Essential Edinburgh

I lived in Edinburgh only for a few months which was long enough to fall in love with the place. I already knew the city well but living there gave me a new perspective.

A CITY FOR ALL SEASONS

The Scottish capital is perennially popular! The local tourist board have done a first-class job of reinventing and reinvigorating the place. There used to be shoulder seasons when things calmed down a bit. But no more! Edinburgh is a city for all seasons!

The year kicks off - or closes depending on your mindset with ‘Hogmanay’, the Scots high-octane version of the New Year when revellers come from near & far to witness the city’s now legendary ‘Street Party’. Pyrotechnics rock the night skies while major musical acts take to the stage for the ‘Concert in the Gardens’. With an estimated 50,000 merrymakers, it’s a Scottish feast, fiesta and Highland fling celebrating yet another trip around the sun!

Why confine such jubilation to one day when you can celebrate for an entire month? On our last visit (which was at the beginning of December and decidedly chilly), Princes Street, the city’s main thoroughfare was thronging with well-wrapped Christmas shoppers, street markets, Glühwein vendors, Ferris wheels and rocket rides. The party that never stops!

A WALKING CITY

If all that sounds a bit too frantic, don't let it put you off! During my short tenancy, I rented a flat in the West End area of Fountainbridge, once famous for beer-making and the birthplace of Sean Connery where the best ‘Bond star’ set out on his illustrious career - as a milkman!

Here I discovered a side of the city that was much more pastoral and peaceful. My apartment was a 3-minute walk away from the Union Canal and that was my daily amble, either towards Tollcross for a cup of coffee or in the opposite direction into the leafy Mid-Lothian countryside.

Edinburgh is a great walking city! You can explore its charming neighbourhoods such as Bruntsfield, Morningside or Corstorphine enjoying the respectable gardens and Georgian architecture.

Dean Village, a hamlet near the heart of town was once the hub of Edinburgh’s milling industries taking advantage of the stream that still exists there. It’s now a much sought-after residential quarter! You can continue your walk along the banks of the Waters of Leith to Stockbridge, another enchanting neighbourhood.

If you fancy a longer walk, the Port of Leith is within reasonable reach. Through the centuries, this was Edinburgh’s gateway to the rest of the world welcoming mariners and monarchs alike. The area wasn’t in such good shape a few years ago but now it has been transformed into an enviable enclave with modern oceanside apartment blocks, fabulous shopping malls, restaurants and pubs. In fact, Leith was voted by The Sunday Times as ‘the best place to live in Scotland’. Who would have thought? The Royal Yacht Brittania is now permanently berthed here and you can take a tour around her regal state rooms.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The historic heart of the city consists of the Old Town and the New Town. This is where you will inevitably rub shoulders with thousands of other tourists but it’s not too onerous. There’s so much to see and appreciate along the way. The Royal Mile is the ancient highway that connects Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It was the processional route for Scotland’s kings and queens and it is in fact (almost) a mile, hence it's name. You could walk it in a half hour but there’s so much to see along the way, it’ll take a fair bit longer.

Starring out at Edinburgh Castle which stands out at the top of ‘The Mile’, the Castle is perched upon Castle Rock, once an impenetrable stronghold, now successfully ‘invaded’ on a daily basis by hordes of culture-hungry tourists. Even the Romans and their main northern adversaries, the Picts had trouble gaining a foothold here. There is only one tenable approach to the Castle via the eastward-sloping Royal Mile. Apart from today’s tourist swarm, the last significant assault of Edinburgh Castle was in 1745 when the Jacobite forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie once again wrested it, without much resistance, from English hands.

Edinburgh is a photographer’s dream and Ramsay Gardens just below the Castle is one corner worth exposing!

