‘I needed a pint after that news’

On the day that indoor hospitality venues could reopen their doors, Rachel Mackie took a trip around Edinburgh to see what it was like.

If the day the beer gardens returned was the day that Edinburgh slowly opened its eyes after the long, lockdown sleep, then today was the day it tentatively stretched its muscles before fully getting going.

The wild, party spirit that would usually have taken hold of the city with the Fringe traditionally just round the corner, was missing and replaced with the contented peace of a regular back in their local.

Speaking to people across many pubs, the overriding sentiment was that the pint itself was not the most important ingredient.

Jim, sitting comfortably and chatting politics with his friend John in The Southsider, on West Richmond Street, told me: “I have a pint in here every single day, but then lockdown came and I didn’t have any alcohol at all. You know what? I didn’t really miss it at all. Not a bit. Didn’t miss the alcohol, but I missed this. I am glad the pubs are open.”

I found the same down in Oz Bar, on Candlemaker Row, where I found friends, Jimmy, Graham and Mark.

There was the briefest of brief discussion about the extraordinary circumstances that lead to this moment before the topic swiftly moved on to Hearts and a hearty debate on their relegation. “I needed a pint after that news” muttered Graham sadly to good natured jeering.

I wrote, when the beer gardens opened, that Edinburgh had shown a sensible approach to the new restrictions, and I believe I saw the same today. But more than that, I saw locals supporting their favourite pub whose staff they trust to keep them safe and who they respect enough to follow the rules.