Looking back at the changing face of the Edinburgh area
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.
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.
13. Traffic system
A new traffic system was introduced at East Fountainbridge in Edinburgh in June 1978. Cars are pictured passing the old SMT garage. Photo: Unknown
An aerial photograph taken in 2012 showing work being carried out on the site of the former Fountain Brewery on the left, on land that is now occupied by flats and Boroughmuir High School, with Fountain Park pictured to the right on land that also used to be part of the large brewery. Photo: Ian Rutherford
An archive photo of the demolition of the old rubber mill belonging to the North British Rubber Company at Castle Mills, Fountainbridge in February 1971. Photo: Hamish Campbell
No look back at the changing face of Fountainbridge over the years would be complete without a mention of the iconic Fat Sam's restaurant at the old Edinburgh Meat Market on the corner of Semple Street and Fountainbridge. Opened in 1986, entertainment was supplied by the Fat Sam’s jazz band every Wednesday and an extremely comical-looking robotic gangster band on the other days of the week. Customers with sufficiently-large appetites were presented with a token ‘I Survived Fat Sam’s’ pin badge on completion of their meal.
Despite its popularity, the restaurant closed for good in 2000 and the building razed to the ground seven years later to make way for a new office and retail development. This picture was taken in 2004 Photo: Susan Nisbet