EDINBURGH
Godiva, West Port
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The Grassmarket has long been something of a divided area; its increasing popularity as an al fresco drinking and dining location at odds with the traffic-logged roads. The brilliantly simple solution was to pedestrianise the area, creating a leafy, continental-style piazza underneath the castle.
What’s great about the Grassmarket is that despite not being a primarily residential area, there's a co-operative spirit holding the individual businesses together.
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take their aesthetic responsibilities serious/y. 'l‘hat's not to say that they're all authentically restored and historically preserved properties l'ro/en in time. nor have many businesses cased to city council pressures to tartan up for the tourists. Old Town shop tronts. tend. on the \s‘ltolc. to bc lilllc Works ol all
Most ol' thc at'cas cchrcd in HM I.l's'!'s gtlidc have one strong shopping centre. oil which smaller tributary streets and retail clusters pivot. The Old Town has three ccntrcs; possibly l'our. lix'crything starts at the West Port. where the labulously stylish high-end vintage clothing and accessories boutique Herman Brown. run by enthusiastic lashion historians. and the street- smart menswear indie Pageant (see page 28) act as a gateway to the West Port Books collectis‘c. six second-hand bookshops. each with a dil‘l‘erent specialism and a dillerently eccentric. passionate owner. The West Port also manages to sustain bleeding—edge skateboard shop Focus and hip. vintage—l‘octiscd boutique Godiva (see page 24).
The newly-pedestrianised (irassmarket. unique among lidinburgh social hubs for more or less managing to sustain a cosmopolitan l‘estival air all year round. contains some of the most ruggedly individual retail institutions in the country. The long—standing Helios Fountain. for example. is a mesmerising magpie's nest of beads and wooden toys. Matching it for longevity are Mr Wood’s Fossil’s (not just l'ossils. but dinosaur bones and sci-l'i shop displays too); Fabhatrix. where a woman called lawns creates hats that transcend ‘quirky‘; Bill Baber‘s shop-cum-l‘ashion studio; the windows hanging with shimmering woollies. excellent amps and cut—price (‘asios at Red Dog Music; thoughtful plus-size l‘ashion at Big Ideas; and of course. Armstrong’s (see opposite page). lidinburgh‘s classic vintage clothing juggernaut. There are other. equally eccentric one-ol'l's dotted around the area; strange knitwear suitable for wizards at Joyce I‘orsyth on Candlemaker
Association, chaired by Jos Bastiansen of Helios Fountain, has a say in all developments in the area. They’ve also leant their seal of approval to the upcoming GrassMarkets (see what they did there?), a new monthly outdoor market using all of that newly accessible pedestrian space. There have been occasional markets in the site before, of course, but this new, quality controlled collection of stalls selling organic local produce, arts,
The mighty Grassmarket Traders crafts and ‘cool collectibles’ is a
regularly scheduled event, taking place on the first Sunday of every month from May to September. The GrassMarkets are the centrepiece of a new programme of events, including music and theatre performances, to be run in co- operation with local traders and shop owners. It's a nice nod to the area's historic roots as a marketplace and social hub; that said, public hangings are probably not part of the upcoming schedule.