Every so often, after the clocks change and until there is light in the sky again, the Wednesday evening training run is changed for a night run – sometimes themed. The runs are in different locations around Edinburgh, with a convivial meal afterwards in a convenient hostelry. Usually starting at 7pm but check details.
Older night runs archive (pre 2014)
Night run diary 2023-4
Night Run | Date | Meet | Food | Leader |
Halloween run 6.30pm | Tues 31st Oct | Come to visit one of the spookiest places in Scotland. https://www.scotland.org/inspiration/top-11-spooky-places-to-visit-in-scotland Starting at “The Original Roslin Inn” at 6.30pm, I will guide a run through “The Witchy Wood” along “The Kill Burn” past “The Shin Banes Field”, down”Stinking Rigg”, past General Monck’s Battery By Roslin Castle and Round Roslin Chapel, returning to the Inn for food and beer. |
The Original Roslin Inn. See sign up sheet circulated by email. | Willie Gibson |
‘The Three B’s’- Braidburn Valley Park, Braids and Blackford | 22nd Nov | 6pm meet Braidburn Valley Park Gates. 6pm mind! | Food and drinks at The Waiting Room, Morningside | Pippa Dakin |
Xmas Pub Run | 20th Dec | Meet at Cloisters Bar for 18:30 For those needing a later start the 1st pub on route is No1 The Grange (aka Brass Monkey) at 19:00. Come share in the delights of running between cozy pubs with a friendly bunch of ‘mad for it’ athletes.Warning: Alcohol is consumed!!Bring: – Christmas kit! – Beer money! – Head torch! Very social pace – everyone welcome.If in doubt your soul can be cleansed with a Friday morning Solstice run. |
I expect that we will return to Cloisters for 10:45 so a bit late for food… But I have arranged pies and sausage rolls (veggie option too) for a half way point, which people will have to pay | Craig Addison |
Gullane 6.30pm | 17th Jan | Meet outside Old Clubhouse, Gullane 6.30pm.The run starts off out of Gullane along the John Muir Way towards Aberlady. We’ll then cross the Bridge to Enchantment and run on trails to Aberlady Bay, then Gullane point before heading up Gullane hill and back to the start for food (approx 10km).
Dogs aren’t allowed in the restaurant part of the pub I’m afraid |
Food: fish & chips; curry of the day; burger; veg/vegan option. See google sheet email link. | Dorothy Elliott |
‘New Congregations’ | Wed 21st Feb | 6.30pm meet at Morningside Clock. A run around former church sites that have been repurposed for another function. Route | Drinks afterwards at the Waiting Room, Morningside | Mike Lynch |
Holyrood by Headtorch race 7.15pm | Wednesday 13th March | Holyrood by Headtorch race Date: Wednesday 13th March Time: 7.15pm start Location: Arthurs Seat (start/finish here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4Y3PCVrtrKXDAvVz8 Route: tbc Brief description: An informal mass-start race around Arthurs seat in the dark! Headtorches required, route will be reflective taped and aiming to take in all the best parts of the Seat. More details to follow in the coming weeks. |
Pippa Dakin | |
Previous night runs –
Holyrood by Headtorch – Wed 13th March
The idea of a night race/run came to me having grown up orienteering where night races are common through the winter months. However, from a running perspective a quick google confirmed that there are very few races run at night and I thought it would be fun to give it a go and organise. In Sweden there are “Reflexbanas”; courses marked out through the terrain with only reflectors to guide the way. I decided this was what I would aim for and thought Arthurs Seat was a suitable and safe location to try it out.
As the clock change was fast approaching there wasn’t much time to get myself organised. Luckily the club already had a supply of flags with pieces of reflective tape attached and so once I’d decided on a course I was good to go.
By 7pm the flags were all in place, darkness had descended all that was needed now was the runners. I was slightly worried the bitter wind would deter most people but by the time 7.15pm came around 30 runners had either already set off or were to go in the mass start. I didn’t tell runners what the route was and so it was down to them following the reflective tapes to stay on track. During my briefing it transpired that the reflective tape was not as bright as I had imagined but at the stage there was nothing to do other than hope I’d put the flags close enough together; they looked fine in the light!
Off they went and much to my relief I started to see headtorches on the right course and before too long we had the first finishers. I’d been worried that Whinny would be the most difficult to keep people on the right track but in the end I think almost everyone got “lost” on Dunsapie. Apparently I confused everyone by not taking them to the top…
Overall, there were lots of positive comments and people seemed to enjoy doing something a bit different at night. Thanks to all who came along and those who helped to collect flags in afterwards.
Pippa Dakin
New Congregations – A night run around repurposed churches
Wednesday night saw the latest night run, and the latest of my themed urban runs over recent years (see Graveyard Shift, Train in Vain, Testaments Old & New and Plaque Attack as examples).
This run took in church buildings around central Edinburgh of differing Christian faiths, and one site that used to occupy a church but has been replaced with another building. There are a variety of factors which may bring about the redundancy of a church. Each building will have its own particular set of causes.
