Fifty-five Strollers met at the Old Quad of Edinburgh University for a walk round some of the sites relating to the Enlightenment period in Edinburgh.
Led by our Blue Badge Guides, Karen and Helen, we heard about the background to the Old Quad itself which is now the centre for Law at the University. We moved up to Surgeons Hall to hear about its beginnings and then through it thanks to Karen’s way of managing to talk us into places without paying!
From there, we went down to the ‘old’ infirmary. The infirmary had been founded in 1729 in Robertson’s Close, but with only 4 beds. In 1736 it received a Royal Charter and a new Infirmary was built in Infirmary Street with 228 beds. It then moved to Lauriston Place in 1879 as Edinburgh expanded and needed more hospital space. It is now at Little France.
From here we went down to the Old School Yards, (not the Cat Stevens song!) site of the first High School before it moved to Calton Hill. It was attended by Sir Walter Scott and by James Pillans who invented the blackboard and coloured chalk there. The building then became part of the hospital and later the University. It now houses the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation. The Flodden Wall also backs onto this site.
We headed up to Chambers Street to hear about squares that used to exist where the Heriot Watt University, Adam House and the Museum of Scotland all now stand. We also heard about the goings on of Burke and Hare as well as brief notes on many of the other luminaries who were in Edinburgh at the time of the Enlightenment.
We finished up at St Giles Cathedral hearing about John Knox’s influence on education and who the other statues commemorated.
As with the January walk we couldn’t have had a better day for a walk - particularly as our guides had got their dates wrong and had turned up the week before when the weather was really bad! Still it gave them an opportunity to walk the walk!
Our thanks again to Karen and Helen for providing a very interesting walk and Karen has taken note of suggestions for next year.
