Photo of historic lost Edinburgh pub discovered during house renovations in Australia
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A vintage photograph of two figures standing outside a lost Edinburgh pub has been unearthed during a home renovation more than 10,000 miles away in Australia.
Believed to have been taken in the early 1950s, the tattered picture shows a pair of uniformed men posing at the entrance of the long-since-demolished Lord Darnley Tavern in the Canongate.
Now, decades on, the well-travelled snap has turned up in the most unlikely of places - behind the wall of a house in the surfer's paradise that is Wollongong, just one hour's drive south of Sydney, Australia.
A local woman, Lisa Doherty, rediscovered the photo during renovations to the dwelling, which was originally built in the 1950s to house '£10 poms' migrants from the UK. The migrants were called Ten Pound Poms due to the charge of £10 in processing fees for Brits to start a new life in Oz.
Commenting on her find, Lisa said: "I found this in a wall while renovating a house in Australia and thought it might be of interest. It looks like a cool old pub. Shame it's no longer there.
"The house that we found the photo in was originally built in the '50s for migrants from the UK. The area used to be called Commonwealth Cottages in Unanderra."
While the identity of the two uniformed men in the photo, which has been posted to the Lost Edinburgh page on Facebook, is unknown, it's understood they were officers in the Royal Navy.
Writing on Lost Edinburgh, Stephen O'Neil said: "They are two Royal Navy Petty Officers. The badge on the arm denotes which branch, but I can't quite make it out."
Situated at the foot of the Canongate, the tenement housing the pub was razed in the 1970s, with the watering hole relocating to the West Port.
Others shared their memories of the legendary pub, which displayed a waistcoat purportedly owned in the 1560s by the real Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the father of James VI of Scotland and I of England.
Andrew McFadden wrote: "First pub I played guitar in with my mate singing early '60s. Lord Darnley's waistcoat was up on the wall in a glass case."
Lesley Scott commented: "Incredible. Photo discovered in Wollongong! I remember the Lord Darnley and other treasured buildings in the Canongate with such character, now demolished. I wonder, is one of the uniformed chaps in the photo the former owner of it?"
Bobby Robert Frazer added: "What a fantastic photo it brings back some amazing memories to me of my childhood in the Canongate. We lived at Whitehorse Close from 1940 till 1955. The Lord Darnley was a smart looking pub."
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