It is important to recognise that unwanted and redundant buildings are not a new phenomenon. Change in our built environment is a natural process; however, the rate of redundancy of church buildings in the last three decades has been unprecedented. According to a Council of Europe assessment, Scotland is one of the countries in which the problem of redundant churches is most severe. The Church of Scotland owns approximately 70% of ecclesiastical buildings. Between 1978 and 1991, 148 churches were sold by the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland alone i.e. an average of 12 per annum, or one a month.
Run here: https://www.strava.com/activities/10810311301
Thanks to Philippa Ivison and Peter Buchanan for the photos.
Mike Lynch
Pizza Express, Nile Grove
The Morningside branch of this popular pizza chain is housed inside a former place of worship, Braid Church. Formerly under the ownership of the Church of Scotland, Braid Church (built for the United Presbyterian congregation) is a Category B Listed structure that was designed by George Washington Browne in 1886. As it’s a Category B listed building, many of the original features from the church remain. The pizza ovens are located where the stage used to be, and the impressive pipe organ is still visible on the wall above. Braid Church replaced an iron church of 1883 (on the corner of Braid Road and Comiston Road) as the congregation outgrew its capacity. The present church was commissioned in 1886 and built in under a year for $5500. Part of the church halls and the organ chamber date from 1989 and 1911. The plan form of the church recalls an Italian baptistery and in 1893 the church was decorated with extensive marbling continuing this theme, but only the columns in the vestibule have survived in this form. It opened as Pizza Express in 2013. One of Morningside’s most famous fictional figures, Miss Jean Brodie, has left her mark, with the restaurant’s walls being decorated with murals inspired by the famous character, including some of her best quotes.
Newington Library, Fountainhall Road
The congregation which built their new church in Fountainhall Road in 1897 had begun in the 2,000-seat Bethel Chapel in the High Street in 1828, and moved to the Cowgate (in the building that is now St Patrick’s RC Church), before the restrictions of that site set the congregation to move to the developing suburb of the Grange. In 1958, the congregation united with the neighbouring congregation of North Mayfield. The building was demolished and the Newington library was built on the site. The former church is commemorated by a bench in front of the library and by donated benches in the garden of the library in memory of a former member of the church.
Lt Allan Ker, VC, Findhorn Place
This wasn’t a repurposed church stop, but in between two, we stopped to reflect on Allan Ker. He was born in Edinburgh on 5 March 1883 the son of Robert Darling Ker WS and his wife Johanna Johnston. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy and then studied law at the University of Edinburgh. Before the First World War he had his own legal practice at 5 George Street and was living at “St Abbs”, a villa on Russell Place in Trinity. He was 35 years old, and a lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders, when he won the VC for holding off 500 enemy for 3 hours, with a single Vickers gun, some men and a few revolvers. He was, however, captured in the event and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner of war only being released in December 1918, a few weeks after the armistice of 11 November 1918. He was gazetted for the VC on 4 September 1919 and was presented the medal personally by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 26 November 1919. On 11 November 1920 he was one of the 100 VC winners chosen as the guard of honour, escorting the gun carriage to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey. He later achieved the rank of major. He was demobbed in 1922 and went back to practising law, but in London rather than Edinburgh. He died at New Garden Hospital in Hampstead, North London, on 12 September 1958 aged 75. He is buried in West Hampstead Cemetery but was also memorialised in 2018 on his parents restored grave in Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh.
Cotterell & Co Lighting/Morningside Dance Academy, Grange Road/Causewayside
This building on the corner of Grange Road and Causewayside was erected in 1863 as a United Presbyterian Church, with seats for 1000. It was the product of several unions and enjoyed almost 100 years of congregational life. One of the uniting churches was Hope Park Church, originally Potterrow, built in 1793 as an Antiburgher congregation. By 1867 a new church was built at the corner of Hope Park and Causewayside. In 1848 Duncan Street Baptist Chapel was bought as a meeting place for the congregation known as Newington South which moved again in 1863 when the new church was built in Grange Road. In 1873 a substantial number of members were lost over the question of the use of fermented wine at communion. The dissenters left and were in part linked to the establishment of the Argyle Place Church. In 1940 when the Hope Park and Newington South congregations united, the Hope Park buildings were sold and the Royal Dick Veterinary College was built in its place. The name of the congregation changed again for the final time in 1959, to Salisbury Church.
The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street
The Queen’s Hall has been a popular performance venue since 1979, but it started life as Hope Park Chapel in 1824. It was renamed Newington Parish Church in 1834 and became Newington and St Leonard’s Parish Church in 1932, when a large new hall was built at the rear of the church. Depopulation of the area led to a decline in numbers and the church was dissolved in 1976. The building was bought by the Scottish Philharmonic Society and converted to a performance venue. It was officially opened in 1979 by Queen Elizabeth II, after whom it is named..
