Last days of Bristo

A wee trip into town today. Primarily we were in to buy some paint to do the living room through the Easter break, but I wanted to head to Bristo Square for a look as well. Edinburgh Uni have decided to re-develop McEwan Hall and the plans will mean more than half of the existing square which has been in it's current form since 1983.

Apparently the little that's left of the square will have random bits of granite inserted to prevent skaters or BMXers from getting lines onto teh steps. It's a shame because, although I've never had the balance, co-ordination or pain threshold to be a skater, it's been a home for Edinburgh's skaters since before I started hanging out in town as a teenager.

There are plenty of other spots around Edinburgh where in our limited warm days you can sit outside for a bit of peace and quiet in the sun, but there's nowhere else in central Edinburgh like Bristo where, as long as it's not raining, and even sometimes when it is, you can spend a while watching skaters honing their skills. It'll be a real loss to Edinburgh as was always vibrant and had an atmosphere to it.

I hung out for a while getting photos and bumped into Ronnie, Mike and Claudia while I was there. Work starts on teh development in teh next week or so, and I guess the next time I'm up there getting photos it'll just be yet another homogenised, corporate looking space.