If you’re in the vicinity, you will hear loud cannon fire! Don’t worry; it’s not another Jacobite uprising! The One o'Clock Gun is fired daily except Sunday from the castle ramparts. Originally, the cannon was fired to allow ships in the Firth of Forth to set their maritime clocks. Just outside the castle, you’ll notice Cannonball House where some wag might tell you an errant cannonball fired at the Jacobite army is embedded in the wall above the stairs. In truth, the ball was placed there to mark the gravitation height of the city's first piped water supply.

I particularly like the ancient closes and courtyards you find all along the Royal Mile such as Milne's Close and James Court. Gladstone's Land was an earlier seventeenth-century tenement building favoured by the wealthier residents of the Old Town. Brodie's Close was the home of Deacon Brodie upon whom Robert Louis Stevenson based his character, ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Brodie was a carpenter and respected city councillor by day and by night, using wax impressions of the locks of the houses he visited in his professional capacity, he returned to burgle them. John Knox's House jutting out into the Canongate is Edinburgh's oldest building dating as far back as 1490.

At the foot of the Royal Mile, you find the resplendent Holyrood Palace. On return to her homeland, Mary, Queen of Scots set up court here. In 1603 her son, James VI, with the Union of the Crowns inherited the English throne and moved his Scottish court to London. In some ways, this was the end of the Scottish monarchy as, despite his promises, James only returned once to his native land. At this end of the Royal Mile, you’ll also find the Scottish Parliament, a striking piece of modern architecture juxtaposed to its more elderly neighbours. From here, you can stretch your legs further around Holyrood Park, an array of hills, lochs, and cliffs surrounding Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags, a piece of wild Highland landscape only a mile or so from Edinburgh’s city centre. If you do mount the Crags or amble around the park, carry on to the village of Duddingston and have a pint in The Sheep Heid, the oldest surviving public house in Scotland established in 1360, which is also good for food.

NEW TOWN

The New Town is not so new! It came into being in the early 19th century to relieve the chronic overcrowding of the Old Town. James Craig, an unknown 23-year-old planned out this residential area, incorporating large public gardens and green spaces. Nowadays, it’s home to fancy wine bars and sophisticated restaurants, especially along George Street.

Cart-loads of earth, dug up to make the foundations of New Town residences were used to create a rampart across the Nor' Loch connecting the New Town with the Old. This was imaginatively called ‘The Mound’ while the Nor' Loch was transformed into beautiful Princes Street Gardens. Here you can access the National Gallery of Scotland, one of the top 5 tourist spots in the UK. Edinburgh holds three of the top 5 tourist spots in the UK: the National Museum of Scotland, the National Gallery of Scotland and of course, Edinburgh Castle.

THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

Many visitors come to Edinburgh specifically for the Edinburgh International Festival held for 3 weeks every year in August when the town is taken over by thespians of every sort who put on more than 13,000 performances per festival. The Festival was started in 1947 to help shake off the gloom of the post war years and with several names of international stature supporting it, the new festival got off to a good start. The Fringe started at the same time and is now the world's largest arts festival with over 500 performances each day supported by 450 companies.

During this time the Military Tattoo is held every night in the Castle Esplanade.

GOLF IN THE CITY

If you like to golf, it’s worth noting that the game started in Edinburgh and not St Andrews as is popularly postulated. In 1744, the first Rules of Golf were set out in the village of Leith by the Gentlemen Golfers of Edinburgh later to become The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (Muirfield). Another historic gem just a couple of miles east of Edinburgh is Musselburgh Old Links, the oldest golf course in existence. When Edinburgh’s public parks became too crowded with golfers, livestock and archery practice (not a great combination) Edinburgh’s golfers moved along the coast to Musselburgh. You can still hire hickory clubs at Musselburgh and have an experience of how golf used to be played. Edinburgh has around 28 golf courses within its boundaries, many run by the city council so for a casual game, you’re spoiled for choice. Whether golfing or not, a highly recommended visit would be to the magnificent Braid Hills Golf Course with its outstanding panorama across Edinburgh’s skyline including the castle and the Firth of Forth.