Marvellous. This is particularly valuable for the views of Princes Street before its finest buildings were destroyed in the 60s. In this film, it is still one of the most beautiful streets in the world. Just look at 3:44. Demolished in 1964. Heartbreaking.
Apparently some of the statues from the original Boots building are in storage although I've never even seen a photo to back this claim up. Edinburgh Council have a miraculous record of losing things.
03:56 - the chap with the white bow-tie looks like a Hollywood film-star of the day - in fact, most in this clip are very smartly dressed, their clothes reek of quality, unlike what you see in Edinburgh today !
Excellent. Great footage. It's hard to imagine that all those people going about their daily routines are no longer with us. The film is so well enhanced. Thank you.
I always look at old videos of Edinburgh and hope to see my Mum and Dad, both born in 1905 and Dad passed away 1982 2 days before Argentina invaded the Falklands, and Mum St Valentines day 1986. Duncan . Redcliffe Queensland . Australia.
My grandfather was born and raised near Richmond Place, behind Nicolson Street. He would have been just 14 years old when these scenes were filmed. He was 19 years old when WWII broke out and was taken as a POW pretty early on. Spent the majority of the war in a concentration camp in what was then Czechoslovakia. Coincidentally, my Jewish grandmother from Poland was also in that concentration camp. My grandfather spent all day in the quarry and my grandmother all day on working with flax, separating it all and then feeding it through machines. They'd catch each others eyes and smile at each other through the fences multiple times a day at roll-call. When the Soviets liberated the concentration camp, they met up as they were the only friendly faces they recognised. They travelled back to my grandmothers town in southern Poland but everything was gone- her home had been taken over by her non-Jewish neighbours whom prior to the war were actually her family friends. Soon realised that the last of the Jewish community there had been taken straight to Auschwitz in the August of 1944, her parents and youngest siblings included. So my grandmother and grandfather got married. He was then stationed in Malaya for a while and then various other places before moving to the UK and finally Edinburgh in 1959. My grandmother loved this city, she said it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen when she arrived. The people of Edinburgh made her feel so welcome and had a lot of patience for her when it came to her thick Polish accent and were incredibly sympathetic towards her and the horrors she experienced. I'm only the first generation to be born here so I'm an Edinburgh man through and through and I love my city. It saddens me to see its decline over the decades and the sheer acceleration of it in recent years.
Watching the lady climb the stairs with her large creel on her back while knitting. Now that is a moment. And seeing those soldier makes you wonder. How many of them now have their names in a place of honor in The Scottish War Memorial. 💙
Sensational how clear the images are with the AI enhancement, thank you for sharing your work! There is an old movie, Singing Streets produced by Norton Park Schoo in Leith, you may wish to work your magic on? Also does anyone know what the building is that provides the backdrop to the marching band around 9:00? All the best in your endeavours!
Thanks for your comment, glad you enjoyed the film :) I found The Singing Street in the National Library of Scotland, there is no other copy available online. So unfortnaelty I can't get access to it, it's tightly locked down and seemingly still under copyright. If you ever come across a copy in the wild let me know. Another Edinburgh film is on the way soon. :)
The building around 9.00 mins into the video is Redford Barracks, close to where I live, off the Colinton Road, still looks exactly the same, the soldiers are always bussed into town from there every year for the military tattoo
Growing up in the suburbs of Edinburgh, I am just old enough to remember regular visits to South Queensferry for my father to take dozens of seemingly similar photos of the 1964 road bridge being built but, of course, as kids, we were much more interested in the rail bridge, which, having been completed in 1890, was only 44 years old when this film was made. Apart from the Forth Bridge, I only really went into the areas shown in this video occasionally until I was a student at Edinburgh University. The lack of traffic seems amazing - the short clip of George Street without any parking spaces down the middle seems strange. I have a photo of my grandmother taken at the western end of Princes Street in about 1930; with there being virtually no traffic on the road behind her, I remember asking her in the late 1960s if the photo was taken at 10:00 pm in the summer (when it is still light) but she said it was more like 3:00 pm on a Saturday, when a lot of the city centre shops closed at lunchtime on Saturdays. Even in the 1960s, and she was from gritty Leith and not posh Morningside(!), granny was surprised that, in the photo, she looked as if she was in her Sunday best just to go shopping; goodness knows what she would have made of today's casual attire.
