AIBU to think the buildings in Edinburgh are never cleaned?

[Priaa]

Recently went to Edinburgh and was struck by how much of the architecture is literally blackened with grime. I thought the same last time I was there too. Why don't the govt prioritise maintaining the buildings and why has it been this way for so long?

If you're talking about the black soot, I like it. It gives it its character

Nooo, it's too grim and depressing for me.

I think lots of buildings are built with Basalt. Which is black.

One person’s grim and depressing is another person’s beautifully dark and atmospheric, I suppose! I think Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the country.

I agree. I was mesmerised when I went to Edinburgh, found it magical. I remember asking my Scottish boyfriend at the time about the black buildings and he explained it which to me made it all that more historical. For me it felt like stepping back in time. I think if the building were cleaned it wouldn't be the same

Most people love how the buildings look just as they are so the council are unlikely to spend millions cleaning and then repairing buildings that don't belong to them for few who don't. Fwiw I live in Edinburgh and my house is white.

I've never even noticed!! Too busy watching I don't break my neck in a pothole to look at the buildings!

I presume it's SNP run and who knows where the cash has gone! But few buildings would be their responsibility anyway.

They did this in Glasgow back in the 60s/70s then discovered that the "grime" was forming a protective layer on the soft sandstone so they stopped doing it.

@emmathedilemma I was coming on to say the same thing. The potholes are a disgrace!

It isnt environmentally friendly to clean them and if near a watercourse can be banned

Which aspects of Liverpool and Manchester architecture do you think are similar to Edinburgh?

I'd take blackened buildings any day if they'd deal with the potholes, roadworks everywhere and the stupid safe spaces for people ridiculousness rushed in the back door under temp covid measures. The war on motorists is evident to see. Good old Edinburgh clowncil.

Don’t visit then 🤷‍♀️

jetwashing sandstone is a sure fire way of destroying it.

Och no...Edinburgh rocks the blackened look. It wasn't called Auld Reekie for nothing. It's a very Edinburgh effect and I wouldn't change it. I lived city centre for years and live just outside now.

The whole of the uk is becoming like this. Decrepid and lacking in pride. So many homes where people don't even bother cleaning their windows or sweeping outside. Lazy.

You do realise it rains in Scotland for 364.5 days? If they take off this layer the water will just kill the sandstone. The setts (not cobbles) are made of dark stone and the castle sites on volcanic rock which is dark so it all ties together. Edinburgh was called ‘Auld Reek due to the smoke and it’s part of the past.

Jeez, Edinburgh isn’t a Disney theme park that should be kept perfectly spotless for tourists to stare at. It’s a living city built of porous sandstone that weathers in sun and cold as it ages, not an exercise in polished perfection. The stone, mostly locally quarried at Craigleith, has got a gorgeous patina of age and wear and the buildings are built of stone that keeps the city rooted and provides a terroir and sense of place.

This is hilarious, it’s like the trip adviser reviews that complain there is no cafe at the top of Ben Nevis

When I moved to Edinburgh in the late 80s every building was black. There was a decade where a lot of the sandstone buildings were cleaned. Nearly every building had scaffolding up. I remember the joy of living in tenements that were being cleaned. But pollution builds up. Cleaning is expensive and difficult.

Or the one were they went to Loch Ness but Nessie didn’t turn up. They shouldn’t promise it…..

I think there is a cafe up Ben Nevis 🤔

Local stone available to build with- beside if it could be cleaned many wouldn't be happy.

1960 found that Downing street bricks are yellow and it was pollution making them dark - so cleaning meant it then had to be painted black to look right.

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-10-downing-street-door-is-black-2015-12?r=US&IR=T

YABU. I like the gothic grimy look. It's what it is - an old city with old buildings.

To be fair most of what you see on the buildings will have been laid down in the days of coal fires. There's still god knows what in the air, but that's not what's made the buildings black.