While most of Edinburgh has changed in some shape or form over the years, Fountainbridge has seen some of the biggest changes, with the area previously dominated by the Fountain Brewery now home to Fountain Park entertainment complex and the new Boroughmuir High School.
Anybody who left the city at the turn of the century and returned in 2023 would be amazed at the difference in the area. With the regeneration of the Union Canal also leaving its impact on Fountainbridge, with new flats, hotels, offices, bars and restaurants transforming the area in the last 20-30 years.
The birthplace of arguably Edinburgh’s greatest ever son, Sir Sean Connery, Fountainbridge has changed dramatically in the past three decades, with once iconic buildings like Fountain Brewery, the rubber works and Fat Sam’s restaurant on the corner of Semple Street and Fountainbridge now gone forever.
5. Canal clean-up
Volunteers are pictured cleaning up the Lochrin basin section of the Union canal at Fountainbridge in July 1977 find some old drainpipes. The clean-up was part of Granada TV's 'Waterways Clean-up day'. Photo: Denis Straughan
6. Clearing the site
A workman walking in front of the Fountain Brewery, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh in 2012, with work to clear the site taking place before demolition of the main buildings. Photo: Toby Williams
7. Cooling process
An archive photo, date unknown, of a fountain of water which was brought from Union Canal for the cooling process at the brewery. Photo: National World
8. Cinema
A cinema has been on site at Fountain Park since it was opened in 1998, with thousands of Edinburgh cinema goers catching a flick there since. Photo: Esme Allen