Looking to the north down Nicloson Street towards South Bridge and the dome of Edinburgh University Old College

© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Chris Douglas, Manager of The Orchard Bar, Howard Place, Canonmills, Edinburgh
who found these photos, and to Allan Dodds, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England for telling me about them..

Nicolson Street

Old Photos

Thank you to Chris Douglas

, Manager of The Orchard Bar, formerly Northern Bar, Canonmills, Edinburgh, for allowing me to reproduce this photo and other old photos of Edinburgh. Chris recently found these photos in the basement of The Orchard Bar.

Old College

This view looks to the north down Nicolson Street towards South Bridge. The large dome, centre-right, is on Edinburgh University Old College.

Empire Theatre

The smaller dome on the left is above the entrance to the Empire Palace Theatre that opened in 1892. There was a major fire on the stage in 1911 during a performance by the illusionist, 'The Great Lafayette'.

All 3,000 members of the audience escaped to safety, but Lafayette, his double and eight others died in the fire. The stage was rebuilt in three months and the theatre opened again.

The Empire was reconstructed in 1928, but it appears to have a different dome in this photograph of the reconstruction.

1928

It showed variety acts, musicals and operas until 1963 when it became a bingo hall but continued to put on occasional shows during the Edinburgh Festival.

Edinburgh Festival Theatre was built on the site of the old Empire Theatre in 1994.

Thank you to the Festival City Theatres Trust web site for providing a history of The Empire Theatre, and Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, from which the brief facts above were taken.

2011 Photo

Many of the buildings in the early-1900s photo can be easily recognised in the 2011 photo.

However, the old Empire Theatre, on the left of the photo with its small dome above the entrance has been replaced by the new glass-fronted Festival Theatre, set a little further back from the road.