National e-Science Centre and e-Science Institute, University of Edinburgh, South College Street
The former South College Street United Presbyterian Church was built in 1856 to the designs of Patrick Wilson in Renaissance style. Only the impressive façade indicates the former church building’s presence. It was used as a store for many years, before the Category B listed building was skilfully converted by architects Reiach & Hall in 1996 to provide a training and conference centre for the University of Edinburgh. The building now functions as the National e-Science Centre and is home to the e-Science Institute. The centre houses several rooms and open plan areas that can accommodate a variety of activities including conferences, meetings and office workspace. On four levels, the uppermost level contains a top-lit lecture theatre which seats just over 100. Below, a flexible open-plan exhibition area is also used for catering, receptions and demonstrations. In many instances, the insertion of the new floors brings the visitors up close to the original detail of the building.
Bedlam Theatre, Bristo Place
Bedlam Theatre’s building in Bristo Place started life as the New North Free Church in 1848. The church was known for its ministry to students, and after the congregation united with nearby Greyfriars Kirk in 1941, the building became a chaplaincy centre and then a store for Edinburgh University. But in 1980 the student-run Edinburgh University Theatre Company reopened it as Bedlam Theatre and it is now a busy Fringe venue. There was an extensive renovation of the building in 2012. Utilised today by the theatre society of the University of Edinburgh, the Bedlam Theatre takes its name from the former asylum and poorhouse which used to stand on this site, at the southern end of George IV Bridge in the Old Town. The original building was designed by Thomas Hamilton, although it was never popular with the congregation it served, who considered the building ugly and ill-suited to its purpose as a church.
Frankenstein Pub, George IV Bridge
Frankenstein advertises itself as “the original horror pub”, and was originally built in 1859 as Martyr’s Free Church for the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation (later United Free and then Elim Pentecostal). Martyrs’ Reformed Presbyterian Church was formed from a congregation which was originally drawn from Pentland and Loanhead, where it traced descent from a 17th-century Covenanting community. From 1792 it was based in Loanhead, and in 1804 William Goold was called to the charge. In 1818 the Edinburgh members were disjoined and became a separate congregation, with Goold as minister. Their church was at first in Lady Lawson’s Wynd (built 1781), later at George IV Bridge (opened 1861). It adhered to the Free Church at the union of 1876 and to the United Free Church in 1900. In 1909 it united with St John’s as Martyrs and St John’s, but was dissolved in 1930. Much later, the gothic building was home to Edinburgh’s Elim Pentecostal Church, which later moved to Morningside. The building was converted to a pub in 1999.
The Hub, Royal Mile
The Hub – a public arts venue and official home of the Edinburgh International Festival – dates back to 1842-45, when it was built to house the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It was also the home of the Kirk’s Tolbooth congregation, which later united with two others to become the Highland Tolbooth St John’s Church. Augustus Pugin (designer of the Palace of Westminster) helped design the building in the Gothic Revival Style, whose 245ft Gothic spire is the tallest in the Capital and the highest point in central Edinburgh. The General Assembly met in the lower hall of the church until 1929, when the Church of Scotland reunited with the United Free Church of Scotland, and the amalgamated church decided to use the former United Free Church’s General Assembly Hall on The Mound for future assemblies. After 1929 the building was used by various congregations as a place of worship, although it was never actually consecrated as a Church. In 1956 it was named the Highland Tolbooth St John’s Church. The congregation had been notable for holding services in Gaelic as well as English. In 1979 the Tolbooth congregation united with the nearby Greyfriars Kirk and the building was closed. The Hub was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999. As well as hosting performances, it is the Festival’s central ticket office and information centre.
Prior to the completion of the new Scottish Parliament Building at Holyrood in 2004, the Hub was occasionally used for meetings of the Scottish Parliament when the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly Hall was unavailable. The Parliament returned to the Hub for two weeks following the collapse of a beam in its debating chamber on 2 March 2006.
Crisis Scotland, Canongate/Cranston Street
The Canongate Christian Institute, built in 1878, was a Christian mission, where weekly services and gospel meetings were held for residents of the Old Town. It closed in 1930. The Institute and Mission Hall extend along the north end of the slightly earlier former church, the Canongate United Presbyterian Church alongside (built in 1869) and this was converted around 1990 into the Hawthorn School of English, then it became The Edinburgh School of English, teaching English as a second language to many short-stay visitors from abroad. The building is located on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile and was listed by Historic Scotland in 2003 specifically for its value to the streetscape. The courtyard garden, enclosed by low sandstone walls and cast-iron railing to Canongate and Cranston Street, provides a green space with a mature tree and low planting in an otherwise hard urban environment. It’s now home to homeless charity Crisis.
