Date: Thursday 23rd April 2015
Start Time: 11:00
Distance: 6 miles
Duration: 2.5 hours
Start at: Haymarket Station, Edinburgh
What happened to those April showers? With
temperatures of 19C forty strollers met for a walk along the Union Canal
then circling back to Haymarket via the Water of Leith footpath.
Making
our way from Haymarket Station up Morrison Street and along Gardner’s Crescent
with its newly renovated gardens and passing Rosemount Cottages, an example of
the 2 up 2 down houses in Edinburgh. On to Edinburgh Quay which is now the end
of the canal in Edinburgh.
There used to be link to Lochrin
Basin and the brewery
there, as well as the main dock where the Odeon Cinema is now. Then passing the
‘hole-in-the-ground’ that was meant to be the Bank of Scotland Headquarters and
wondering if it will lie like that for as long as the site of the old Pooles
Cinema in Castle Terrace did. We passed the Leamington
Lift Bridge
which needs to be raised for canal boats to go by, while on our right was the
building site for the new Boroughmuir
Secondary School next to
the new student accommodation built in the wonderful mix of colours as required
by the town planning. Continuing on past Harrison Park and Polwarth
Parish Church
with its fine pulpit carved by William Beveridge in 1903 and on to the
Edinburgh Canal Society Boathouse recently restored with Heritage funding. Next
was Meggetland which in 1890 was home to a major exhibition of Science Art in
Industry with stations being built specially to bring visitors to it. The area
is now home to Boroughmuir Rugby Club and playing fields as well as to the St
Andrews Rowing Club which is the oldest rowing club in Scotland dating from 1846. It was then on to the Water of Leith Centre and a stop for some refreshments
taking the lady in charge by surprise but she coped well with the sudden rush.
Heading down river along the Water of Leith path, under the railway and canal we had
just walked along. As we continued along the path we saw allotmenteers beavering away in an
extensive area of allotments while on the other side of the river was Saughton
Prison, which working with Stirling
University, has developed
an International reputation for fish breeding.
Braving
the road crossings of the A71, we came to Ford Road and into Saughton Park.
It was originally laid out in the 17th century on the estate of Saughton House,
which was then used as an asylum for wealthy patients, innovatively using the
gardens as an early form of horticultural therapy. The council acquired it in the
early 1900’s. The rose garden is always a very popular attraction at the park
later in the year. In 1908 the Scottish National Exhibition was held here,
which was a massively successful undertaking attracting 3.5 million paying visitors
who were entertained and educated by an array of exhibitions, attractions,
recreations and amusements. The Exhibition left a significant legacy in terms
of form, features and recreational demand, financing new park entrances, a
footpath network, sporting facilities, a bandstand and a winter garden and botanical
garden. There is now a project in place to try and restore some of these
elements to the park to renew and re-capture it for a modern park-going
population.
Crossing Balgreen Road,
we continued along the riverside path passing Murrayfield rugby stadium. The
stadium takes its name from Archibald Murray who was the landowner here in the
18th century. It was a polo ground before the stadium in 1925 had
been built. In the inaugural match, Scotland
beat England
14-11. Those were the days! We then passed Murrayfield Ice Rink which was
constructed on the site of Dalry Mill, the first paper mill built on the Water
of Leith.
Going on into Roseburn
Park which came into the
ownership of the old Edinburgh Corporation in two parts: the first acquisition
of 10.33 acres, part of the lands of Roseburn, was in 1898 from Edward Balfour,
Esq., of Balbirnie and others, on the basis that it would be used for all time
as a public park. The later purchase of 5.86 acres was from part of the estate
of Damhead from Sir Archibald Campbell of Succoth in 1906. During World War
Two, air raid shelters were located in the park and part of it was allocated to
allotments. Sighting a Heron in the water it was time for a photostop. At the
end of the park we crossed the road and continued along the riverside path and
passed under the Coltbridge Viaduct which formed part of the Granton Branch of
the Caledonian Railway and is now part of the cycle and walking paths round
Edinburgh.
Continuing along to the weir at the exit for Modern Gallery of Art, where we
saw another Heron looking for its lunch, we left the path by a steepish slope that
somehow had not been mentioned in the puff factor for the walk, and made our
way back to Haymarket.
Thanks very much to Ronnie for arranging what was a very interesting walk on a
beautiful day. No pressure for the next walk then!
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Strollers Walk No. 191 - Wednesday 18th March 2015, Dechmont to Bangour Village Hospital (Circular walk)
Walk No: 191 Dechmont to Bangour Village Hospital (Circular walk)
Date: Wednesday 18th March 2015
Start Time: 11:00 a.m. (Dobbies)
Start Time: 11:00 a.m. (Dobbies)
Summary of Walk
March is usually a time of mist, drizzle and generally dreich days. Yes, it was time for Strollers to head off into the wilds of West Lothian to Dechmont for a walk round the site of Bangour Village Hospital. We met at Dobbies, allowing the Strollers to fortify themselves with the full breakfast before the walk and to head back in for the soup, cakes and scones afterwards. A lot of planning goes into this you know, it’s not just a random choice of location.
