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Lothian Road Café Opposite the Usher Hall |
1960s-70s
Looking to the south towards Tollcross
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Edinburgh Recollections Lothian Road Snack Bar |
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Sandy CAMERON |
- Reply to Bob Sinclair - Lothian Road Café - Date of Photo |
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1. Reply 1 |
Ray MELVILLE |
- Registration Plate - Cars in the Street |
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1. Reply 2 |
Brian ALEXANDER Prestonfield, Edinburgh |
- Registration Plates - Cars in the Street - Date of the Photo |
| 2. |
Ronnie ELDER |
- Menu |
| 3. |
Avril Finlayson SMITH |
- Reply to Bob Sinclair - Lothian Road Café - Date of Photo |
| 4. |
Henry (Hank) KACZYNSKI |
- The Lothian Café - The Berkeley Bar |
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- Lothian Road Café |
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| 6. |
Rosemary Craig SHARIFF |
- Lothian Road Café |
| 7. |
Eric Gold |
- Lothian Road Café |
| 8. |
Ronnie Murphy |
- Lothian Road Café |
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Recollections 1. Sandy Cameron Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Sandy Cameron, Edinburgh for sending this photo in response to a question from Bob Sinclair, Australia |
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Bob wrote, in Recollections 8 on the 'Edinburgh Cafés and Restaurants page: Lothian Road "I remember a Café in Lothian Road where you could sit on stools looking out to the Usher Hall and Lothian Road. The food there was snack type. It was not all that great, but it filled a space." Bob Sinclair, Queensland, Australia: October 27, 2010 |
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Sandy replied: |
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Lothian Road Café "In answer to Bob Sinclair's question about the Café in Lothian Road, I'm sure that the snack bar in the centre of this photo would have been the Café that he remembers: It was directly opposite the Usher Hall in Lothian Road. They did a delicious hamburger and fried onion roll." Sandy Cameron, Edinburgh: July 6, 2012 |
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Date of the Photo Sandy tells me that he has had this photo for quite a while. He cannot remember where this photo came from, and he does not know who the photographer might have been. The number plate on the approaching taxi has a suffix letter 'B' *** Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: July 14, 2012 |
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Update *** I mentioned here, yesterday, that this registration would have been first issued around 1984. However, I got that wrong, confusing Reg No letter 'B' prefixes and suffixes. If I had taken a better look at the photo, it would have been clear that the photo is likely to have been taken much earlier than I had suggested. Thank you to Ray Melville and to Brian Alexander for pointing this out in Reply 1 and Reply 2 below. Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: July 15, 2012 |
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Recollections 1. Reply 1. Ray Melville Rosyth, Fife, Scotland |
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Thank you to Ray Melville who wrote: |
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Registration Plate "I think the photo of the Lothian Road Café may be a lot older than the 1980s. The 'B' suffix was from 1962/3. I had an Austin 1300 as my 1st car from that date, but in 1973." Cars in the Street "The cars parked include: - Mark 1 Cortina - Ford Anglia - Austin A40, - Morris Mini - Triumph Herald - Hillman Imp. The first parked car may be an Austen Wolseley 1100, circa 1965, but I'm not sure on that one. This probably places the photo as mid-1960s" Ray Melville, Rosyth, Fife, Scotland: July 15, 2012 |
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Recollections 1. Reply 2. Brian Alexander Prestonfield, Edinburgh |
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Thank you to Brian Alexander for also replying. Brian's reply was sent at about the same time as that from Ray above. Brian wrote: |
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Registration Plates "The date given for this photo is unlikely to be 1984. Registrations issued between 1 August 1984 and 31 July 1985 had a 'B' prefix. The Reg. number on the Taxi was issued between 1 January 1964 to 31 December 1965, it is a reflective type of plate Reflective plates were optional from 1968 and mandatory from 1 January 1973." Cars in the Street "The cars parked to the left of the shot include: - MG 1100/1300 manufactured between 1962 and 1968 - NSU Prinz (1961-1973)." Date of the Photo "I can't remember when Alexander's Ford dealership moved from Lothian Road, I only remember their place in Semple Street. The sign attached to the side of the Café advertising the Car Park seems to show the hourly cost in decimal currency brought in on 15 February 1971. I hope this helps to narrow down the date of the photo." Brian Alexander, Prestonfield, Edinburgh: July 15, 2012 |
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Date of the Photo The Edinburgh & Leith Post Office Directories may also help to narrow down the date of this photo. I only have one of these directories to hand for the period 1965-1975. It is the 1970 directory. For this section of Lothian Road, the directory lists these businesses:
- 80 Lothian Road: Alexander of
Edinburgh Ltd., - 20 Lothian Road: Sandwich Bar - 18 Lothian Road: Camera & Instrument Repair Co. Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: July 15, 2012 |