The Glasshouse Hotel, Greenside Place
Formerly Lady Glenorchy’s Low Calton Church dating from the 1840s, this former church adjacent to the Playhouse theatre (itself on the site of a long-lost Baptist meeting house) was demolished during the renovation of the whole Greenside area in the 1960s and 70s. Part of the conditions for its demolition stipulated that the façade of the building be preserved, and for many years (within living memory) it was propped up with steel scaffolding supports while the area around it was completely revitalised. Today the original church frontage is incorporated into the glass and steel structure that houses the Omni cinema and a whole host of bars and restaurants, and accessed through the façade itself is the Glasshouse hotel, popular for its roof garden and rear views up to Calton Hill.
Lyon & Turnbull Ltd, Broughton Place
The former Broughton Place Church was built for the Rev. James Hall’s newly formed United Associate Synod congregation; construction began in May 1820 and the church opened for its first service in May 1821. However, it later became better known as Dr John Brown’s Chapel, after its second minister. A plan and elevation signed by Elliot shows that he originally intended the building to have a tower and spire, but, perhaps for financial reasons, these were never built. The ceiling rose in the auditorium originally held a large octagonal gasolier, which was removed in 1853. Broughton Place Church featured in the 1981 multi-Oscar winning film Chariots of Fire as ‘Church of Scotland, Paris’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjF59VB0h6g The Broughton McDonald congregation left in 1991 and most of the interior furnishings were dispersed; the organ and organ screen were relocated to a church in Italy. The church was added to the Buildings at Risk Register in 1992 when the congregation relocated. Sold by the Church of Scotland in 1993, the building went through a period of varied intermittent use before auctioneers, Lyon & Turnbull, moved here in 1999. A new use secured, the subsequent conversion by Malcolm Fraser Architects was completed in 2003.
Ingleby Gallery, Barony Street
Edinburgh’s former Glasite Meeting House in Barony Street was built in 1835 as a Christian place of worship and is now an art gallery. The Glasites were founded in 1730 by Fife-born minister John Glas – they had no clergy, no consecrated churches and they held large communal meals known as love feasts. It had no windows, just a large cupola to let in light. After worship the congregation gathered in the Feast Room for lunch (the feast table is original), and the typical fare gave it the nickname of the Kale Kirk. The Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) took on the building in 1989 after the six remaining members of the congregation decided they could not carry on. After repairs, the meeting house was sold to the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland for use as their national office. In 2018, the building changed again to become the new home of Ingleby Gallery.
Assay Office, Albany Street
The Albany Street Chapel, opened in 1816, was built for a congregation of Independents. This movement, sometimes called Separatists, was begun in the 16th century by congregations who wished to separate from the Church of England and form independent local churches. They were influential politically in England during the time of the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell, who was, himself, a Separatist. Subsequently, they survived repression and gradually became an important religious minority. One group left England for Holland in 1608, and in 1620 some of them, the Pilgrims, settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. A fundamental belief was the idea of the gathered church; that Christians of the same belief should combine to follow their agreed beliefs, in contrast to the territorial basis of the established church. This belief became a principal tenet of Congregationalism. The Chapel, which became called the Albany Street Congregational Church, closed around 1975. It is now the Edinburgh Assay Office. The Edinburgh Assay Office is the last remaining Assay Office in Scotland and one of four which remain in the United Kingdom. The history of hallmarking at the Edinburgh Assay Office can be traced back to 1457 when the first hallmarking act of Scotland was created. It is an independent privately run business, owned by the Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh. From 1457, the Deacon, or leader of the craft, assayed and marked the members’ wares, but in 1681 a separate Assay Master was appointed to oversee this task. The first Assay Master was John Borthwick. The Incorporation’s importance in the life of the city and country was confirmed in 1687 when King James VII granted it a Royal Charter.
Genting Casino, York Place
The building as St George’s Episcopal Chapel, was built in 1792 under the direction of James Adam. 1792 was one year after the penal laws against Episcopalians had been rescinded. This chapel adopted a “Gothic” style which was unusual in Edinburgh for the era and in fact it was Adam’s only excursion into the “Gothic” style, although Hermitage of Braid House has much in common as to suggest that he was responsible for it also. From 1810 to 1826 Walter Scott rented a pew in the north gallery. The chapel closed in 1932 and though the building’s front was updated in 1934, most of the original foundation and brickwork remains the same. It became a warehouse for many years afterwards. The exact date where the casino went into operation is unknown, though the Genting Group itself dates back to 1965.
Bannatyne’s Gym, Queen Street
Originally built as a house and was converted to a gothic style church in 1851 called St Luke’s Free Church. Latterly Queen Street Church was then formed by the union in 1891 of Tollbooth Free Church and St Luke’s Free Church to form Queen Street Free Church, which became Queen Street United Free Church in 1900 (at the union of the Free Church and the United Presbyterians) and then Queen Street Church after the 1929 union of the United Free Church and Church of Scotland. It now houses a Bannatyne’s Gym.
