Binns

 Binns is , or rather was, a department store at the West End in Edinburgh. As a boy I would wonder if my mother would finish her shopping quickly enough for me to be home to see Dr Who. As a boy I was fascinated by the mechanical clock which had soldiers marching round on the hour, a sight to behold! Binns was on a corner and a convenient place to meet folk, in fact I arranged to meet Jan there on out first date.  As a teenager I lived across the road from some elderly sisters who were named Maule, related to the family that owned the store when it was called Maules. 

The shop was taken over latterly by House of Fraser but was never the same. Now it is being done up to be a Johnny Walker Whiskey Experience and is in the state you see below from photos I took this week.

The building is covered in printed cloth showing the exterior as it once was, an interesting effect I have seen elsewhere. You can see the mechanical clock depicted too. Let’s hope they restore the clock to its former glory to captivate once more...