NUMBER 2: The Gyle to The Jewel

Thursday August 23rd 2007

Get on at The Gyle, 6.09pm.
Sit upstairs. It is sweltering hot even though the windows are all open. The Pentlands are hazy in the distance. A man sits down across, opens his paper and burps. A girl sits behind talking on her phone, try to work out her accent, think she’s actually talking in Welsh but mixed with English words. On the roundabout outside The Gyle are three different FOR SALE signs all pointing different ways, not clear what is for sale. A big crash. Four crumpled cars and lots of police, lots of broken glass. Feels like the hottest day of the year. Pieces of refrigerators piled up in a front garden. Another driveway where missing concrete slabs make it look like a draughts board. On Gorgie Road a young girl stands clutching her granny and patting her stomach. And a woman locks the gates of the City Farm. Go past a fancy dress shop where the mannequin is dressed up as some sort of crusading knight. Someone outside shouts to someone on the bus "We’re coming to your house later!". On Forrest Road some winos sit in a doorway drinking bright blue drinks. A guy in a LA Galaxy BECKHAM shirt. Pavements full of litter. Can see tiny people at the top of Arthur’s Seat. And the cleaning cupboard through the window at The Commonwealth Pool, with mop buckets on a shelf. Prestonfield Neighbourhood Centre has a phone book lying on its roof. The bus stop next to it is covered in half bricks been thrown there. Towerblocks in Peffermill stand opposite brand new LUXURY APARTMENTS- SHOWFLAT NOW OPEN. In Craigmillar a block is covered with graffiti that looks like poppies. A girl stands with a box of apples and onions. A couple stand both with their hands shielding their eyes from the sun. Can see a big dalmation in the back of a car up ahead. The bus goes fast round a roundabout. Has to stop whilst an Asda truck reverses in front.
A girl in supermarket uniform stands smoking at the bus stop.

Posted by cbtconduct on 2011-04-22 16:08:18

Tagged: , edinburgh , lothian , bus , route , 2 , outskirts , wasteland , hinterland , journey , kodachrome , slide , cai , conduct , asda , jewel , trolley , gyle