West Register House, Charlotte Square
West Register House was built as St George’s Church in 1811-14 to serve as the Church of Scotland parish church for the western part of the New Town. The church took its name from the original square, intended to be St George Square (to mirror St Andrew Square at the east end of the city) and was initially designed by the architect Robert Adam. Adam’s plans were modified by Robert Reid, including the installation of a stunning dome modelled on St Paul’s Cathedral in London. During its three years of construction, the cost of the building nearly doubled from £18,000 to £33,000. Its green copper dome is a prominent feature of the Edinburgh skyline. In 1960 an appeal was launched for structural work required to support the dome, but then extensive dry rot was discovered. And in 1964 the congregation united with St Andrew’s Church in George Street to form St Andrew’s and St George’s. The building was bought by the Scottish Records Office and converted to a public record office, which meant gutting the interior and installing five storeys along with a two-storey entrance hall.
Ghillie Dhu, Rutland Place
Ghillie Dhu is a popular bar, restaurant and live music venue. It was built as St. Thomas’ Church in 1843 for a breakaway congregation from the Scottish Episcopal Church which allied itself with the Church of England. It was shown on the 1876 OS map as having “seats for 750”, it was rebuilt in 1882, when the seating was reduced to 625 (1893 OS Map). The church congregation moved to Corstorphine in 1938 and the Rutland Place building was eventually converted in 1958 to serve for a time as a heritage centre, a tourist information centre and then the Berkeley Casino before being remodelled for its current use and opening as Ghillie Dhu in 2010.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Lothian Road
Dating from the 1830s, this former church building on Lothian Road was converted into a cinema in the late 1970s, and until recently was home to the annual Edinburgh International Film Festival, as well as hosting a variety of arthouse and blockbuster screenings all year round. The building that housed the Filmhouse was erected in 1831 as United Presbyterian Church (later United Free Church), designed by the architect David Bryce in a Neoclassical villa style. It later became St. Thomas’s Church of Scotland
The cinema began life when, in 1979, the disused St. Thomas Church building was converted into a 100-seat auditorium (later cinema 2) accessed via a side entrance on Morrison Street Lane. The front of the building was listed and remained inaccessible until in 1985 when a new 280 seat auditorium and bar were added and the front entrance opened. The cinema closed in October 2022 when its parent body went into administration. As of September 2023, a campaign organised by former staff is underway to reopen it.
Church Hill Theatre, Morningside Road
Hippolyte Blanc, who designed the building, was a prolific architect and antiquarian. He was involved in high-profile restoration projects across Edinburgh – including the Argyle Tower and portcullis gate at Edinburgh Castle and John Knox House on the Royal Mile. His major works are dominated by churches in the gothic revival style, and examples can be seen all over Scotland. In Morningside alone they include Christ Church, Chalmers Free Church and Morningside Parish Church. So who better to design Morningside High Church, as this building originally was? The pink sandstone building was completed in 1892, and served the parish for almost 70 years before it was united with Morningside Parish Church and the building was vacated. It lay largely unused until the Little Theatre in the Pleasance closed in the early 1960s, when the idea was raised to turn the building into a new, smaller-scale theatrical venue. In 1962, the Corporation of the City of Edinburgh discussed the creation of a venue that would encourage the younger generation into the fields of ballet, drama, music and opera – and in 1963 it bought the former church building as a base. The theatre formally opened on 25 September 1965 with a production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The Theatre became a mainstay for local and amateur performing arts groups across the city. It is also a key venue for national and international companies and well known performers like the June Geissler School of Ballet, the Wooster Group, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, 7:84 and TAG. It established a long-running association with the American High School Theatre Festival in 1995, and in 1996 artist Kenny Munro was commissioned to create The Milestones in collaboration with local school children. Those two pillars, located in the Theatre’s driveway, celebrate the heritage of Morningside and its neighbouring areas with symbols and motifs of their social and civic history.
Halloween Night Run
24 Carnethies met up for this years Halloween Run.
With one missing from the spreadsheet list we headed off through The Witchy Wood (spooky), then along The Kill Burn (that ran red with blood at The Battle of Roslin) to the Bilston Viaduct (original was built by Thomas Bouch of Tay Bridge Disaster Fame).
A right turn led us along a track that had recently been covered in slurry. which some of us ran through (Lovely), then a couple of Carnethy witches appeared having missed the start of the run (read the start time!).
We descended and headed along Stinking Rigg (where the bodies were piled high in 1303) and the round The Maiden Castle and back towards Roslin passing Hawthornden Castle and General Monck’s Battery (In 1650, General Monck, with a force of 600 men, attacked and took Rosslyn Castle), then round Roslin Castle and into Roslin Country Park where a few fireworks lit the night (Thanks Bob Cali and Margaret).
We ran along and up Jacobs Ladder and back to Roslin including a circumnavigation to The world famour Rosslyn Chapel.
The into The Original Rosslyn Inn to refuel.
Willie Gibson
Night Run – Plaque Attack
Wednesday night saw a good number of runners gather on a clear and cold night on Calton Hill for nearly 8 miles of running between plaques, memorials and inscriptions. Finishing at Napier University at Merchiston, the following were visited in order (if anyone would like full notes then please drop me a note):
James Craig plaque, Observatory House, Calton Hill: Craig was the planner of Edinburgh’s first new town and the architect of Observatory House. He also created an impressive legacy of work, not least Surgeon’s Hall, Botanic Gardens buildings, various churches, engineering projects and parts of Glasgow’s Victorian Georgian grid system.
