History of Leith, Edinburgh

Like any town Leith has changed and evolved through time. The Leith of today and tomorrow is not the Leith of fifty years ago or a hundred years ago. The simple fact is that people live and die, houses and warehouse are built and demolished, ideas and employment’s which were applicable in past centuries are no longer viable today or in the future

It is to reflect this that in August and hopefully over the next few months there will be with the assistance of Forth Ports and the Ocean Terminal a series of Exhibitions on the History and future of Leith. The help and assistance of the Ocean Terminal to develop this idea has been incredible and without their assistance would have been impossible to stage and I can’t thank them enough for their time and effort in this project. In fact it is planned to have a exhibition on a “Celebration of Leith” taking up the whole concourse of the Terminal and involving different Leith Groups. These exhibitions will be done by Leith people for not only the people of Leith but also for the many customers and visitors that come to the Ocean Terminal.

The point is Leith can no longer take a inward looking attitude and we must once again take a European or World point of view which Leithers in the past did take. Leith for centuries traded with Europe and from the 18th century traded with the World. However we seem to have forgotten this and over the past thirty years Leith has developed a little Leither attitude. The changes in Leith have been great over the past few years and for some people difficult to accept but what was the alternative to live in a Leith fixed like a fly in glue in the past or to live on past resentments or ancient wrongs. In that attitude lies unemployment and rotten housing and no future at all for the Town that we want to see grow and develop into the future. If we want to develop we certainly don’t forget the past we use the past to develop the future.

How do we do this? The first step has already been taken through the exhibitions being staged at the Ocean Terminal which will tell the story of Leith over 5000 years. The next step is the development of Lamb’s House into a visitor centre and Leith Museum which is being developed by Leith groups and the formation of the “Friends of Lamb’s House”. The next step after this is the development by Richard Demarco and Forth Ports of two art Galleries in the docks. The Guggenheim have been invited to Leith and there is plans for the “European Gallery of Contemporary Art” and the plan is to build them on opposite sides of the Western Dock with water taxis between. Included within the plan the Waterfront Edinburgh is planing a North Edinburgh Rapid Transit rout. The route would include Princes Street, Leith Walk, Leith Docks,turning to the west to Granton Harbour and Caroline Park, then Craigleith and Haymarket. This will form part of a Sculputre Trail around Edinburgh. As Richard Demarco explained this is to strengthen Scotland’s cultural ties with Europe and the Historic tradition and that is why he wants to become involved in the Lamb’s House project. At the recent seminar hosted by Professor Demarco at the Ocean Terminal it was even discussed how all the Forth Ports could be linked up by for example the Internet to develop tourism and our links with Northern Europe, The Baltic and Scandinavia.

Out of this will come the possibility of a Leith Museum being based in the “European Gallery of Contemporary Art” something that Leithers for over sixty years have wanted. Not only this but by these developments Leith will be put Leith on the International map. So the question is do we want to remain in the past or to embrace a very exciting future. It must be remembered that Leith was from 1296 up to the 18th century was the principal port of Scotland before the rise of Glasgow and we traded with Europe. Unfortunately we seem to have forgotten our European links. In fact at one time the Shore looked more like Amsterdam then Leith because of the trading links with the Low Countries. It must also be remembered that many Scots emigrated to Northern and Eastern Europe in the past. Furthermore we owe some of our finest buildings due to the European influence in Edinburgh and Scotland. These projects don’t ignore Leith very far from it. They confirm Leith’s History and Culture and reconnect us with our ancient Culture and past.

The Leith of today because of all the re-developments has attracted many new people into the area and they are all welcome. Not only this but new investment is coming into the area along with new roads. Remember the people we consider new today or the developments we consider new today will within a couple of generations will be considered part and parcel of Leith. The new people will eventually consider themselves as Leithers and the new developments will eventually be considered as Leith Architecture