NEIGHBOURHOOD


Leith In the decades since Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting was released (the novel is largely set here and its streets appear in the film), the once-notorious neighbourhood of Leith has blossomed into something very different. It hasn’t simply improved or been mildly gentrified, it’s — whisper it — become just a wee bit posh, too. To walk around, it’s clear the transition


hasn’t been wholesale: parts of the port are still in use and, while the harbour has been rejuvenated, there are still tower blocks looming in the distance. In the end, there’s no getting away from the neighbourhood’s reputational challenges, right? “That’s nonsense — I’ve only ever seen a


couple of fights,” says Darren Murray, chef and co-owner of Borough, in the heart of Leith. “Maybe it was different here in the 1970s and ’80s, but really we’ve had nae trouble, we’ve always gone out with nae fear.” “We live across from the famous Banana


Flats,” adds co-owner and wife Aleks, referring to Cables Wynd House, the austere but enduring housing block, which also featured in Trainspotting. “People are friendly. We hear the parties and, to be honest, it sounds kind of fun.” Borough itself could hardly be more different from those grim icons. A small


56 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel


corner restaurant resplendent in white, it has a modern Scottish menu that’s so seasonal it tends to change from day to day. Today’s roast North Sea coley will be long gone by the time you read this. These days, there are two Michelin-starred


restaurants in Leith (Martin Wishart and Kitchin), and it’s not unreasonable to believe Borough could soon join them. “If we got one, it’d be an ego boost, but we’d try not to change our price point,” says Darren. “But it’d be very satisfying and really help the business,” adds Aleks quickly. A short walk from Borough, cottage


industry gin distillers have also been born, leaning into Leith’s past as a port. “We’re in an area that has incredible distilling and industrial heritage,” says Ian Stirling, founder of the Port of Leith Distillery. “Leith was once the epicentre of the Scottish whisky industry.” Next year, Stirling will open his own


whisky distillery in Leith, but for the time being he’s sharing a unit with James Porteous’s Electric Spirit Co. Neither are originally from here, but neither would want to be anywhere else. “We embrace the fact that Leith is a really cool place to be as a producer,” says Porteous. “But equally, we don’t want to see it turn into Disney World — we want it to keep its identity.”


FROM LEFT: View along the Water of Leith; Darren and Aleks Murray, owners of Borough; shopfronts along Dundas Street, Stockbridge; duck breast and confit leg croquette, Fingal PREVIOUS PAGE: Colourful buildings along West Bow/Victoria Street, in the heart of the Old Town


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