Jane Haining Auschwitz Stone, Cairn on Calton Hill: Jane Haining was a Scottish missionary for the Church of Scotland in Budapest, who was recognised in 1997 by Yad Vashem in Israel as Righteous Among the Nations for having risked her life to help Jews during the Holocaust. She is one of ten Scots (including two or three women) who died in the Nazi extermination camps. Her name is inscribed on a wall of honour in the Garden of the Righteous in Jerusalem.
Free French House plaque, Regent Terrace: The “Maison Ecossaise des Français Libres” (Scottish Free French House) was inaugurated by General Charles de Gaulle on 23rd June 1942, during a visit to Edinburgh. His speech here was consecrated wholly to the French-Scottish Alliance, which he described—in a since then oft-repeated formula—as “the oldest alliance in the world”.
Centre of Edinburgh Bollard, Waverley Gate: The bollard doesn’t denote the true geographical centre of Edinburgh. Instead, it marks the location of the original Edinburgh General Post Office. All postal codes radiate outwards from the bollard. Additionally, all street numbers begin at the end of the street that’s closest to the bollard.
Icelandic National Anthem plaque, London Street: Icelandic composer Svienbjörn Svienbjörnsson lived here during the 1870s, and he probably never imagined that one of his pieces composed here would become his country’s national song. Lofsöngur (Or Hymn, in English) would become the national anthem in 1944, following Iceland’s independence from Denmark.
Felix Yaniewicz inscription, Great King Street: Edinburgh’s first music festival took place over 200 years ago, and it all revolved around one fascinating – and still slightly mysterious – figure born in Vilnius, then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. What Yaniewicz discovered in Edinburgh, however, was “an already thriving musical community”, and what he did was to focus this activity into one place. Thus, the Edinburgh International Festival was born.
Kenneth Grahame plaque, Castle Street: Born in Castle Street, Grahame moved south to Berkshire and he and his siblings lived in a spacious, dilapidated house called The Mount, in expansive grounds, and were introduced to the riverside and boating by their uncle, who was a curate at Cookham Dean church. This ambience, particularly Quarry Wood and the River Thames, is believed by Grahame’s biographer Peter Green to have inspired the setting for The Wind in the Willows.
Alexander Graham Bell plaque, South Charlotte Street: Bell, an educator of deaf people and inventor of the telephone was born here in 1847. He became involved with work on elocution and speech influenced by his father and grandfather and the fact that both his mother and his wife were deaf. His research led him to experiment with hearing devices. He constructed the first telephone at Boston in 1875, was awarded the US patent in 1876 and introduced his invention to Britain two years later.
Douglas Haig inscription, Charlotte Square: Haig was born into the famous whisky-distilling family, and is best known as the commander of the allied troops on the Western Front during the First World War. He was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal in 1917. He was knighted in 1909, elevated to the peerage as Earl Haig of Bemersyde in 1919 and awarded the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh the same year. He went on to found the Earl Haig Fund for the assistance of disabled ex-servicemen, which raises funds by selling poppies for Remembrance Day each November.
Elsie Inglis memorial, Walker Street: Elsie Inglis played an important role in the Scottish Federation of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. She established the first maternity hospital staffed by women in 1901 but it was her founding of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service during the First World War that made her famous. The Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital in 1925 which was operational until 1988, was a physical memorial to her. Many Edinburgh children were born there during the 20th century. It was closed by the National Health Service in 1988 and sold off.
Atholl Crescent plaque: Queen Margaret University was founded in 1875, as The Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy. The School was founded as a women-only institution, with twin aims of improving women’s access to higher education and improving the diets of working-class families. Many developments followed, including a broader curriculum, and although the institution eventually became Queen Margaret University, to many who trained throughout the world who trained there, it will always be known as “Atholl Crescent.”
Mary Dunlop memorial, Rutland Square: Mary was an itinerant organ grinder and Smokey’s job, other than being Mary’s loyal companion, was to pull her mechanical barrel organ. The pair entertained local residents all over Edinburgh with their unique mechanical jingles and would head to the same spot every Saturday morning outside St Giles Kirk on the High Street for over 20 years. Mary passed away in 1966 and that Smokey was taken in by the SSPCA to a centre in Balerno. The famous barrel organ can be seen today at the Museum of Childhood opposite John Knox House on the Royal Mile.
Zeppelin Raid inscription, White Hart Inn, Grassmarket: On the night of 2-3 April 1916, two German airships dropped 23 bombs on Leith and the City of Edinburgh, including one that landed outside the then White Hart Hotel. The Scotsman praised the public response “the raid… naturally caused some excitement, but failed to produce any panic or do otherwise than steel the hearts of the people against the nation capable of using such barbarous methods of warfare against the civilian population“.
