Why docks are talk of the town

Published on Friday 23 May 2003 01:00

THE noise of building work is everywhere as the new vibrant Leith waterfront takes shape. Apartments promising "exciting living and luxurious lifestyle" rise to join the now familiar Ocean Terminal building and the Royal Yacht Britannia moored alongside.

The Royal Yacht has already been an outstanding success, attracting since 1998 more than 1.4 million visitors who have walked her polished decks, marvelled at her gleaming turbines and tried to imagine the lifestyle of those who lived and worked aboard. It is fitting that on her 50th anniversary Britannia has been short- listed by the Group Travel Industry for the prestigious award of Best Attraction in the UK.

As work on the development continues, the lifestyle of those moving to the area has brought change. As much of old Leith is swept away, many of the traditional dockside pubs and cafes have now disappeared. Residents can dine at new, stylish brasseries and bistros that also compete to attract the increasing number of tourists who visit the area.

It is important, however, to remember Leith is still a working port. Timber, coal, steel and cement arrive from Russia, and countries of the European Union. More than 50 cruise liners are welcomed each year and large numbers of naval vessels visit the city from around the world.

In 1995 its nautical heritage was celebrated when it hosted the hugely successful Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race. This year, the International Festival of the Sea is set to eclipse the success of 1995. It "will welcome a magnificent fleet of vessels representing our whole relationship with the sea" said the organisers, who have estimated 150,000 visitors will visit the festival spending in the region of 10 million in Edinburgh.

Among the Tall Ships that have again taken pride of place are the Astrid, now a sail training ship built in 1918 in the Netherlands and the Norwegian Christian Radich, a full-rigged three-masted ship and star of the 1957 film Windjammer.

The Leith-based brigantine Jean de la Lune, Scotland’s only working square-rigged Tall Ship, and the Mathew, a replica of the ship in which John Cabot crossed the Atlantic to discover Newfoundland in 1497, have joined them.

Myriad smaller vessels are also there: sailing trawlers, lifeboats, a lighthouse ship and a replica of a 40ft open clinker-built Highland galley.

JOSTLING for space are privately-owned and traditional vessels, and the senior service is well represented with warships and patrol vessels.

The festival is crammed with interactive exhibitions, while ancient skills like knot tying, boat building and sail tanning are demonstrated by expert craftsmen. The public are encouraged to "have a go".

One of the exhibits will trace the maritime history of Leith displaying plans of the new waterfront development, but also reminding us that the port, although an integral part of Edinburgh, has retained its own character, developed and nurtured by more than eight centuries of historic relationship with the sea.

Its importance as a port was first noted at the end of the 13th century when Berwick was sacked by Edward I, forcing the monks of Melrose to take their wool to Leith for shipping to Bruges to be woven into cloth by the Flemish weavers.

Leith has been a hostage to its geography. Its strategic position as port to Scotland’s capital city has meant it has seen more than its fair share of war and destruction. The Earl of Hertford came in 1544 with a great English army to "sack and burn" and "to put man woman and child to fire and sword".

In 1560, French troops were desperately summoned to protect Mary of Guise, the Queen Regent and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots as she sought refuge behind the walls of Leith from the Protestant Lords of the Congregation, backed by the siege guns and the might of Queen Elizabeth I’s army. Ninety years later the port was again occupied, this time by the victorious army of Oliver Cromwell after the Battle of Dunbar.

In the early 19th century more foreign soldiers arrived. They were prisoners of war, victims of Napoleon Bonaparte’s adventures in the Peninsular War, transferred from the overflowing prison hulks in the south of England. They came in their hundreds for onward transportation to captivity in Edinburgh and the Border towns.

As Leith grew and developed, ships left the Forth carrying coal, grain, hides and fish to the Baltic and Low Countries and - when English navigation laws allowed - they returned with wine, spices and cloth.

Over the centuries the busy port has witnessed events that have shaped our lives today. It was on a summer’s day in 1698 that many in the vast crowd knelt to pray at the water’s edge as the St Andrew, Caledonia and Unicorn set sail. They were carrying 1200 colonists and the hopes of a nation to the far-off shores of Darien in Panama.

THE focal point of the area has always been the docks but as the area declined and the shipyards closed, the land became derelict. Although there is much still to do to improve the social fabric in other parts of Leith, the heart is slowly being restored and those who had the vision to start such a vast project should be congratulated.

On November 6 a rather different audience will tune in to events in Leith. More than one billion people will watch the MTV Music Awards, which will be held in a purpose-built 6000-seat venue at the Western Harbour.

It is an exceptional coup for the city and although the line-up has not been confirmed past live performers have included Kylie Minogue, Coldplay, Eminem and many more of the world’s top performers. MTV’s Brent Hansen described the venue as unique and "combined with the vibrancy and energy of Edinburgh . . . promises our most electrifying show ever".

But what of the stars - will they appreciate that they are following in the footsteps of kings, queens and conquering armies? Probably not, for they are a transient group there for one night only.

Neil Gunn is a freelance writer