 | JK GILLON  PORTOBELLO-ON-SEA
Portobello, Edinburgh's seaside resort, originated in the mid-18th century when a retired sailor, George Hamilton, built a cottage named Puerto Bella on what was a 'desolate spot frequented by robbers and smugglers'.
Portobello soon became a popular seaside location and was 'greatly resorted to during the summer months by the Edinburgh upper classes'. Its distance from Edinburgh and the lack of public transport restricted visitors to those who had use of a private carriage or an expensive seaside residence.
Seaside attractions at Portobello included a mile-long sandy beach, clear seawater, pure air and two mineral springs. In June 1795, a newspaper advertisement announced that 'bathing-machines upon the best construction, with sturdy horses and careful drivers' were available for hire at Portobello. The bathing machines were dressing rooms on wheels that were drawn into the sea by horses. In 1806, Portobello Hot & Cold Sea-Water Baths were opened and soon became very fashionable. There was no promenade then and, during the summer, the beach was frequently lined with carriages belonging to the 'fashion and rank of Edinburgh'.
One of the town's strangest buildings, Portobello Tower, was erected in 1785 as a summerhouse and restored in 1864 as part of a large house. The Tower is octagonal, originally four storeys high and built in stone from demolished buildings in Edinburgh's Old Town. It can still be seen at the west end of the Promenade. In 1806, a stagecoach service between Edinburgh and Portobello was introduced and larger crowds followed. Punch and Judy shows, gingerbread sellers, horse racing, itinerant entertainers and circus performances entertained the crowds through its 19th century hey-day.
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 PORTOBELLO PIER
In 1869, Parliament passed a Bill for the erection of a pier at Portobello. It was felt that a pier was required to add to the variety of attractions available to visitors and to 'develop Portobello as a place of pleasure and enjoyment to its inhabitants and to the many visitors from Edinburgh and from afar'.
Sir Thomas Bouch (who was later responsible for the ill-fated Tay Bridge) designed the pier and it was completed in 1871 at a cost of 10,000 pounds. It stretched 1,250 feet into the sea from near the foot of Bath Street.
The opening ceremony, on May 23, 1871, was performed by Lord Provost Wood and was witnessed by a 'great assembly' of spectators. It was claimed that the Portobello Pier was the first of its kind ever built in Scotland and second to none in the country.
The Pier was a popular promenade and few people 'grudged the nominal toll exacted for the pleasure of the bracing walk'. Other attractions on the Pier included 'a well conducted tea room and restaurant; a small camera obscura which provided views of the sands, sea and coastline; and a concert hall at the far end which was not well patronised in cold or wet weather'. Sailings to Elie, North Berwick, the Bass Rock and the Isle of May left from Portobello Pier during the summer.
Frequent structural repairs were needed due to the corrosive action of the sea water on the iron supports and it was finally removed in 1917.
Memories of the original Portobello Pier were revived in the 1930's when a group of private entrepreneurs set up a company to build a new pier in Portobello to 'renew its claim as being the Brighton of the North'. Plans were drawn up for a pier with a restaurant, shops and concert hall. A 1,000-feet projection into the sea was planned to provide sufficient depth of water at the pier head for pleasure steamers. It was hoped that work would start in 1940, but the War changed all that and the scheme was never revived.
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 PORTOBELLO SWIMMING POOL
For many years one of the main tourist attractions in Portobello was the open-air swimming baths. The baths were formally opened on May 30, 1936 by Lord Provost Gumley in front of a capacity crowd of 6,000.
The Pool was designed by the City Engineer's Department to the Olympic standards of the time. The pool area was 330 feet long by 150 feet wide, and varied in depth from one foot to six feet two inches at the deep end. Six thousand spectators could be accommodated, with 2,000 seats available under the most modern design of cantilevered stand, and there were lockers provided for 1284 swimmers. The one and a half million gallons of water required to fill the pool was filtered sea water heated to a temperature of 68 degrees fahrenheit by steam from the adjacent power station.
The pool's great innovation was the first ever wave-making machine in Scotland. This consisted of four 24-feet long pistons mounted in a chamber at the deep end of the pool, which were arranged to send 3-feet high wages in three possible directions. These artificial waves were so dramatic that the machine was only operated after a warning had been given.
In the pre-war years the Pool was extremely popular. The record attendance was 18,000 people in one day. Band music was often specially relayed from Princes Street Gardens, and there was a choice of bather's snack bar, restaurant or open-air tea garden.
The Pool was closed for six years during the Second World War and had to be camouflages to stop it being used as a landmark by enemy planes. It re-opened in June, 1946 and remained popular for a number of years, but it fell into along and controversial decline, and was finally demolished in the late 1980's.
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