Fortitude - a chance to sit in a coffee shop again, with a china cup!
Gordon Street Coffee

'ello, 'ello, 'ello . . . . . .Coffee?
Police boxes were first installed in Edinburgh in 1933, to allow police officers on the beat to phone in to their station to report incidents and to receive orders. They were designed by City Architect Ebenezer MacRae and were manufactured by Carron Ironworks in Falkirk. Inevitably, with the progress of technology and specifically the introduction of radios and mobile phones their intended use became redundant.
In 2012 the Scottish Police Authority started to sell off the boxes with the help of Edinburgh City Council and over a period of a few years boxes were either bought and removed, or bought for a change of use. Some were brought into use as Tourist Information Boxes and some were fitted out as coffee kiosks, which required new supplies of electricity and water. Since then many have changed hands and have been used as retail outlets for coffee, food, ice cream, porridge and cannabis oil (I believe).
So I set out earlier this week to see if I could find any which were still operating as coffee outlets.
It was obvious from my travels around the city centre that the majority of coffee shops were still closed due to the lockdown. Footfall was still really low, although there appeared to be a "trickle" of tourists starting to appear around the city.
I did come across one outlet which was open, near Waverley Station at the junction of Waverley Bridge and Market Street called Waverley Cafe. The box was in good order with some attractive ornaments and plants outside. I saw tins of Illy Coffee on the shelf but these were just for show - the girl serving said they had changed from Illy but wasn't sure what the current coffee was.💁 Obviously this outlet is aimed mainly at the tourist market; I'm sure the coffee they sell is good enough but I decided to preserve my potential caffeine intake for now.
I spotted a few more while I drove around, which were obviously still closed due to the lockdown or were not in use.
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The Drip, Morningside |

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The Drip, Tollcross |
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