Not these days. It's a run down disgrace full of awful shops- so many empty stores with homeless people living in the doorways. So sad. Even when I was a child over 35 years ago, going to Princes Street to wander through the shops was a weekly thing (a Saturday usually.) I personally haven't had a need to go to Princes Street in a good 3/4 years now.
@@alwaysfair4991I guess it's nice to visit briefly but when you're an actual resident of this city, it can be sad watching videos like this from a long time ago and knowing what it looks like today. We are getting far too many copy and paste buildings that could be picked up and put down in any European city without looking out of place. I miss the bold architectural style of yesteryear.
Sadly many of those absolutely beautiful buildings seen on the Princes Street shots are no longer there. Demolished to make way for that horrendous plan to have an elevated walkway above the shops, that were planned for the entire street. Luckily that never happened and the monstrosities that were built for that reason have mostly been demolished themselves (except for the ones that have been given 'listed building' status for some reason.) The new-builds we get on Princes Street are awful, they stick out like a sore thumb and like many new large Edinburgh building their awkward window placements and jutting out features are just ugly- symmetry is apparently an unknown concept with these new architectural firms! As far as I know there is a stunning redevelopment plan for part of the old Debenhams building- but like most new plans, if it does get the go-ahead it will no doubt just be a watered down version. I don't understand how cities in Poland can rebuild buildings destroyed in WWII to look exactly as they previously looked but we have to have new buildings that already look outdated within just a few years, like the 'new' H&M building on Princes Street that replaced the old C&A store building. Sympathetic architecture is needed instead. Sorry for the long rant, I'm just extremely passionate about architecture and my formerly beautiful city!
I don’t have a problem with some ‘new’ buildings on Princes Street. But as you say some are out of character. But in the main the rest of the city has survived the town planners. After all - they did try to build a motorway right through Princes Street in the 60’s.
@@ouime60 so glad they never. And that elevated walkway too, thank goodness that never made it all the way along the street. Sadly couple of those awful buildings are listed now.
Very moving I lived in Edinburgh from 1981 up to 97 and have many happy memories. I saw these sights only man years later A most beautiful city but i must say not the friendliest of city's the natives though not all seemed to resent the fact i came from the west coast of Scotland But its architecture and after the festival each year i loved how Autumn descended upon the City and Edinburgh in Autumn is beyond poetic I give thanks to being able to discover Edinburgh and those days will never leave me .I left a part of me in Auld Reekie along with the ghost's of all the streets i walked from Newhaven to Craiglockheart Thanks for this lovely reminder of a beautiful city❤❤❤
It’s a wonderful city architecturally but full of gawping tourists clogging up everywhere. I know they bring revenue but they are a pain. It’s too crowded now.
Yes - I remember going to Edinburgh with my parentsas a wee boy - I have no doubt there were tourists but i dont remember seeing any that stood out as tourists- There were a lot of good old time shops and department stores - Now its way to crowded all year long and every second place is a bar or eating place - And worst of all its been made into a fake Scottish type disney world for tourist - Tourist who can come for a week in Edinburgh and quite possibly not speak to one single Edinburgh native
@@ailishbethd4033 all year round now. When I first lived in Edinburgh in the mid 1980s, the late spring to early autumn were busy with a peak in the summer. In those months one avoided, if one could, The Royal Mile, Princes Street and immediate environs. Now it’s a rugby scrum all over pretty much the whole year long. I sold my flat in Edinburgh about ten years back and moved further north.
@@Calgac discriminating someone based on their race is never cool, bro. Humza Yousaf was born in Rutherglen and deserves the same rights as you or I to stand for elected positions. Who is this “us” that you speak of?
It reminded me of old single-decker SMT buses, still in service in the 50s. All pipe bands should try to emulate the look shown in this film, all clean-shaven young men of normal weight, no eyeglasses or bald heads. Braw.
