I know I am rather late in writing this, but I just had to let whoever wrote the response to the request for information re Rose Street know how much I enjoyed your memories. Your words painted pictures in my mind. Thank you. By the way, I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. My interest in Edinburgh is because my maternal grandmother, Mary Tait, was originally from Portobello and came to Canada in 1928 aboard the good ship the Montclare. She married a little over a year later, had four girls and died on May 27th, 1942 in Calgary, Alberta. My mother's life after that brought her to Edmonton, Alberta, where I have lived the entire 53 years and four months of my life. Again, thanks for the memories. You paint beautiful pictures when you write, and I would love to hear more of your stories. Do you have any memories of the beautiful, scenic and picturesque Portobello? Sincerely, Ms. Kelly Tyler -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Monday, December 11, 2006 3:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [SCT-EDINBURGH] 1851 street map of Edinburh On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 12:42:47 -0500, you wrote: >Thank you Chris for that information. I will try the website. > >I have heard that Rose street was at one time a red light district. Do >you know enough about Edinburgh to know at what point in history this >occurred? I write as someone who was born and brought up half a mile from Edinburgh's West End and knew it fairly well between 1945 and 1971 before I left to live in London. To me a red light district is one where the vice trade is openly on display. The obvious signs of such a trade are illuminated doorbells with the notice along the lines "Attractive Model Upstairs" as in Soho, London or ladies hanging out windows as in Amsterdam. To my knowledge these have never applied in Rose Street, at least post war. Unless anyone knows differently of course! Rose Street contained, and still does, many public houses and eating places. No doubt there could be found some measure of a vice trade in such a popular street, as in many such popular streets in many similar cities but the legend of Rose Street derives overwhelmingly from the pubs. Few people could have a drink in every Rose Street pub in one night but many tried. To some that was reason enough to avoid the place. I can recall as a youth thinking that other specific places in Edinburgh had similar colourful reputations. [The Shore, Leith springs to mind but again the trade was never openly on display to the extent that the term red light district could reasonably apply.] The sight of certain Edinburgh bars/dance halls/ and the hill in Princes Street Gardens when the US fleet [and on many occasions ships from many other countries] had anchored in the Forth and the crews were in town lives with me to this day. To watch the US Navy shore patrols at work was a sight to be seen - boy the batons they carried were so much larger than the truncheons used by "the Edinburgh Polis". [UK sailors were of course always perfect gentlemen when in town and never gave any trouble ;-)] These were guys visiting a beautiful city and meeting beautiful girls and everyone having a good time. Was there a vice trade - well there must have been but where isn't there in the circumstances. Even when the fleets were not in town you could always find the action in Edinburgh at the weekends where airmen from the nearby USA Kirknewton airbase came to town to party. The places frequented [eg The Berkeley in Lothian Road because unusually it had a dance floor] certainly had reputations of where to go to meet girls. I remember bumping into my father and uncle when I came out of one late one evening with a girl. At least I had gone there with the same girl with me in the first place but it still caused considerable comment from both of them later on. Sorry to have gone on a bit but just wanted to give you my impressions and recollections of Rose Street. I have ancestors who lived in Rose Street in 1910. They married into a family named Baldo who had a restaurant there. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.21/589 - Release Date: 12/15/2006