Captain John Porteous plaque, Gilmour’s Close: Porteous was Captain of the Edinburgh City Guard, and is remembered primarily for mishandling a riot in a way that led to a number of deaths, including his own at the hands of a mob. The events surrounding Porteous’s death form the background to Sir Walter Scott’s 1818 novel, Heart of Mid-Lothian.
James Connolly plaque, under George 4th Bridge: Connolly was the son of an Irish immigrant family living at 107 Cowgate in Edinburgh, an area which at the time was home to a large Irish community. Years later, when the Easter Rising started on 24 April 1916, James Connolly was Commandant General of the Dublin Brigade, which effectively made him the senior military commander on the Republican side. The rising was suppressed after six days of heavy fighting, much of it in Dublin. Connolly had been seriously wounded during the fighting, and on 12 May 1916 was taken by military ambulance to Kilmainham Jail, where he was tied to a chair and shot by a British firing squad, one of 15 Republicans executed for their part in the uprising.
Plaque for the Last Public Execution, Royal Mile (George 4th/Lawnmarket): On 21st of June 1864, George Bryce became the last person to be publicly executed in Edinburgh. Three brass plaques on the pavement mark the site of the gallows. His botched execution, and the unseemly behaviour of the crowd which had preceded it, had made it quite apparent that public executions no longer had any place in civilised society, least of all in a city which prided itself on being the “Athens of the North” and the birthplace of Scottish Enlightenment.
John Knox Grave inscription, outside St Giles: John Knox was a 16th Century Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of Scotland’s Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. He commanded that his people be able to read the Bible in their own language, and was a key figure in essentially turning a nation of Catholics into one of Protestants. It’s said that he wanted to be buried within 20 feet of Saint Giles, so he was laid to rest right outside the church in what was once a proper graveyard. However, the site has since been tarmacked over and is now a functioning parking lot.
Lionel Ritchie blue plaque, Blair Street: The blue plaque placed high up here reads “This House Belongs To Lionel Richie”. The unusual marker also has the words “The Society For The Promotion Of Historic Buildings” emblazoned on it. Blue plaques are usually placed on buildings throughout the UK to honour notable historical figures who lived there in the past. In Scotland, the blue Commemorative Plaque Scheme is run by Historic Environment Scotland and its website states recipients have to be dead for at least 20 years and born more than 100 years ago. A spokesperson said it had had “no involvement” in the placing of the Lionel Richie plaque. Also, The Society For The Promotion Of Historic Buildings doesn’t exist.
Infirmary Street plaque: The very first Edinburgh Infirmary was established on 6 August 1729 at the head of Robertson’s Close on the site of the building on the corner of South Bridge and Infirmary Street. The infirmary gradually expanded to occupy most of the land between present-day Infirmary Street and Drummond Street, including the old Surgical Hospital, which opened in 1832, and the new Surgical Hospital in 1853.
William Topaz McGonagall plaque, South College Street: McGonagall gained notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers’ opinions of his work. He has been lampooned as the worst poet in British history. The chief criticisms are that he was deaf to poetic metaphor and unable to scan correctly. Here’s an extract from The Tay Bridge Disaster:
Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
Charles Darwin plaque, Lothian Street: It was here that Charles Darwin lodged in the house of Mrs Mackay when a medical student in Edinburgh in 1825-27. Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.
Arthur Conan Doyle plaque, George Square: He lived here from 1876 – 1880 while studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Walter Scott plaque, George Square: The Square was planned in 1766 by architect James Brown, and at the time represented the most ambitious new development yet attempted in the city. It was the first development outside the old city walls, and as a precursor to the New Town, offered an exclusive setting for Edinburgh’s professional classes. The western side of the square was saved and the remnants of many demolished houses were later used to repair buildings in the Georgian New Town. Today it represents not only the city’s success as a place of learning, but also a reminder of how close Edinburgh came to losing its losing its unique character.
John Napier inscription, Merchiston Tower: John Napier of Merchiston, nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He is best known as the discoverer of logarithms. He also invented the so-called “Napier’s bones” and made common the use of the decimal point in arithmetic and mathematics. Napier’s birthplace, Merchiston Tower, is now part of Edinburgh Napier University
Most pictures supplied by Marcel van Oijen, who also gave this review of the run:
Edinburgh is rich in history, and you can sit down and read about it in countless books. But yesterday evening, 22 February, we ran twelve km through the city centre to read stories written on its walls. About forty of us (+ 2 dogs) were following Mike Lynch as he took us from plaque to plaque on a circuitous route from Calton Hill to Holy Corner. It was a fantastic event, and I am jealous of those who have been on Mike’s earlier themed runs along Edinburgh’s abandoned railway stations and old cemeteries. [Might there be repeats of those?]. The start was in front of Scotland’s Folly, the unfinished replica of Athens’ Parthenon, its pillars looming black against the dark blue sky. As this was going to be a cold interval-run with lots of stops, most of us had layered up. And many used head torches to navigate Edinburgh’s dark spots or to intimidate car drivers when crossing roads. The first plaque we visited was still on Calton Hill itself, dedicated to James Craig who planned the City’s New Town in 1766. As he would do at every following plaque, Mike gave us a short resume of the dedicatee’s life, revealing (at least to me) how little I know of Edinburgh and its citizens’ past. Very moving was his story, further down on Calton Hill, about Jane Haining who was murdered in Auschwitz for helping Jews during the Holocaust. We then ran down into New Town visiting the Free French House where we read that France and Scotland have “la plus vielle alliance du monde”. And so on it went past locations connected to composers, writers (including William McGonagall, who can be googled under “worst poet in the world”), soldiers, doctors, reformers, fighters for equality and freedom, criminals (including the last one publicly hanged in Edinburgh on the Royal Mile), scientists, and ending with the mathematician of logarithm fame John Napier at his family tower near Holy Corner. It was a fascinating journey through history, and a great run as well, thank you Mike!