I completely agree with you right up until your last comment- men have no control over the baldness gene their mothers give them! My hair is thinning (mind I am late 30s) and there's nothing I can do about it! It is what it is.
![Edinburgh, Scotland 1930s in color [60fps,Remastered] w/sound design Added](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/L-nITiS8IqQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Edinburgh, Scotland 1930s in color [60fps,Remastered] w/sound design Added](/img/tr.png)
Mesmerising...All those people caught forever in a moment of their lives
No mobiles or Internet. Just innocence and polio. Makes me want to visit edinburgh. And I live there. 😂 great picture quality
Marvellous. This is particularly valuable for the views of Princes Street before its finest buildings were destroyed in the 60s. In this film, it is still one of the most beautiful streets in the world. Just look at 3:44. Demolished in 1964. Heartbreaking.
Apparently some of the statues from the original Boots building are in storage although I've never even seen a photo to back this claim up. Edinburgh Council have a miraculous record of losing things.
03:56 - the chap with the white bow-tie looks like a Hollywood film-star of the day - in fact, most in this clip are very smartly dressed, their clothes reek of quality, unlike what you see in Edinburgh today !
Excellent. Great footage. It's hard to imagine that all those people going about their daily routines are no longer with us. The film is so well enhanced. Thank you.
Technically, not all. My father's close friend is 98 this year and was born & raised in Edinburgh.
I always look at old videos of Edinburgh and hope to see my Mum and Dad, both born in 1905 and Dad passed away 1982 2 days before Argentina invaded the Falklands, and Mum St Valentines day 1986. Duncan . Redcliffe Queensland . Australia.
My grandfather was born and raised near Richmond Place, behind Nicolson Street. He would have been just 14 years old when these scenes were filmed. He was 19 years old when WWII broke out and was taken as a POW pretty early on. Spent the majority of the war in a concentration camp in what was then Czechoslovakia. Coincidentally, my Jewish grandmother from Poland was also in that concentration camp. My grandfather spent all day in the quarry and my grandmother all day on working with flax, separating it all and then feeding it through machines. They'd catch each others eyes and smile at each other through the fences multiple times a day at roll-call. When the Soviets liberated the concentration camp, they met up as they were the only friendly faces they recognised. They travelled back to my grandmothers town in southern Poland but everything was gone- her home had been taken over by her non-Jewish neighbours whom prior to the war were actually her family friends. Soon realised that the last of the Jewish community there had been taken straight to Auschwitz in the August of 1944, her parents and youngest siblings included. So my grandmother and grandfather got married. He was then stationed in Malaya for a while and then various other places before moving to the UK and finally Edinburgh in 1959. My grandmother loved this city, she said it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen when she arrived. The people of Edinburgh made her feel so welcome and had a lot of patience for her when it came to her thick Polish accent and were incredibly sympathetic towards her and the horrors she experienced. I'm only the first generation to be born here so I'm an Edinburgh man through and through and I love my city. It saddens me to see its decline over the decades and the sheer acceleration of it in recent years.
@@jonathanlandau-litewski7405lovely story, Jonathan
@@qorimayu thanks for reading 🙂 Just my little input into the fabric of this city's history!
Superb restoration - possibly sharper and with more dynamic range than the original stock!
Thank you! ;)
Thank you for posting this fascinating footage. Fantastic restoration. Great to watch.
Thank you, great to hear you enjoyed it 😁
Really enjoyed this thanks you for sharing
Glad you enjoyed it
Time itself just melts away with these wonderful lively images
Excellent Quality... we'll done.
My grandparents would have been around Edinburgh then.
Thank you 🙏
Amazing footage.
Glad you enjoyed it! :D
Watching the lady climb the stairs with her large creel on her back while knitting. Now that is a moment. And seeing those soldier makes you wonder. How many of them now have their names in a place of honor in The Scottish War Memorial. 💙
Beautiful. Sound track really adds to it, too.
Glad you like it! :D
The old world. People made an effort and definitely had a bit more class back in the day.
Sensational how clear the images are with the AI enhancement, thank you for sharing your work! There is an old movie, Singing Streets produced by Norton Park Schoo in Leith, you may wish to work your magic on? Also does anyone know what the building is that provides the backdrop to the marching band around 9:00? All the best in your endeavours!
