Notorious Edinburgh city centre pub with unusual opening hours thanks to 'loophole'
Everyone of a certain age in the capital knows a good yarn about the Penny Black on West Register Street - and it's little wonder really. This was a place that had the karaoke cranked up when most of us were tucking into our cornflakes.
Originally opened to serve nearby railway and postal workers finishing their night shifts - hence the name 'Penny Black' - the postage stamp-sized pub observed unusual opening hours of 6am till noon thanks to a licensing loophole.
Such anti-social hours would be a hard sell for most pubs - but not the Penny Black. Its city centre location pretty much guaranteed it was packed to the rafters with a rag tag band of eager drinkers on the hunt for a tipple or three most mornings of the week.
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Already sozzled revellers spilling out of Edinburgh's many nightclubs would queue up alongside off-duty police officers, postal workers and other randoms to form something of a motley crew of pub patrons.
The infamous bar, which closed for good in 2011, was recently the subject of a post on the Lost Edinburgh group on Facebook.
One member said: "It was the go-to after finishing work at 4am at the Stakis Casino or Whistle Binkies."
Another wrote: "The type of pubs you get all sorts walking through the door at 6am. Had some laughs with the characters over the years."
"Come out of a club, grab something to eat, then pop in the Penny Black for another couple of drinks before heading home," recalled another group member.
"That was always the plan when in there, but occasionally ended up in for a few hours."
A former pub employee said: "I worked part-time there for a wee while in the 90s A brilliant wee pub early morning karaoke - great with the postmen and casino workers."
Another group member added: "It was a weird but funny place, at 6am on a Saturday morning you could be drinking with p**s heads, off duty postmen, police men and working girls all at the same time."
It may be long gone now, but one thing's for sure there was nowhere in the city centre quite like the Penny Black.