{"url":"https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/its-no-for-us-now-son-why-real-leithers-despair-over-whats-happened-to-the-place-6561989","title":"'It's no for us now son' – Leithers lament hipster takeover","domain":"scotsman.com","imageUrl":"https://images.pexels.com/photos/6284254/pexels-photo-6284254.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&h=650&w=940","pexelsSearchTerm":"shhh","category":"Nature","language":"en","slug":"e1f4736d","id":"e1f4736d-ae95-4e3c-82c3-ea591e6157ca","description":"Stephen Jardine laments Leith's gentrification displacing working-class locals with hipster influx.","summary":"## TL;DR\n- **Stephen Jardine** laments **Leith**'s gentrification displacing working-class locals with hipster influx.\n- Old shipyard now brews cortados at **£13** sardine tins on toast.\n- Real Leithers declare \"**It’s no for us now son**\" while fleeing to suburbs.\n\n## The story at a glance\n**Leith**, Edinburgh's historic port, has morphed from shipbuilding hub to trendy enclave of cortado bars and £300 hamster-hair jumpers. Columnist **Stephen Jardine** charts this shift, mourning the loss of sailors, deckhands, and authentic locals to influencers and digital nomads. Published **4th Apr 2026**, it captures peak gentrification amid Scotland's urban renewal debates. Leith's resilience shines through rats and holdouts like **Tom Kitchin**'s restaurant.\n\n## Key moments & milestones\n- **Shipbuilding era**: Men in boiler suits hammered ships at the Shore engineering works.\n- **Tom Kitchin**'s early days: Stepped over drunk Lithuanian deckhands to open his restaurant doors.\n- Recent transformation: Old works now serve **£13** sardine tins with toast amid cortado struggles.\n- Last week: **Harry Enfield** onstage reviving his \"Saw You Coming\" yuppie-trap sketch.\n- Weekend scene: Man-boys blast jazz funk at swans along **Water of Leith** footpath.\n- Tram encounter: Two original Leithers head to **Ocean Terminal** bingo, declare \"**It’s no for us now son**.\"\n\n## Signature highlights\n- Old Shore engineering works symbolises change: boiler-suited ship fixers replaced by baristas perfecting cortados, serving sardines in tins with toast at **£13**—\"peeling back the lid is the only heavy metal work.\"\n- New arrivals thrive: Shops peddle **£300** hamster-hair jumpers, ever-closed art galleries, mystery offices slurping coconut water; pop-up flogging empty crisp packets or odd socks would boom if run by \"Mati\" with shifting pronouns.[[1]](https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/its-no-for-us-now-son-why-real-leithers-despair-over-whats-happened-to-the-place-6561989)\n- Clinging survivors face influencer raids: Long-established spots risk \"#SHHH, the hidden Leith gem\" trades for free cronuts.\n- Hopeful holdouts: **Port O’ Leith** bar, **Tom Kitchin**'s top Scottish food, **Barry Fish**'s normal seafood plates—not in \"miniature wheelie bins alongside Negronis featuring live goldfish.\"\n- Nature fights back: **Water of Leith** path bucolic save DJ decks, but massive rats scurry defiantly—\"Leith’s oldest residents will always stubbornly defy gentrification.\"\n\n## Key quotes\n> “**It’s no for us now son**.”  \n> —Two original Leithers on the tram, passing their old home en route to **Ocean Terminal** bingo.\n\n## Why it matters\nGentrification erodes community fabric in ports like **Leith**, swapping industrial grit for curated quirk, pricing out natives citywide. Readers in changing neighbourhoods face hikes in £13 tins over pub pints, weighing authenticity against buzz. Watch if rats and rats prevail or if social media whims fade, letting real Leithers reclaim ground.","hashtags":["#leith","#gentrification","#edinburgh","#scotland","#urbanchange","#localvoices"],"sources":[{"url":"https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/its-no-for-us-now-son-why-real-leithers-despair-over-whats-happened-to-the-place-6561989","title":"Original article"}],"viewCount":3,"publishedAt":"2026-04-05T12:25:56.802Z","createdAt":"2026-04-05T12:25:56.802Z","articlePublishedAt":null}