Sunshine on Leith

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It was a beautiful day and a complete contrast to the weather yesterday. We were at Portobello - Edinburgh by the Sea. I am sure in the mind of A N Other this is the Scotland Premier Seaside Resort and on a day like today, there was no finer place to be. I sampled another mouthful of my pint of Alechemy Ales Rhapsody Extra Pale Ale bitter and gazed out across the Firth of Forth. The bright lights of Kirkcaldy were clearly visible. The sea was flat calm. The sands were golden. There was not a breath of wind. The bar of the Dalriada - Edinburgh's Bar On The Beach - was scruffy, but pleasant. It was faded glory, with a beautiful tiled floor entrance, quality ale and a big bay window or outdoor seating to gaze out to sea. The pint was probably the finest I have ever had in Scotland, outside of the Bon Accord in Glasgow. I can offer it no finer praise. I had another pint. It reminded me of somewhere. I haven't put a finger on where, but somewhere in New Zealand is the most current thought. We had a pleasant walk along Portobello seafront and were on the way to Prestonpans - home of the Bay City Rollers. We'll come back to that later.



After a hearty breakfast at the Ibis Styles on St Andrews Square - a bit of sausage, egg and bacon would have been nice though - we headed out to Leith. Leith - the port district of Edinburgh - used to come with a mixed reception. Think Trainspotting! All that changed, when the Queen was deprived of her yacht 1997. Too expensive to run. Britainnia has since been lodged at Leith Docks. A visitor centre has been built as part of the Ocean Terminal shopping and entertainment complex as an anchor for the regeneration of the area. We caught a bus on Princes Street that transpired not to be the most direct route to our destination. Alas, the ticket machine was malfunctioning and we were therefore stuck not in possession of our £4 all day tickets until we reached the terminus. A circumnavigation of the Meadowbank Stadium followed - home of the Commonwealth Games 1970 and 1986. I think it was fair to say that it was looking tired. The current tenants - Edinburgh Ciy - were not at home. Meadowbank was followed by views of Fortress Hibernian from every conceivable angle. I type Hibernian and the spellchecker keeps telling me "Hibernation". Cruel, I know. Easter Road. The Other Half looks back with fond memories of sitting next to a Proclaimer at a Hibs versus Celtic match in the early 1990s. 28th September 1991. I just checked. A 1-1 draw, in case you were interested. The question is was it Craig or Charlie?



A 66 plate bus with an old ticket machine parked up at the terminus. The driver expressed his frustration with the shoddy equipment. The ticket machine was stripped down and the tickets duly dispatched. The depot was on the other side of Edinburgh, so a replacement machine was not an option. Ocean Terminal seemed as though it was struggling. A number of the shops had closed or relocated. Britainnia - best visitor attraction in Scotland a number of years running - had not been able to save them. We moved outside to take some photos. However good an attraction it was, we didn't fancy the admission price. I was concentrating on "free" Edinburgh. The once vibrant docks and shipbuilding yards have long gone. A massive Scottish Government building occupied the length of the dock opposite and land acquired by a major house builder was now available for offers. A few old naval vessels were moored up and 2 oil industry support vessels beyond that. The area of Newhaven faced us. We walked down Ocean Drive towards the old port area. An Indian Consular Office was doing a brisk trade. The old Seamans Mission is now a boutique Malmaison. A number of old boats in the harbour had been converted into floating restaurants, but despite the nice day all were locked up. The Ship On The Shore had been voted in the top 50 places for breakfast in the UK. I know this because the billboard outside stated the fact. The Customs House was a little faded. The old portside buildings were beautifully reflected in the water. There was indeed Sunshine on Leith.



We had our customary flat white in the Print Works - a series of fine coffee establishments and bars just away from the water on Constitution Street. The Port O' Leith pub stands out with a bright frontage. It is allegedly an institution, but it was a bit early for drinking. We caught a 16 bus back to the city centre, which followed a more direct route along Leith Walk. The tram is proposed to be extended along here and there was clearly some moves by developers to take the stretch upmarket. We had a venture into the surprisingly good National Museum of Scotland, which has a roof garden that offers views out towards to the Castle and the Old Town. Access is available from Floor and is seemingly missed by the majority. The statue of Greyfriars Bobby stands opposite. The Royal Mile was full of tourists and shops selling kilts, shortbread and whiskey. It was busy, busy - I dread to think what the August Festival brings.

The 26 bus took us further along the route to Prestonpans. As it sounds, Preston was once famous for salt pans. In other times, the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745 was the first significant skirmage in the Jacobite Uprising. The maps.me app almost worked a treat and we only missed the target by 1 bus stop. The target being Alandas Fish & Chip Shop, described by itself as famous. The haddock was freshly cooked to order and was excellent. One fish supper .....they never just call it fish and chips in Scotland and a single fish was more than sufficient. We arrived at the ground with a few minutes to spare. We knew we were in the right place - a bus parked outside declared UK Groundhop on the destination board. The Main Stand at Pennypit Park was fuller than it had been at any game in the recent past. The uniform look featured a grey beard, anorak and small rucksack. The groundhoppers were in attendance. The main feature of the weekend was a series of games in the East of Scotland League with staggered kick offs to keep the primary audience happy. Preston Athletic of the Lowland League had been invited or jumped on the bandwagon depending on which way you looked at it and swapped their game to a Friday night. The kick off was advertised for 7.30 pm and even to most informed, seemed confused ad time ticked by to the eventual 7.45 pm actual start. It was all extra revenue in the bar. We recognised Luna from the Non League Dogs website. She would tweet her new ground appearance later.



