Our 17 December 2015 meeting

The December meeting of the Society was on the subject of Great Junction Street (the first bypass) by Fred Guy. The docks were being extended and the narrow streets of Leith were unsuitable for the larger vehicles supplying the docks. It was therefore decided that a new, wider road was required but there was one obstacle – the Water of Leith. The first task was therefore to build a bridge suitable for this heavier traffic.

North Junction Street from the bridge to the docks was the first part to be developed, while on Great Junction Street the only building erected in the early years was the church, known as Junction Road Church, (now a Moslem Training Centre). Gradually the street was developed from the Leith Walk end with a mixture of tenements, shops, churches, a school and industrial premises.

All the large industrial users, such as Crabbies, have now gone and in the main these premises have been converted into flats. Similarly St James Episcopal Church and school and the buildings opposite Taylor Gardens have gone, as well as the South Leith Poorhouse, but otherwise the street remains very much as it was when first developed.