The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) reckons that a lot of pubs in the UK are so historic that their cultural worthiness is equal to that of any statue or tourist attraction. And who are we to argue?
Now, CAMRA has included some of them in their list of Scotland’s 120 best 'True Heritage Pubs’.
Take a look through our photo gallery to see 14 of the Edinburgh pubs listed in the CAMRA guide – and find out why they were included.
5. Barony Bar, 81–3 Broughton Street EH1 3RJ
CAMRA says: Small, L-shaped single-bar pub with a splendid interior that is well worth the short walk from the city centre. Situated in an 1804 fourstorey tenement, it wraps around other property on a street corner and has an attractive frontage of teak Photo: Third Party
6. Leslie’s Bar - 45 Ratcliffe Street EH9 1SU
CAMRA says: A magnificent island-bar pub built in 1899 in a four-storey sandstone tenement by P L Henderson. It is well worth going out of your way to visit. It is unique, having a gantry-like structure on the top left-hand side of the bar counter and a series of low, ticket booth-like windows for service, which are numbered on the inside. Photo: Third Party
7. Robertson’s 37 Bar - 37 Rose Street EH2 2NH
CAMRA says: Built as a four-storey red sandstone dwelling in the 19th century, the interior by P L Henderson is dated 1898. It is quite possible that the bar was much as it is today, apart from the rear left section where the original toilets were – these are now downstairs. Photo: Third Party
8. Sandy Bells - 25 Forest Row EH1 2QH
CAMRA says: It has an old gantry, bar counter, vestibule entrance and a fireplace covered by seating. It is divided into two rooms by a pedimented arch, which had the wood panel on the counter replaced by a glass one in recent years. Photo: Third Party