Refurbishment of the premises at 23 Rodney Street, is nearly complete and what will soon emerge is a smart-looking accountancy firm. In this process, there emerged last month some interesting and rather beautifully toned signage from the past. Spurtle researched.
Pooches Parlour will be remembered by many, particularly pooches. J. W. Temple will be recalled by rather fewer.
The shop first opened as a butcher's in 1900, soon after completion of Rodney Street's tenements. It was run by James Wight, who had managed another butcher's at 26 Broughton Street since 1888. The latter was squeezed into a triangular space between St Mary's Free Church (now Simpson & Marwick's Albany House) and the Broughton Newsagency. The property survived until 1983 (under different ownership) as can be seen in the photo below, held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
At various times Wight also had butcher’s shops at 5 and 9 Comely Bank and 99 Montgomery Street, and from 1900 onwards his home address was always 32 Broughton Street adjacent to Broughton Halls. His son began running the Rodney Street branch in the 1920s before transferring to 52 Rodney Street (more recently Agoo Café) when James W. Temple took on the premises in 1932.
Temple seems to have prospered as by 1941 he had a second shop at 31 Marchmont Road. He continued at No. 23, but by 1964 was trading solely from 19 Lady Nairne Place. We last catch sight of him there in the Post Office Directory of 1973–74.
Independent butchers in the past were far more numerous than they are now. Whereas today we count ourselves lucky to have Crombie’s, in 1890 there were three such businesses on Broughton Street alone, and in 1934 Edinburgh boasted over 200.
Can any reader offer more detail about this or any other local shop's past? Please tell us at spurtle@hotmail.co.uk and @theSpurtle and Broughton Spurtle
Black-and-white image A58790 ©RCAHMS, reproduced with permission.
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Sean Johnstone I remember sitting on that concrete ledge when I was a wee boy,waiting on my granny at the shop.
Neil Fleming So did I stayed there
Scott Fergusson Broughton street