Businesses

"The businesses around the St James' Square & Greenside areas that I remember from the late-1950s and early-1970s are:

- Strachan's, the Ladies Hairdressers.  This was where I had my hair cut as a child,  and my mum had her perms done.

It was situated at the Leith Walk clock tower junction,  just off London Road, just around the corner from Rankins the fruit & vegetable shop.

-  The barber's shop off St James' Square, on East Register Street at the Princes Street end.  This is was where my brothers had their hair cut.

It was accessed down a wide flight of steps, and there was a huge model of a bear on a striped pole over the door.

I'm pretty sure I saw the bear on the pole at Huntly House Museum years later.

-  The big pharmacy on Elm Row that still had all the Victorian jars, bottles and drawers that you would expect to see in a museum now.

- Timothy White's, the chemist shop opposite Jerome's "THE" photographers.

- Valvona & Crolla on Elm Row. This was everyone's favourite 'smellicatessen', as we kids used to call it.  It's a lot posher now than it was in the 1950's.

- The Dolls Hospital, opposite St Mary's RC Cathedral, in the basement, if memory serves.  It was between the Deep Sea & Meiklejohn's, the grocer.

Lynda Maine added: "I have a vague recollection of the Doll's Hospital being near the West Port. I also noticed, many years ago, that there was  a Doll's Hospital at Dalry Road, Haymarket. It has now gone from there." Lynda Maine, Colinton Mains, Edinburgh May 8, 2009

Tony Ivanov replied: "I can remember the Doll's Hospital in the 1950s.  It was actually in the Grassmarket at the foot of the West Port. To be more precise, at the foot of the West Port turn left and it was just a few doors along." Tony Ivanov, Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland:  May 11, 2009

The only other shop I can remember in the street was a pharmacy (or similar) as it had medical instruments in the window, presumably to sell to the many medical students lodging in the area

Message posted in EdinPhoto Guest Book:  Gloria M Rigg, New Zealand:  April 25, 2009

Recent Photos

"Thanks for adding your up-to-date photos of St James' Square to the web site."

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United Free Church

"My mother will be particularly interested to see the square as it is now because she knew it well during the late 1920s when she, her parents and her brother used to attend St James' United Free Church in St James' Place.

She was also a member of the Brownies there, before the family moved out to Morningside and then Bruntsfield.

The Church building still stands immediately behind St Mary's Cathedral, although I understand that it's no longer used by the Church of Scotland and may possibly be used by the Cathedral."

Staircases

"My mother recalls my grandfather saying, back then, that some of the houses in the square had wonderful staircases.  It  would be interesting to know if any survive in the remaining section of the square although I guess the houses may well have been sub-divided in the intervening period."

SMT Buses

"My own memories of the square are from rather later, of course, when the SMT buses coming down the Bridges used to sweep over the junction at the Post Office, up East Register Street, through the square and down the top of Elder Street into the 'new' bus station."

St James' United Free Church

"St James' United Free Church was closed (as a church) in 1933. 

I was born in 1954 and only remember it as the GPO Parcel Sorting Office.

I believe that it is now a storage facility for the John Lewis store at the St James Shopping Centre."

Blacksmith at Brown's

"It was interesting to read the comments above on Greenside.

I served my time as a blacksmith, starting in December 1965 at A T Brown.  They had premises at the very  bottom of the stairs that led down Greenside Place, beside Lady Glenorchy Church.

William Leitch & Co, soft drinks, were just along the road at Greenside Lane.

I lived in Easter Road and walked to work every morning via London Road Gardens."

Family at Greenside

Football

Greenside

Lady in Black with a Gramophone