Thanks for your comment, glad you enjoyed the film :) I found The Singing Street in the National Library of Scotland, there is no other copy available online. So unfortnaelty I can't get access to it, it's tightly locked down and seemingly still under copyright. If you ever come across a copy in the wild let me know. Another Edinburgh film is on the way soon. :)
The building around 9.00 mins into the video is Redford Barracks, close to where I live, off the Colinton Road, still looks exactly the same, the soldiers are always bussed into town from there every year for the military tattoo
@@livinghistoryaienhanced I would of thought the National Library of Scotland would give you permission to enhance it
This is brilliant.
Thank you. :)
Growing up in the suburbs of Edinburgh, I am just old enough to remember regular visits to South Queensferry for my father to take dozens of seemingly similar photos of the 1964 road bridge being built but, of course, as kids, we were much more interested in the rail bridge, which, having been completed in 1890, was only 44 years old when this film was made.
Apart from the Forth Bridge, I only really went into the areas shown in this video occasionally until I was a student at Edinburgh University. The lack of traffic seems amazing - the short clip of George Street without any parking spaces down the middle seems strange. I have a photo of my grandmother taken at the western end of Princes Street in about 1930; with there being virtually no traffic on the road behind her, I remember asking her in the late 1960s if the photo was taken at 10:00 pm in the summer (when it is still light) but she said it was more like 3:00 pm on a Saturday, when a lot of the city centre shops closed at lunchtime on Saturdays. Even in the 1960s, and she was from gritty Leith and not posh Morningside(!), granny was surprised that, in the photo, she looked as if she was in her Sunday best just to go shopping; goodness knows what she would have made of today's casual attire.
Excellent.
"Auld Reekie" in all her sooty, smoky glory!
Amazing
Appreciated.
It's a family tradition of mine to visit the castle and put our sons inside Mons Meg cannon to annoy the security.
There is no other street that is as grand as Princes street , combined with the beauty of the gardens opposite .
Was, not is, sadly.
Not these days. It's a run down disgrace full of awful shops- so many empty stores with homeless people living in the doorways. So sad. Even when I was a child over 35 years ago, going to Princes Street to wander through the shops was a weekly thing (a Saturday usually.) I personally haven't had a need to go to Princes Street in a good 3/4 years now.
This is bittersweet, knowing what the place looks like now.
I was there in July, very nice.
@@alwaysfair4991I guess it's nice to visit briefly but when you're an actual resident of this city, it can be sad watching videos like this from a long time ago and knowing what it looks like today. We are getting far too many copy and paste buildings that could be picked up and put down in any European city without looking out of place. I miss the bold architectural style of yesteryear.
It looks almost the same , other than the traffic
A happier and more safer time in Edinburgh, food prices lower possibly would loved to have visited the village of Dean at this time period.
Worked opposite the Rutland Hotel at the Caledonian Hotel 1978/80 2 happy years in Edinburgh.
Stunning film! What is the background music?
Thankfully not much has changed architecturally. It’s still a beautiful city. ❤
Sadly many of those absolutely beautiful buildings seen on the Princes Street shots are no longer there. Demolished to make way for that horrendous plan to have an elevated walkway above the shops, that were planned for the entire street. Luckily that never happened and the monstrosities that were built for that reason have mostly been demolished themselves (except for the ones that have been given 'listed building' status for some reason.) The new-builds we get on Princes Street are awful, they stick out like a sore thumb and like many new large Edinburgh building their awkward window placements and jutting out features are just ugly- symmetry is apparently an unknown concept with these new architectural firms! As far as I know there is a stunning redevelopment plan for part of the old Debenhams building- but like most new plans, if it does get the go-ahead it will no doubt just be a watered down version. I don't understand how cities in Poland can rebuild buildings destroyed in WWII to look exactly as they previously looked but we have to have new buildings that already look outdated within just a few years, like the 'new' H&M building on Princes Street that replaced the old C&A store building. Sympathetic architecture is needed instead. Sorry for the long rant, I'm just extremely passionate about architecture and my formerly beautiful city!
