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In the late 19th century and early 20th century many breweries left their cramped homes in Edinburgh's old town and moved to the outskirts of the city. Some chose the southwest, in Gorgie around the Slateford Road. Others went for the southeast, around Duddingston and Craigmillar.

The concentration of breweries in the tiny suburb of Duddingston was quite remarkable. Seven breweries within a few hundred yards of each other. Clustered around the railway which must have been one of important factors in choosing Duddingston. That and the wells providing good brewing water.

Take a look at this map from 1918:


I'm pretty sure I know all seven of the breweries. Just not able to identify them all on a map. These are the details of the breweries:

Duddingston breweries
Brewer Brewery opened closed
Machlachlan (Tennent 1960) Castle Brewery 1901 1966
Pattisons Ltd. (Robert Deuchar 1899) Duddingston Brewery 1896 1961
William Murray Craigmillar Brewery 1887 1950
W & J Raeburn (Robert Younger 1913) New Brewery 1901 1939
Drybrough Craigmillar Brewery 1892 1987
T.Y. Patterson & Co. Ltd. (James Aitken 1936) Pentland Brewery 1901 1936
John Somerville & Co. (William Murray 1922) North British Brewery 1897 1962
Sources:
"A Century of British Brewers", Barber, 2005.
The Scottish Brewing Archive website


If anyone can identify which brewery is which, I'd be most grateful. To help, here's an aerial photograph that shows most of them:



There will be more to come on Duddingston as I unearth more about its breweries.


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