Mike Lynch
Last of the night runs
The last night-run needed a plan so I pulled a vague idea together. Utilise the attractive low beer prices and the proximity to the hills, and a recent refurbishment of Hunters Tryst, and we had a start and finish. The middle bit was vague and made up a bit as we went. I rang the pub twice to book and tell them our plans and turned up at 1800 to remind them.
15 folk and 2 dogs turned up at 1830 and ordered food in advance for an 2000 return, beers and feast. Our route took in Squirrel and Covanenters Woods pointing out the trenches by the barracks. White Hill was climbed by the Barkley variation direct (in honour of Jasmin) or by the Jesse route further right. We headed up Capelaw to the gate but missed out the top although late arriving Pete Cain did a solo visit after we turned left.
New members were introduced to ‘bondoo bashing’ or Barkley bashing (so they thought) through heather and dead bracken on a direct line to Green Craig, then to Shearie Knowe and another straight line to Swanston across the Golf Course. A lovely night running in warm winds and clear views.
Arriving bang on time at 1955, the pub hospitality however was less warm. They had run out of gas, so no beer or soft drinks. Wine and Guinness survived so we would cope. Our reserved tables had been given away so we found new seating. Then we waited, and waited, and waited. First the waiter came to tell us that some veggie/vegan meals were unavailable, then Pete Cain’s steak pie was off, finally fish and chips arrived last at 2115. Then no custard… and paying was very slow.
So much for planning… I wrote a complaint to be told they were busy that night. Ho hum.
Mark Hartree
#Twosday2
On Sunday evening a sturdy group of 25-or-so marshals assembled in the Swanston Car Park, soon to take to the slopes of Allermuir for #Twosday2. The night was the brainchild of Bob Johnson, and despite a couple of setbacks and a few revisions, the basic idea remained the same throughout: get a load of headtorches into the Pentlands, and create a line of light across outline of a hill, shining-out across the city. It was ambitious. It could be visually stunning, or just completely invisible, there was no real way to tell ahead of the evening. A couple of light tests were inconclusive as too many variables came into play: location of the headtorches, strength of the headtorches, visibility from the city, light pollution, drizzle, number of people, spacing between torches, and nearly all of these couldn’t be guaranteed on the night. For something so simple, it was surprisingly complicated. You know that things are getting out-of-hand when you need to contact the airport before starting. Despite all the possible issues, the end there was one overriding factor – it was a bit of fun, so it was definitely worth doing!
Bob formed a tight organisation team of Graham Nash and Mike Lynch, and they set a date of 22/2/22 to do it. Graham laminated some signs, Mike created a hashtag-based social media campaign, and Bob bought some coffee from Cobbs – it was organisational poetry-in-motion. Unfortunately, the first attempt was rightly called-off due to the weather. It seemed fairly benign in Edinburgh, but on the summits, it was just a bit too blowy and wet to have folk standing around. Again, supposed to be fun, so a new date was selected for another attempt, #twosday2 – 20/3/22, the Spring Equinox (Northern Hemisphere) and National Ravioli Day (USA). It was set.
Back in Swanston Car Park, Graham gave the safety briefing and handed-out bibs and spare food. Bob, Gordon, Graham had already been out marking the course, and Mike joined for the dry run. We all took to the hill to stand at our positions and wait for the steady stream of pals, families, clubmates, and general public to make their way uphill to meet us. And so they arrived! With everyone in place on the hill, we waited for a firework to signal the start of Twosday2. Graham and Nick primed the rocket, a flash, a bang, and all the headtorches were lit, shining out across the city below. It was great being in amongst the line of lights, and looking around we had the best position for the show. In town, some cameras took some photos, and there were some surprised posts on Facebook and Twitter. Ten minutes later, a second firework signalled the end, and we all drifted off the hill, and back home to some warm supper.
A great evening in great conditions, and a fun night on the hill! Massive thanks to all the marshals and everyone who came along. Some photos from around town, below.
Jim