East Claremont Street

Neo-classical stateliness that is East Claremont Street, here on a map.

Castle?!

The way this block of tenement flats just peeps over the trees and overlooks the Water of Leith always reminds me of a castle on a hill!

Beach house anyone?

Imagine: you wake up in the morning, stumble out of bed, open the curtains.... and look out over a sandy beach and the sea (well, estuary...) - how amazing would that be?!

Cool turret on Newhaven Road

Every morning I pass this little turret on the end of a terrace on Newhaven Road. I've been meaning to take a photo of it for ages; it looks even better with the dark clouds behind it!

Newhaven houses

This Newhaven close runs parallel to Fishmarket Square, between the Main Street (where I'm standing) to the Harbour. It was in these very same streets and closes that some of the first ever photographs (calotypes) were taken by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, in the 1840s.

Whale Brae

This is 'Whale Brae', the final stretch of Newhaven Road where it descends steeply into Newhaven. Apparently it was so called "because some fool tried to drag a whale up it". Well - I can tell you from experience that even dragging a couple of bags of shopping up this hill is no mean feat. Never tried a whale though.

Night over Newhaven

View of Newhaven village at night as seen from the lighthouse on the other side of the harbour.

Western Harbour developments?

This is a view of Western Harbour, looking towards the new developments at Platinum Point - part of the huge Waterfront regeneration that has been taking place in recent years. Unfortunately, some of the still undeveloped land may now be set to remain like this a while longer, following the recent news that one of the main developers has gone into administration as a result of the economic crisis.

Where people live!

This is the corner of a street I once lived in, a bit further down the road. Gorgeous eh? Because so many people share flats, even professionals/couples etc, many get the chance to live in these grand Victorian flats (they're not houses but were designed as separate apartments) they would never otherwise be able to afford! One of the many nice features of these old flats can be seen quite clearly in this picture - the windows on the ground and first floor seem to have the original shutters still in place. I can tell you from experience that they can't be beaten on keeping out light and sound, and they help keep your room nice and warm in winter!

Royal Mile 7 - Advocate's Close

Advocate’s Close runs all the way down from the Royal Mile to the bottom of Cockburn Street and is thought to date from 1544. At that time, narrow streets such as this one would have been open sewers, with waste buckets being emptied from the windows above... yuck! Eventually, the ‘nastiness’ would slowly wash away into a stinking expanse of water called the Nor’ Loch – the same place where witches were drowned and possibly even drinking water was gathered… let’s be thankful it was drained in the 18th century to make way for a lovely green park!

Come back tomorrow for the next instalment of the Royal Mile tour (I am still away).

Royal Mile 2 - Ramsay Garden

We now turn our back to the castle and start wandering down, but soon turn left into a quiet little street called Ramsay Lane. Left again, and you now stand in one of Edinburgh’s most desirable and exclusive streets. Ramsay Garden consists of 16 large private apartments, designed by urban planner Patrick Geddes in the 1890s. At that time, the Old Town was in bad need of regeneration and so the Ramsay Garden development was part of a wider rehabilitation of the area. Fancy living here? A 5-bedroom apartment is currently for sale for just over £1,000,000…

Come back tomorrow for the next instalment of the Royal Mile tour (I am still away).

Tenement windows

Windows in a tenement building on Merchant Street, near the Grassmarket. You can see the 'close' or shared stairwell through the windows on the left. You see this type of sash and case window a lot in Edinburgh, although many of them have now been replaced by modern plastic (double-glazed!) ones.

Old Town contrast

I'm back! Though I adore the buzz of London it's so nice to be back in Edinburgh, where the pace of life is so very different, the air so much cleaner and the commute so much easier!

This is a view from Chambers Street looking up towards the 'back' of the Royal Mile. I love the contrast between the white render and the old stone. The white building of flats is actually about ten stories high (this is only the top of it) and has its entrance on the Cowgate. Because of its steep hills, Edinburgh is very much a three-dimensional city, where buildings often have an entrance at different street levels - which can be very confusing when you're trying to read a map!

Eildon Street

You can find this street off Inverleith Row, close to the Botanic Garden. These houses are fairly typical examples of the type of terraced housing in the more affluent areas of the north of Edinburgh such as Inverleith and Trinity. Some of these are actually flats whereas others are still complete houses. They're gorgeous!! But what's even more stunning is their view onto the old town ... see tomorrow's post!

Old and New

This is a great view of old and new from the top of Whale Brae, over the roofs of the old buildings to the new Platinum Point developments at the Western Harbour! Especially when the light from the sun setting over the Firth of Forth catches the shiny facades of the highrise. It always reminds me of those backdrops you get on filmsets, as if it's not quite real.

Newhaven again

Sticking with the area for the moment, this shot was taken on Newhaven Main Street, close to yesterday's photo. Can you tell that this used to be a fishervillage? Sadly not much fishing goes on here these days, though have a look at some of the Hill and Adamson photographs on the website of the National Galleries of Scotland for an impression the village's proud inhabitants back in the 1840s:

Mrs Elizabeth (Johnstone) Hall, Newhaven fishwife

Sandy (or James) Linton, his boat and bairns