Like being beside the Victorian seaside

IT WAS the heyday of Portobello, when thousands of people turned up to the seaside town every day in the summer to bathe in the waters or stroll along the promenade.

Now residents are set to take a trip back more than 100 years to recreate the vibrant atmosphere of Portobello in Victorian times.

More than 100 people are expected to don long gowns and molly caps or britches and frock coats under a bid to attract visitors back to the seaside town.

The event, to mark the official opening of the new community garden on the Promenade, will commemorate the town's rich Victorian heritage, when it boasted a 1250ft pier built at the foot of Bath Street and saw up to 3000 people a day flock to the town.

Even Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, was a regular visitor, going into the water almost every day while he was a student at Edinburgh from 1860.

Around ten high street shops, including Findlay's the butcher and Top Hat suit hire, are also to join in Saturday's event by decorating their premises with bunting and dressing in period costume while serving customers.

Organised by community group Portobello Open Doors, the celebrations will kick off with a stroll along the Promenade from Morton Street at 12.30pm, to the community garden, which will be opened by Lord Provost Maureen Child.

Youngsters will be entertained with a Punch and Judy show and Victorian games such as hoopla, while costumed entertainers will hold face-painting and balloon-making demonstrations.

A bunting-decked Victorian tea tent will be set up on the Promenade, and the crowds will be serenaded by the Melville St singers performing period music hall classics.

Organiser Joe Madden said: "We want to have a really Victorian atmosphere about the whole day. We have found out as much as we can about Victorian games, such as hoopla and sandcastle competitions.

"Portobello was really at its peak during the Victorian period. The architecture was very aesthetically pleasing then and thousands and thousands of people used to come to the beach - either on holiday or as day trippers."

Councillor Child added: "It would be great to have people flocking to Portobello now the way they used to in Victorian times, although it is still popular. It was, and still is, a very welcoming, cultural town."

Sandra Braid, owner of doll's house shop It's A Small World, on the High Street, plans to create a Victorian window display for the event. She said: "I'm going to put an enlarged photograph in the window of Portobello in Victorian times and have little figures walking along in front of it, perhaps with some bunting as well. I think the Victorian era is important to people from Portobello - it is such a key period in our history."

The community garden, which was refurbished at the end of last year, is to be decorated with Coade stone pillars from the former nursing home Argyle House.

The day will finish with a dance with the Belle Star Band, Mrs Brown's Hoe Down at St Phillips Church, Joppa. Tickets, at 8 and 5 concession, are available from Kitchener's Deli, Portobello or on the door.

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THE FACTS

The centrepiece of Portobello's Victorian seaside success was its 1250ft long pier. The 10,000 structure, designed by Tay Bridge architect Thomas Bouch, was built at the foot of Bath Street in 1871 and survived until 1917.

Tourists flocked to Portobello from all over the country and the town's station had the longest platform of any suburban station in Scotland, to cope with the large crowds.

The Marine Gardens and the Fun Fair with its wooden roller coaster, now both demolished, were popular attractions.