Lamp Post in Lothian Road, outside the Usher Hall

© Any reproduction requires prior permission of Edinburgh City Archives. Photo from Edinburgh
Street Lighting Collection SL/90/8. Photo Ref. Photo Illustrations (Scotland) H484/2

Lothian Road

Late-1950s

This photo comes from the Edinburgh Street Lighting collection of photos held in the Edinburgh City Archive.

I believe that the photo would probably have been taken around the time that the fluorescent light in the foreground was installed outside the Usher Hall, around 1959

Reply

Steven Oliver

Duns, Borders, Scotland

Thank you to Steven Oliver who wrote:

Comments from Edinburgh Street Lighting Group

"In order to find out more about this photo, I've asked other members of the Edinburgh Street Lighting Group' for their comments.

Here is an extract from Graham Paterson's reply:

Lothian Road

"The sunlight and shadows suggest a summer morning, and as Peter has already mentioned, 1959 seems the most likely year. I'm sure it was in 1960 that the whole of Lothian Road was 'done' even though I wasn't born then.

This photo was a great surprise to me because this column was never there in my living memory. The example in this photo must have been a short lived trial, ahead of the whole street replacement scheme. I think it would have gone by 1960 at the latest.

The only double bracket fluorescent on Lothian Road apart from the one mentioned above was at the apex of King Stables Road and Castle Terrace. The lanterns were north/south.

All other CU Highway columns in Lothian Road, and Earl Gray Street were kerbside standing, originally with side-facing doors. All, bar two on the west side, originally had slim bases. In the 1980s, at least five were replaced with 'white' concrete bulbous bases."

Graeme Paterson, Edinburgh: February 3, 2011

Steven Oliver, Duns, Borders, Scotland: February 13, 2011

Reply

Steven Oliver

Duns, Borders, Scotland

Thank you to Steven Oliver who wrote again

Lothian Road

"I remember that Thorn 'Alpha 3' lanterns were fitted around 1975 to replace the original fluorescent lanterns.

A lot of photos that I have seen of Lothian Road in the fluorescent era show columns with single brackets, including the one outside the Usher Hall, shown with a double bracket in the photo at the top of this page:

The lamp post with the twin-bracket fluorescent at the Castle Terrace/King's Stables Road junction appears to have been a trial ahead of the whole street replacement scheme the following year."

Steven Oliver, Duns, Borders, Scotland: February 18, 2011