With the talk being
cancelled, it was time to take advantage and
do a longer run.
After waiting for Matt and choosing what shoes to wear
we took our last chance before the light nights to
head to Blackford summit via the golf course. Heading
down the steep descent to the duck pond we thought
to recover so we went to:
The Astley Ainslie
Hospital
“The Astley Ainslie Institution, for
the relief and behoof of the convalescents of the
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh"
Suitably recovered Gordon set off at a stupidly
fast pace for:
The Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
“The foundation of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital
was triggered by the death in Bedlam, at the age
of 24, of the poet Robert Fergusson. His medical
attendant Dr Andrew Duncan, was so moved by the poet's
plight that he resolved to fund a hospital in Edinburgh
where the mentally ill could be humanely looked after”
Once I caught up with the group and found
them being humanely looked after we scaled or
squirmed across the massive gates and headed for:
The
Craiglockhart Hospital
“In 1877, the estate became the property of
the Craiglockhart Hydropathic Company, who set about
building a hydropathic institute. The Hydropathic
was built in the Italian style. Craiglockhart remained
as a hydropathic, until the advent of the First World
War. Between 1916 and 1919 the building was used
as a military psychiatric hospital for the treatment
of shell-shocked officers.”
We wound our way through the myriad
paths towards the summit the ground was
unusually firm so we could not say that
it was truly Hydro- path-ic, but after
a pleasant view over the city we were fully
recovered so headed for Wester Craiglockhart
and then on the:
The City Hospital
“In 1903 the City Fever Hospital
moved to its present site at Colinton Mains,
where it became the City Hospital for Infectious
Diseases.”
We ran round the hospital at a fever
pace and then headed for Braids (the long
way round). A couple of hungry runners asked
the shortest route back. We were getting
tired.
After another golf course crossing we summited Braid
and headed for home.
A long run (9.8 miles) and luckily none of us needed
hospitalisation, but a good few of us took some medicine
in the KB Bar.
Willie Gibson |