Every day I walked 20 minutes each way from 34 Bread Street along West Port to GrassMarket and up a steep incline to George IV Bridge. The streets went through Old Town past where the town wall once stood. So, let’s stroll on my morning commute.

WEST PORT GARDEN

West Port Garden is a charming oasis created by Norah Geddes in 1910 to provide green space for children living in Old Town’s slums. There were other similar gardens at the time, but few remain. The garden opened every afternoon from May to September under supervision of a Lady Helper. Activities included swings, a sandpit, and an area for ‘football.’

GRASSMARKET

GrassMarket is almost deserted in the morning and bustling in the afternoon. In times past, the All Hallows Horse Fair gave the market its purpose. Stables and yards were built behind the area’s houses where cattle could be fattened before being auctioned at the market.

The area was also a frequent site of public hangings, beginning about 1660. Over 100 Covenanters (opponents to English rule) gave up their lives between 1661 and 1688 in what was known as the Killing Time.

There is the tale of Margaret Dickson who was hanged at GrassMarket in 1724 for murdering her illegitimate babe. Pronounced dead, she was put into a cart where she awoke. She could not be executed a second time. Later the words “until dead” were added to execution orders. Today Maggie Dickson’s Pub graces GrassMarket.

GREYFRIARS KIRKYARD

Continuing uphill, the entry to Greyfriars Kirkyard appears. The cemetery dates back to the 1560s. During the nineteenth century the University of Edinburgh had a prestigious medical program which inadvertently sparked an underground trade in corpses. These were acquired by bodysnatchers who sold them to medical students. Families countered the crime by boxing graves in metal grates called mortsafes. For this and other reasons, Greyfriars Kirkyard is thought to be haunted.

GREYFRIARS BOBBY

The most famous grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard belongs to a Skye Terrier called Bobby. In 1850 John Gray moved to Edinburgh with his family and joined the police force as a night watchman. Gray took Bobby with him on his rounds. Eight years later, Gray died from tuberculosis and took his place in the cemetery. Bobby refused to leave his master’s resting place.

Finally, the gardener built Bobby a shelter by the grave. The little dog became famous throughout Edinburgh. Every day crowds gathered at the cemetery entrance waiting for the 1:00 gun salute. At this time, Bobby left the gravesite to go for his meal at the same Coffee House he’d visited when his master lived.

The inscription reads:

Greyfriars Bobby died in 1872. His headstone reads Greyfriars Bobby – died 14 Jan 1872 – aged 16 years – Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all.

At the corner where GrassMarket turns onto George IV Bridge, there is an attractive pub named for Greyfriars Bobby.

And at the opposite corner, there is a granite fountain with a statute of Greyfriars Bobby on top. In the afternoons it’s hard to get around the tourists taking pictures standing next to the immortal pup.

The inscription reads:

A Tribute to the affectionate fidelity of Greyfriars Bobby. In1858 this faithful dog followed the remains of his master to Greyfriars Churchyard and lingered near the spot until his death in 1872.

GEORGE IV BRIDGE (STREET)

George IV Bridge is a 300 meter elevated street built on a multi-arched bridge completed in 1832 to allow greater access between the Old and New Towns.

ELEPHANT HOUSE

A few blocks beyond Greyfriars Bobby’s monument is Elephant House, a purveyor of gourmet tea and coffee that opened in 1995. Though its beverages and pastries are excellent, Elephant House is most known as a place where authors write well-known books. Among them: Ian Rankin who writes the Rebus novels, Alexander McCall-Smith known for the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and the most famous of them all, J. K. Rowling who wrote several books about wizards.

Naturally I tried to absorb some of the authors’ magic “ink”. Whether I succeeded or not will become known as “Malice” develops beyond the research stage.

Also on George IV Bridge are two notable buildings. The first is the National Museum of Scotland, and then there’s the building where I spent most of my time, the National Library of Scotland. More on these next week.

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All Photos by Author. All Rights Reserved.

Elephant House: Gourmet Tea and Coffee Shop

Greater Grass Market

Greyfriars Kirk.

“Geddes Garden Reveals Story.” Edinburgh World Heritage. Aug 27, 2014

Ben Johnson. “Greyfriars Bobby.” Historic UK

Nicola Strochlic. “Welcome to the Most Haunted Graveyard in the World.” Daily Beast. Oct 30. 2013

The post COMMUTING PAST GRASSMARKET, EDINBURGH first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

I don’t know anyone who thinks about Edinburgh without envisioning the castle that looms over the entire city, both Old Town and New Town, so I think it only fair to begin the saga of my Edinburgh sojourn with a bit of background on this iconic sight.

Though visible from throughout the central city, the castle is the symbol of Old Town. It is built on top of the remnants of an extinct volcano, with the walls dissolving directly onto exposed bedrock.

Old Town began along the High Street, generally known as the Royal Mile, because it runs from the castle to Holyrood Palace, still the queen’s official residence when she visits Edinburgh. The town developed from the Royal Mile in a medieval fishbone pattern with narrow closes, wynds, and courts. Citizens wanted to live within the city walls, and did so in blended neighborhoods.

In 1751 the population was about 50,000 in addition to freely wandering livestock. The area was prone to fires, often ravaged by epidemics, and notorious for crime, drunkenness, and ghosts. Leading citizens were aware that something needed to be done to improve the city, but it wasn’t until a 6-story tenement building near the city center collapsed without warning that they were motivated to do anything . This could be due to the fact that fatalities included members of Edinburgh’s leading families. Investigation revealed that many other buildings were on the verge of collapse. These were pulled down, which left much of the city center in ruins. Rebuilding was inevitable.

NEW TOWN EMERGES

George Drummond got things going by taking up a public subscription to build a new Royal Exchange for merchants to do business. In 1752 he held a contest for the best city plan. The winning plan took advantage of the 100 acres which were added to the city boundaries, and led to the construction of New Town. The new design featured a grid pattern with three parallel wide roads which are still prominent: Princes Street, George Street, and Queen Street. Wealthy citizens fled Old Town for New Town’s elegant squares, Georgian architecture and fine gardens.

DOUBLE TREE HILTON AT THE ‘CITY CENTRE’

We stayed at the DoubleTree Hilton in what is now called Edinburgh’s City Center. It was a convenient location near the Royal Mile, in walking distance to New Town, and most importantly a 20 minute walk to the Scottish National Library.

It is a site with an interesting history. The building is a category A listed building, that was once three buildings built between 1892 and 1937.

John McLachlan developed the original five bay building on Bread Steet which now forms the central part of the hotel. This was first a five bay department store. T. P. Marwick developed a duplicate building to convert the structure into a ten bay department store. This area now houses the hotel bar, and a separate pub called Chanters next door.

In 1914, Mr. Marwick put together a “V” shaped block with a circular point at the junction of Bread Street and East Fountainbridge, resulting in a 4-story beaux arts department store.

T. Waller Marwick continued to develop the site, creating a more modern department store – featuring the first example of “curtain walling”* in Scotland. This area, on the other side of Chanters, is now the DoubleTree Conference Center.

In 1995 all of the structures were converted into the Point Hotel, which became a DoubleTree in 2014.

*In this case, curtain walling is a thin wall with in-fills of glass. The framing is attached to the building structure.

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Photos by Author. All rights reserved.

Explanation of ‘curtain walling‘ taken from National Institute of Building Sciences.

Tom Campbell. Story of Cities #10: How the Dirty Old Town Became Enlightened Edinburgh. The Guardian.

Old & New Towns of Edinburgh. Unesco.

Edinburgh Old Town History

DoubleTree Hilton. Edinburgh City Center

The post FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EDINBURGH first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.