The journey to the outskirts of Edinburgh was the initial conversation topic. "How did you get here then, Mick? On my own, came the response". A coach was parked up outside, which was the door to door method for many attached to Groundhoppers UK. "I came on the overnight coach from London", expanded Mick. "The independent route. You have to think". The line of independent thought had not extended to tying shoe laces and both remained candidates for a trip hazard all first half. He waited for the impressed looks for having accomplished the overnight bus, but then announced it had been nothing compared to the recent excursion to Inverness. The others pointed out he had cheated on the return by catching a flight back south! Fred had driven. 10 hours. Norman had made it in 8 hours, but only stopped for 10 minutes. They both had managed to tie their laces. Ralph had startd out on Thursday with an overnight stop on the way in Darlo. He hadnt managed a fixture, so had tried the cinema. He seemed genuinely amazed by the concept of allocated seating for films. Groundhop UK bus had stopped for a lengthy break at Knutsford Services, which allowed the group to swap places and discuss games part and present with a new, likeminded companion.



We moved on to accommodation. The number on the official trip extolled the luxury of the Holiday Inn Express in Leith. Breakfast included. "Expensive" summised Mick. A guest house in Musselburgh was put forward as the cheaper alternative. "£49". The audience retorted "Not that cheap, then". Mick advised that the Premier Inn would have been £77, but nobody seemed interested. The groundhopper mentality was all about one up manship, but it became irrelevant if nobody was listening. The game had been ongoing for a while, but the soap opera of conversation had been distracting all from the lack of quality. "At the better end of moderate" was the verdict. Cumbernauld scored, which was the cue for a mass production of notebooks. Statistics are the friend of the groundhoppers - all recorded for reference. Technology hadn't replaced the handwritten notebook, although most were recording time on their mobile phones. The crowd was an important statistic. A variety of estimates were thrown into the ring , but there would surely be an official attendance so Ralph wasn't going to trouble himself with headcount!



The conversation moved to recent games and forthcoming fixtures. Ted had got on the right side of his wife by flying to Malaga, but had sneaked some games in on Gibraltar. Inverness came up again. The overnight coach trip from London to Inverness was seen as some sort of ultimate accomplishment, even in the world of the groundhopper. Mick was going to Serbia in a couple of weekends, but was rather vague on the games he would see. "Six", he predicted. "It depends on TV". I didn't believe his vagueness, but the others were impressed enough with the mere mention of the destination of Serbia. "Hotel in city centre only £12 a night. It has 300 rooms", he added. "Cheap" came the chorus from the assembled. As something of a connoisseur of Belgrade football, I was tempted to throw my knowledge into the ring at this point. I resisted. I know the Hotel Slavija being described when I hear it. Mick will be able to play the game of hunt the power socket that works in due course. The coffee machine instructions still make me laugh, "Press button only ones". A newcomer to the little posse countered with a possible trip to 2 Austria games and a 3rd Division game in Croatia. There was apparently a desert of fixture possibilities in the forthcoming week (except in Wales). Mick was going to content himself with Billericay Town. "It isn't a new ground, but I haven't been since 1979" announced Mick. He seemed genuinely excited. The recent signing from I Am A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here had floated his boat. The visit of Dulwich Hamlet was enough to persuade him that a trip to Essex was all worthwhile. Half time came without the need for anybody to add more scorers in the notebooks. We retreated to the clubhouse. A groundhopper had emptied the contents of his rucksack on the table, but there did not seem many takers for his Welsh Groundhopper magazine. Wrong country! Others went in search of the team sheet. As part of an advance ticket to all the weekend games "officially" in the hop, a programme was guaranteed. Grown men were seen clutching at their treasure trove of programmes, all neatly filed in a plastic wallet. The evening was fine, so there was no need to store them in the obligatory backpack. They could be held on display - a sort of badge of honour to depict that you would be at all the games over the weekend. The last of the specially prepared football food offerings headed past us. Haggis and veggie haggis. The "sellout" suggested that the culinary offerings had been well received. We opted not to return to the Main Stand and stood nearer the clubhouse. A German groundhopper - there is always one - was being bored to tears by tales of weekends in the Ruhr Valley, scouring the Regional and Oberligas. Duisburg on a Friday night anyone? The storyteller suggested that these missions were significantly more fun than watching Bristol Rovers, which at one point was a groundhop in its own right! A controversial yellow card that was a definite red, produced a sudden rush for the notebooks. Preston Athletic, despite being marooned at the foot of the league table, battled on until a late 2nd for Cumbernauld ended resistance. It wasn't about the football though, it was all about entertaining the visiting hoppers. A crowd of 263 was declared. Mick and his mates had been wide of the mark with their estimates. Programmes. Pin badges. Record haggis sales. The committee men of Preston would be up late into the night counting the takings. Cumbernauld could have the consolation of taking the 3 points.

The 26 bus journey took us back to the city centre in about 40 minutes.The anomaly of Lothian Buses single fare policy was duly highlighted. £1.60 to travel a few hundred yards. £1.60 to travel 15 miles back to Edinburgh city centre!



Appendix 1

Scotland Lowland League

Preston Athletic FC 0 Cumberland Colts FC 2

Date: 24 March 2017 @ 1945 Hours

Venue: Pennypit Park, Prestonpans, Nr Edinburgh

Attendance: 263 + 2 Non League Dogs

Goals: 0-1 Brown (22'), 0-2 Brown (84')

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Comments

[Rainyb]

Aha I remember the Proclaimers! Loved them ;o)