Hutchison, Edinburgh

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 13 Aug 2023

This image is quite representative of the Hutchison area of Edinburgh, which sits at a point on the city's West side which marks the transition from its outer centre to the suburbs proper. Most of the buildings are six in-a-block flats on relatively narrow streets - this may be because most of the infrastructure was put in place by the council in the late 1920s when the impact of the private motor car had not yet been fully anticipated. Some of the blocks are cream and grey, but a lot are painted in this light pink colour. Hutchison is fairly small - it is about half a mile long by a quarter of a mile wide - but its boundaries are obvious, as every street within the area starts its name with Hutchison. The reason for this is disappointing and based on either pomposity or sycophancy. It is hard today to figure out which, but no doubt both were in play : Thomas Hutchison was Edinburgh's Lord Provost (a kind of Scottish mayor) in the early 1920s when the area was earmarked for development. He took over the post from a John Chesser, whose name is present in a large number of streets in the neighbouring Chesser district to the West, and was succeeded by William Sleigh, whose surname is similarly present in two streets in the area of Lochend in Eastern Edinburgh - Sleigh's area wasn't quite big enough to be named after him at least.

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