A fascinating film created shortly after the Second World War shows Edinburgh as it was in the Fabulous Fifties.
Shared by the Huntley Archives, the lyrical film first explores views of the hilly city from a distance. Cherub angel statues, iron gates, carvings, sculptures and ornate ceiling plaster works show the magnificent detail that adorns much of the capital’s architecture.
The National Records of Scotland building follows a serene showing of the city’s rooftops and a park with large trees. As recitals are read out from R.L.Stevenson, the film explores several church spires before going inside what is now St Stephen’s Theatre.
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The poetic film then takes a look at a swan on what looks like the Water of Leith before we are introduced to what looks like a tall mill chimney. Resident children of the capital are then seen playing with their friends, with young boys playing what looks like knucklebones or jacks.
Girls dance under an arch that they have formed whilst boys and girls are then seen playing tag with one another. A rather mischievous boy is then shown stealing some apples that are handing over a garden wall but has bitten off more than he can chew as he drops a number of them.
The film then shows more childlike joy as a young girl is seen making a daisy chain whilst another child can be spotted picking up a stone from the water by a mill. A mother and her child also play with a paper toy wheel that they have made by the river.
It appears to then show thatched cottages which look to be from around the foot of the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh’s famous cobbled streets are then shown with autumn leaves covering them.
A scene that is certain to bring back memories from the time shows a woman hanging out of a window with her laundry. It then cuts to a bunch of people and vehicles stretched along Princes Street which is described in the film as the ‘most elastic city street for length in all of Europe.
A tram and it’s overhead lines and the roof line of the British Linen Bank at St Andrew’s Square is then shown before the scene jumps to some street lanterns. Signs and posters with various names including The Halfway House, Green Bay Tree and The Twinkling Eye are all visible in the next element of the film.
The viewer then gets shown Princes Street from the perspective of Edinburgh Castle - the street is filled with trams and people. Residents are then seen to be lounging on the banks of the city centre gardens whilst two women sit on a park bench as they are filmed.
Waverley train station with steam rising from the funnels of the trains give a mesmerising look at what rail travel would have looked like over 70 years ago. A group of young girls are then seen performing the Ten Little Indians nursery rhyme as they curtsy and form arches for one another.
Unfortunately the last part of the film is not visible but mentions of street lanterns lighting up the city centre streets are being described by the narrator. You can view the film in full on the Huntley Film Archives website here.
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