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Recollections 2. Ronnie Elder Kandy, Sri Lanka |
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Thank you to Ronnie Elder who wrote: |
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Menu "I first remember using a snack bar in this particular location possibly from around 1951 - it served: - beans on toast (a life-long favorite of mine) - spaghetti on toast - sausage sandwiches - etc. They didn't seem to mind my propping something to read against the window shelf and taking time to savour and enjoy the snack." Ronnie Elder, Kandy, Sri Lanka: July 16, 2012 |
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Recollections 3. Avril Finlayson Smith (née Young) Bendigo, Victoria, Australia |
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Thank you to Avril Finlayson Smith (née Young) for leaving this message in the EdinPhoto guestbook. |
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Avril wrote: Photo "I'd like to thank Sandy Cameron for the picture of the Café and the Sweet Shop in Lothian Road in the 1960s, opposite the Usher Hall." Café "This did bring back many happy memories. I had quite few very tasty bacon rolls in that wee Café, but had forgotten about this." Sweety Shop "I hadn't forgotten about the wee sweety shop there. I often visited it with my mother over the years. The couple who ran it were such a lovely, friendly pair. Sadly, I can't, at the moment recall their name. This was one of the shops where you could take your bag of sugar, if you managed to save any during the war, and you would then get some sweets as part-exchange, when they had any stock in. I never thought I'd see a picture of these places. Bicycle Shop Just up from the Café and sweetie shop is where my husband got his first bicycle, so this too was a happy memory for him. Many thanks, Sandy, for sharing this and bringing these lovely memories back to us.
Avril Finlayson Smith (née Young),
Bendigo, Victoria, Australia |
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Recollections 4. Henry (Hank) Kaczynski Annapolis, Maryland, USA |
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Henry Kaczynski wrote: |
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The Lothian Café "The Café in this photo, The Lothian Café, was popular with the airmen from RAF Kirknewton (RAFK). The bus stops for RAFK were on Shandwick Place and Atholl Crescent, so that Café got a lot of trade from the Yanks making their way down Lothian Road. It stayed open after the Pubs closed." The Berkeley Bar "The Berkeley Bar, located across the street from the Café, was a favorite hangout for us, and we used to get something to eat at the Café before going to the bus stop for the ride to RAFK. The Café also got a lot of business from movie-goers at the cinema located at the top of Lothian Road." Henry (Hank) Kaczynski, Annapolis, Maryland, USA: July 16+17, 2012 |
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Recollections 5. George Fenning Beirut, Lebanon |
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Thank you to George Fenning who wrote to tell me: |
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Lothian Road Café "I believe the cafe used to belong to my grandfather. It was demolished to make way for the new road. I attended Portobello School from 1967 to 1973 and during that period had many a free snack from my grandfather in his cafe in Lothian Road. His name was Charlie Middlemass and I have a photo of him when he was seventeen in his black watch military uniform. he fought in Burma and was a chef in the merchant navy prior to taking up the cafe." George Fenning, Beirut, Lebanon 7 September 2015 (2 emails) |
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Recollections 6. Rosemary Craig Shariff Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
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Thank you to Craig Shariff who wrote: |
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Lothian Road Café "The actual name of the Lothian Road Café was 'The Sandwich Bar' The property was leased by Sara Armstrong and her son Gordon. I believe the property was leased from British Rail. I'm pretty sure Mrs. Armstrong was there from around the late-1940s, maybe 1948-49. I think she remained there until the station ceased to operate in the 1960s." Rosemary Craig Shariff, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: 8 September 2015 (2 emails) |
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Recollections 7. Eric Gold East London |
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Thank you to Eric Gold who wrote: |
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Lothian Road Café Before the Cinema "I love the café photo in Lothian Road as it brought back memories to me. I always had a bite to eat there before going into the Caley and Regal cinemas. There was also a café in Bread Street near the Blue Halls/ Beverley Cinema" Eric Gold, East London, England: 10 September 2015 |
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Recollections 8. Ronnie Murphy West Yorkshire, England |
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Thank you to Ronnie Murphy for writing again. This time, Ronnie wrote:: |
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Lothian Road Café "We used to call at a late-night cafe in Lothian Road, after a night at 'The Palais'. It was on the right-hand side, going down Lothian Road. It sold beefburger rolls. That was in the 1960s. Ronnie Murphy, West Yorkshire, England: 17 September, 2015 |