In Back to the Future, Marty McFly was desperate to get back to the 1980s, and while we don't have access to our own time-travelling DeLorean, we do boast plenty of incredible archive photos - which is pretty much the next best thing.
The 1980s in Edinburgh was a time of historic visits and openings, grand exhibitions, concerts and sporting events and rising political tensions.
The visit of Pope John Paul II in June 1982 was a major moment for the capital, with tens of thousands lining the streets to welcome His Holiness, and an estimated 45,000 packing out Murrayfield Stadium to witness an official address.
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A couple of years later, in December 1984, Edinburgh greeted another man of international renown, as Mikhail Gorbachev, then Chairman for the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Soviet Union met with dignitaries. Within months, Gorbachev would be installed as the USSR’s eighth, and ultimately, final leader.
In 1986, the city staged the Commonwealth Games for the second time. But, unlike the 1970 event, which was a resounding success and saw the capital praised for its organisation and hospitality, the 1986 Games would be embroiled in controversy right from the start with 32 nations refusing to participate in protest against Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s refusal to impose sanctions on apartheid-era South Africa.
The sun appeared to be boycotting the ‘86 Edinburgh Games too, with competitors and spectators alike receiving thorough soakings as the rain battered down at many of the outdoor events. Nonetheless it was a memorable couple of weeks for Scotland, as the country notched its highest ever medal tally, including a gold for runner Liz McColgan in the 10,000 metres.
Happily, almost 40 years on, McColgan’s daughter last week emulated her mum by winning gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Speaking of torrential rain, few who were there will ever forget the night David Bowie played Murrayfield during his Serious Moonlight tour in 1983 - especially those who neglected to bring a mac. While it was a complete wash out weather-wise, Bowie fans would not have cared a jot as the music legend performed a string of his career hits, plus tunes from his then new album Let’s Dance.
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Politically, the 1980s was a time of much division, with protests, strikes and riots flaring on a regular basis as Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives presided over the biggest unemployment crisis since the national economic downturn of the 1930s.
During the 1984-85 miners’ strike, workers in collieries of the coal-rich Lothians were no mere spectators, with Bilston Glen pit witnessing a particularly fierce clash between police and pickets in March 1984.
Socially and economically, Edinburgh was changing fast, as traditional industries vanished and new ones slowly took their place. Shipbuilding was on its way out with the closure of the Henry Robb shipyard in 1984 despite the best efforts of workers to keep it open. The city's breweries and other manufacturing hubs were dwindling too.
The 1980s is often seen as the era of the shopping mall and Edinburgh was not short of developments in this regard. The Waverley Market and Cameron Toll shopping centres were both in operation by the middle of the decade, while out-of-town retail park Fort Kinnaird was fast taking shape on the site of the old Newcraighall colliery.
Opening at the start of the decade, The City Art Centre was making a name for itself as the home of blockbuster exhibitions. In February 1988, the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition was launched, and it was labelled as the biggest and most ambitious ever staged in the capital, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors during its short two-month run that year.
On the footballing side of things, there were mixed fortunes for Edinburgh’s two main clubs. Having bounced back and forth out of the top division for several years, Hearts came within a whisker of lifting the 1985/86 league title, but, sadly for the Jambos, there would be heartache on the final day of the season as they lost out on goal difference. The pain would be further compounded a week later following a 3-0 defeat to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final.
For Hibs, meanwhile, there wasn’t a great deal to shout about either. Fans had enjoyed seeing footballing legend George Best turn out for the club at the start of the decade, but the former Man Utd star’s stay in Edinburgh would ultimately prove brief and controversial.
Like their bitter rivals, a trophy-less decade beckoned for Hibs, though the Easter Road side would make history in 1988 when new chairman David Duff floated the club on the stock market, making them the first Scottish side to do so.
In the world of film, Edinburgh was out front and centre, with the city playing a starring role in major ‘80s hits, including Chariots of Fire (1981) and Restless Natives (1985). Our fair capital was even enjoying a stint on music television, with Canadian pop sensation Celine Dion filming the promo for her song Lolita atop a city tour bus.
Sadly the decade would close with the capital experiencing one of its darkest days in living memory. On the morning of October 4, 1989, a gas explosion reduced a tenement on Guthrie Street to rubble, leaving two people dead and several injured.
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