Our 17 November 2015 meeting

The November meeting of the Society was on the subject of ‘Portobello in World War I’. Archie Foley explained how Portobello, like Leith, Musselburgh and other small towns, lost many men but the real impact on Portobello was the number of troops stationed there.

A German family owned a chocolate factory at the end of Portobello Road and this was confiscated because although they had stayed in the area for many years, the father had never been naturalised and was therefore confined for the duration of the war. The building was taken over as barracks for the troops.

Following the Scottish Exhibition of 1908 in Saughton Park a group of enterprising business men bought the buildings and had them re-erected at Seafield . They were opened to the public on 31st May 1909. Containing a ballroom, theatre, cinema, fairground and roller skating rink as well as hosting many special events it therefore catered for all tastes, attracting over 750,000 in its first year. Its last event was held in August 1914 and it was thereafter requisitioned by the War Office for use by the Territorial Army until late 1918 when it was taken over by the RAF with 9,000 WAAF carrying out various duties.

Ramsay Technical college took over the chocolate factory building until it was converted into flats in the 1960s.