Mystery boxes trip me up as I run the Waverley Bridge gauntlet - Kevin Buckle

This week two lines of very flimsy looking white boxes arrived on the corner of Waverley Bridge and Princes Street. Initially I thought it was maybe something to do with the setting up of the Christmas Market as there appeared to be electric cables running underneath them.
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I didn’t give it much more thought until I saw people were understandably assuming it was some sort of security measure. As I write this I’m still uncertain as to what they are for but one thing is certain and that is they look awful as well as causing congestion.

I will soon see if they remain but to be honest they are not the most annoying thing to be found on Waverley Bridge. I would have thought that the point of pedestrianising the area was to give a pleasant through road to Princes Street when in fact the opposite is the case.

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There may be no vehicles to avoid bar the odd delivery van but instead Waverley Bridge is now patrolled by bus tour operators. Nobody is safe from being asked if they are looking for a bus tour as the ticket sellers with the huge flags on their back have no radar for who is a local and who is a visitor.

The mysterious boxes - and a ticket seller on Waverley BridgeThe mysterious boxes - and a ticket seller on Waverley Bridge
The mysterious boxes - and a ticket seller on Waverley Bridge

Now my bus stops outside Marks & Spencer rather than at Waverley Steps and in a misguided attempt to avoid overcrowding I have a short walk to get to the shop going past the always polite Jehovah’s Witnesses and over Waverley Bridge running the gauntlet of bus ticket sellers.

One young guy in particular would ask me if I was looking for a bus tour every day seemingly having no ability to remember any previous encounters. Instead of simply mumblimg no I decided to look him in the eye and say no I’m going to work.

It took two weeks but he now finally appears to remember me and with some nifty footwork I can normally then get to the Waverley Market entrance without further questioning.

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While the sellers are generally polite what is sometimes a small garish looking army approaching those they hope are visitors is not a good look.

Of course in sunnier times the space is used by bands and in particular one very popular combo that are normally covering Pink Floyd while adding bag pipes as I leave the shop for the day.

Much as people are clearly enjoying themselves the resulting crowds often make it hard to find a clear path on to Princes Street and certainly it is impossible to do so without getting in the way of dozens of people recording the performance on their phones.

During the Festival it was a couple of advertising structures blocking the way. Basically all year round Waverley Bridge is mostly an unsightly and sometimes dangerous mess but hey there are no cars so it is all good.

Latest reports from the council have stated both that the boxes have been “placed there accidentally” and “positioned incorrectly” so it will be interesting to see what the final outcome is.

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