Rose Street

This article is about the Edinburgh street. For the Melbourne market, see Rose Street Market.

Not to be confused with Rose Avenue (disambiguation).

File:Rose Street Edinburgh.jpg

Rose Street in the New Town of Edinburgh

Rose Street is a street in the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a narrow street running parallel between Princes Street and George Street, and was formerly used as a service entrance to the houses on those roads as well as local shops and servants quarters. Today, it is principally a residential, office and shopping street. However, it is well known for containing a large number of bars and public houses. It has been pedestrianised.

Bars and history

Rose Street was nicknamed the "Amber Mile" by tourism promoters (later dropped) due to the many bars and public houses along it. This was partly in reference to the Royal Mile, but was misleading since it is neither an English nor a Scots mile.

While some of the traditional pubs here have given way to ones with humorous names such as Dirty Dicks and Filthy McNastys, in keeping with its many Walter Scott references, Rose Street in Edinburgh has a bar called the "Kenilworth", along with one named after Scott's house, the "Abbotsford". Milne's Bar, also has literary connections, with one of its rooms nicknamed the "Little Kremlin", because many members of the Scottish Renaissance such as Hugh MacDiarmid would meet there. Pictures of various Scottish poets appear on the walls.

Rose Street, along with the history, is also famed for a rare drinking game. This game, named the Rose Street Challenge, is not for the faint of heart. It involves making your way along Rose Street while having a drink in every bar/pub/restaurant on the way.

Rose Street is also the home to the BT Rose Street Exchange, which connects much of the telecommunications infrastructure for the west side of the New Town of Edinburgh.

Retail

Many of Princes Street's main shops have back entrances into Rose Street, including Jenners, Boots and Next. It is also a minor shopping street in its own right, with a number of small businesses on it, such as hairdressers, a small Sainsbury's which closes late, northern access to Marks & Spencer and BHS, record shops such as Fopp, CEX (second hand electrical goods store) and shoe shops and novelty shops.

The street also accommodates service lanes for businesses on Princes, George and Rose Streets as well as having a few businesses in these lanes such as Calistoga Central Restaurant.

See also

• Pub crawl
• Leith Walk

External links

• Rose Street Pub Crawl