I don’t have a problem with some ‘new’ buildings on Princes Street. But as you say some are out of character. But in the main the rest of the city has survived the town planners. After all - they did try to build a motorway right through Princes Street in the 60’s.
@@ouime60 so glad they never. And that elevated walkway too, thank goodness that never made it all the way along the street. Sadly couple of those awful buildings are listed now.
Luckily, Edinburgh was largely spared the attentions of the Luftwaffe and, worse, urban planners in the 1960s. No British city is so unchanged.
Lovely city !!!!!
An excellent video and the music, though not contemporaneous with the footage feels totally apt. What is the music; can somebody identify it?
Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 3 in A minor - known as the "Scottish".
great stuff
Old architecture never dates. 😀👍
Very moving
I lived in Edinburgh from 1981 up to 97 and have many happy memories. I saw these sights only man years later
A most beautiful city but i must say not the friendliest of city's the natives though not all seemed to resent the fact i came from the west coast of Scotland
But its architecture and after the festival each year i loved how Autumn descended upon the City and Edinburgh in Autumn is beyond poetic
I give thanks to being able to discover Edinburgh and those days will never leave me .I left a part of me in Auld Reekie along with the ghost's of all the streets i walked from Newhaven to Craiglockheart
Thanks for this lovely reminder of a beautiful city❤❤❤
Thank you for your wonderful comment ♥
Luckily, Edinburgh was largely spared the attentions of the Luftwaffe and, worse, urban planners in the 1960s. No British city is so unchanged.
Does anyone recognise the music?
It’s a wonderful city architecturally but full of gawping tourists clogging up everywhere. I know they bring revenue but they are a pain. It’s too crowded now.
During the festival indeed
@@heeeeeresrossytourists are welcome refugees and invaders are most certainly not
I moved out of Edinburgh centre for that very reason. My wee flat became surrounded by Airbnb properties.
Yes - I remember going to Edinburgh with my parentsas a wee boy - I have no doubt there were tourists but i dont remember seeing any that stood out as tourists- There were a lot of good old time shops and department stores - Now its way to crowded all year long and every second place is a bar or eating place - And worst of all its been made into a fake Scottish type disney world for tourist - Tourist who can come for a week in Edinburgh and quite possibly not speak to one single Edinburgh native
@@ailishbethd4033 all year round now. When I first lived in Edinburgh in the mid 1980s, the late spring to early autumn were busy with a peak in the summer. In those months one avoided, if one could, The Royal Mile, Princes Street and immediate environs. Now it’s a rugby scrum all over pretty much the whole year long. I sold my flat in Edinburgh about ten years back and moved further north.
All i can see is all those diverse faces who built and maintained Britain.....oh wait a minute no i dont.. not one...
❤
Heard an American reporter call it Edinborough, Someone had to correct him .
Wonderful video, brought back so many happy memories.
Can't believe we've a Muslim Pakistani trying to run the country today...
It’s disgusting mate there will be revolution in europe in the next 10/15 years they cant keep us down
I wonder just what the douce citizens of Edinburgh back in 1934 would make of that. Birling in their graves I’d think. As for John Knox.
racist
@@Scott-bh2qb that shit doesnt work on us anymore try something else
@@Calgac discriminating someone based on their race is never cool, bro. Humza Yousaf was born in Rutherglen and deserves the same rights as you or I to stand for elected positions.
Who is this “us” that you speak of?
Worst place in the world 2024 . Worst people , worst roads .
It reminded me of old single-decker SMT buses, still in service in the 50s. All pipe bands should try to emulate the look shown in this film, all clean-shaven young men of normal weight, no eyeglasses or bald heads. Braw.
I completely agree with you right up until your last comment- men have no control over the baldness gene their mothers give them! My hair is thinning (mind I am late 30s) and there's nothing I can do about it! It is what it is.
No SNP wonderful !
They existed of course and were actually sympathetic towards the Nazi Party that was currently in Germany planning world domination!
SNP FOREVER. Free prescriptions not enough for you?
Edinburgh the former capital of Northumbria ! England - from whence it derives its name -Burgh = Hill