A Quick Map History Of Inveresk Road

Fisherrow and Musselburgh 1776

This is the earliest map I could find which shows Inveresk Road with any great clarity. The Roman Bridge and the ford being the principal route for travellers crossing the River Esk. The spur leading to Inveresk Kirk is Church Lane, home to the bowling club and east entrance for the health centre.

Reform Act map 1832

The New Bridge has made the Roman Bridge largely redundant. The focus for development in Musselburgh is along the High St. and Newbiggin. 

From the OS 1893

The mill lead can be seen running parallel to the river. When the new Tescos site was being excavated the lead could be seen once again when the pavement running alongside the Mall was resurfaced and sections of concrete slabs that cover the lead were removed. The station can be seen sandwiched between the Roman Bridge and Musselburgh Wire Mill.

From the OS 1914

The significant change from the 1893 map is the presence of the Mall Park before it was consumed by the Wire Mill, which is continuing to expand. The Mansfield estate is defined but not yet constructed.

From town plan 1938

The Mall Park is still extant whilst the block outline plans for the  Mansfield and Kilwinning estates are visible. The tenements along the western side of Inveresk Road have not yet been demolished. The Playhouse cinema on Dalrymple Loan is now a large presence. You can find an image here along with several other defunct Musselburgh cinemas.

http://www.scottishcinemas.org.uk/scotland/musselburgh/index.html

Courtesy of the Luftwaffe 1944

An aerial survey from the Luftwaffe. You can just make out the Mall Park at the left centre of the image being consumed by the wire works. The original line of Newbiggin on the right is quite apparent.

From the OS 1948

The Wire and Rope Works have reached their peak. The closure of the railway line will see a large increase in industrial traffic along  Inveresk Road which unfortunately led to the death of a child forcing the council to erect bollards at the east end of Inveresk Road just prior to the northwards spur.

Current satellite image 2014

Tescos has now moved to its new site bringing with it a sizeable amount of traffic along The Mall. Parking for both the store and the health centre at the east end of Inveresk Road just prior to the northward spur has become a problem not only with speeding cars along a narrow road, and bad parking, but with westbound drivers not indicating when leaving the main route (the A6124) to access this parking. An accident several years ago forced the council to erect bollards outside the school entrance (St Michael's Avenue) which improved visibility for children and drivers.
One of the common complaints about the roads department is that it is reactive and not proactive: it will only instigate road safety improvements if a road is proven dangerous and it can only be proven dangerous by the death or injury of a pedestrian.
A friend who lives in Dunbar was told bluntly by an official that this would have to be the case for pedestrian safety features on his street. No-one is going to volunteer to sacrifice their child in this manner, hence this campaign.