommodate the extra traffic resulting from the opening of the Forth Rail Bridge in 1890. It is the 1894-96 bridge that still stands today.

Around 1860

Here is one of the earlier views mentioned by Alastair. It is one half of a stereo view card by George Washington Wilson. Please click on the thumbnail below to enlarge it.

It appears to have been taken from the same position as Alastair's lantern slide - the balcony on the first floor of the Old Waverly Hotel, 43 Princes Street, opposite the Scott Monument.

This photo (below) would have been taken around 1860. It shows the early stages of the construction of Cockburn Street at the far end of Waverley Bridge. Construction of Cockburn street began around 1859.