Scotland and its History. Edinburgh

Part 1. Edinburgh in the 1970’s

The 1970s was certainly a memorable decade for those living in Edinburgh.

It was an era in which the capital took centre stage on a number of high-profile occasions, with the city hosting both the Commonwealth Games and the Eurovision Song Contest in the early ’70s.

Edinburgh was a world-beater in boxing, with the late great Ken Buchanan becoming the undisputed world lightweight champion in 1971, while the capital’s very own Bay City Rollers were the biggest pop group on the planet by the middle of the decade.

READ MORE – Edinburgh Ryanair passenger fumes at ‘€8 food voucher’ after 13 hour flight delay

Locals also witnessed great change in the city, with the old being ushered out for the new.

Shopping was revolutionised as the St James Centre opened its fully-automatic doors for the first time, while over in Portobello we waved farewell to the district’s famous power station which once supplied the city with electricity.

We’ve trawled through the archives to bring you 34 snapshots of Edinburgh life as it was during the 1970s.

Pedestrians squeeze past the infamous ‘bottleneck’ outside the Waverley Market at Princes Street, c1975. Picture: Lost Edinburgh.