In mew

I was in town for a meeting with a contractor so had a nice walk there and back, including the length of Princes Street. On Meuse Lane is this gently ornate bridge with an inscription of 1925.

On the corner of Princes St and South St Andrew St, where once was Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Top Man was originally R.W. Forsyth, the tailor, shirtmaker and hosier, and this was their department store that opened in 1907. They expanded to the building opposite, across the lane, and constructed this bridge to maintain access. They built things to look nice, back then, not the modern style of minimum aesthetics and maximum value for money.

While their department store was designed by J.J. Burnet, the extension building and the bridge were done by Burnet, Son and Dick between 1923 and 1925.

A few years ago both buildings were vacant above the first floor and had been for some time These floors were more recently converted to a Travelodge with something like a hundred bedrooms across both buildings. Part of the works were to construct new bridges here and just to the west, so Meuse Lane now is practically half tunnel.

I worked all day but started to get a headache from a colleague's overpowering Manly Deodorant so called it quits and headed home in the torpedo. Despite being heavily laden (in every sense) and unfitness and roadworks I was only two minutes slower than my best time of several years ago. Having also done 10,000 steps I think I've burned enough calories for one day.

Once home it was another quick tea and into the garage for some 800 grit sanding before I get the aerosol paint out.