Luckily the weather changed and it was a nice calm almost bright day for the walk and twenty five Strollers (plus dog) headed out to walk through Dechmont village to the main entrance of what used to be Bangour Village Hospital (see below for some history of the hospital).
As we wandered round the hospital grounds looking at the various derelict buildings, it was interesting to find that some of us on the walk had previous links to the hospital through relatives who worked and stayed at the site. They told us about attending dances and playing badminton in the recreation hall. So it was a shame to see so many of the buildings in a bad state of repair. Also, some of the walkers had different connections to Bangour, being born at the General Hospital or had children born there. Eventually we made our way out of the site and back through Dechmont, ending the walk at Dobbies.
Thanks again to Alistair and Liz for organising a very interesting and informative walk.
Some history of Bangour Village Hospital:
By the late 1890s, the growth of cities in Victorian times concentrated the problems of the mentally ill in cities such as Edinburgh. More accommodation was needed, so in 1902 the Edinburgh District Lunacy Board purchased the 960 acre Bangour Estate in West Lothian and set about planning the construction of Bangour Village Hospital. Five temporary buildings were hastily erected. The first one was occupied by patients from The Royal Edinburgh Asylum in June 1904 and five buildings were in use by the end of 1905, housing 200 patients. The new Village was officially opened in October 1906 although several of the permanent buildings were not completed until 1907 and the main hospital building was not opened until June 1908. By 1913 Bangour Village Hospital housed 836 Edinburgh mental patients.
After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, it soon became clear that significant hospital accommodation would be required for war casualties. The War Office decided that a large hospital would be required in Scotland and that Bangour, with its modern facilities, was the ideal site. By the middle of 1915, plans were in place to evacuate the mental patients to other hospitals around the country. The capacity of Bangour was rapidly increased from 800 patients to 1,350 and within three weeks the first casualties arrived. Bangour became the largest military hospital in Scotland. By 1918, with the addition of temporary buildings and marquees, Bangour housed over 3,000 patients. After the Armistice, the number of patients gradually decreased, but it was not until the end of 1921 that Edinburgh War Hospital finally closed and the site handed back for civilian use. Bangour Village again became a mental asylum in 1922, housing 1,000 patients by 1928.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw Bangour again being requisitioned as a war hospital. Fearing large numbers of casualties from the expected German blitz, the government quickly established thousands of new beds in temporary hospitals, including at Bangour. An Annexe rapidly took shape on the hilltop north-west of the farm to allow for 1400 additional beds. After the war, the Annexe became Bangour General Hospital and part of the National Health Service from 1948 serving West Lothian. The Bangour Village reverted once more to a mental institution. In due course St John’s Hospital in Livingston replaced Bangour General Hospital completely and the Annexe buildings were demolished. Eventually Bangour Village Hospital also closed, but its listed buildings remain, including the beautiful war memorial church completed and opened in 1929 to commemorate the site’s days as a war hospital. The whole site is now for sale for housing development.
March is usually a time of mist, drizzle and generally dreich days. Yes, it was time for Strollers to head off into the wilds of West Lothian to Dechmont for a walk round the site of Bangour Village Hospital. We met at Dobbies, allowing the Strollers to fortify themselves with the full breakfast before the walk and to head back in for the soup, cakes and scones afterwards. A lot of planning goes into this you know, it’s not just a random choice of location.
Luckily the weather changed and it was a nice calm almost bright day for the walk and twenty five Strollers (plus dog) headed out to walk through Dechmont village to the main entrance of what used to be Bangour Village Hospital (see below for some history of the hospital).
As we wandered round the hospital grounds looking at the various derelict buildings, it was interesting to find that some of us on the walk had previous links to the hospital through relatives who worked and stayed at the site. They told us about attending dances and playing badminton in the recreation hall. So it was a shame to see so many of the buildings in a bad state of repair. Also, some of the walkers had different connections to Bangour, being born at the General Hospital or had children born there. Eventually we made our way out of the site and back through Dechmont, ending the walk at Dobbies.
Thanks again to Alistair and Liz for organising a very interesting and informative walk.
Some history of Bangour Village Hospital:
By the late 1890s, the growth of cities in Victorian times concentrated the problems of the mentally ill in cities such as Edinburgh. More accommodation was needed, so in 1902 the Edinburgh District Lunacy Board purchased the 960 acre Bangour Estate in West Lothian and set about planning the construction of Bangour Village Hospital. Five temporary buildings were hastily erected. The first one was occupied by patients from The Royal Edinburgh Asylum in June 1904 and five buildings were in use by the end of 1905, housing 200 patients. The new Village was officially opened in October 1906 although several of the permanent buildings were not completed until 1907 and the main hospital building was not opened until June 1908. By 1913 Bangour Village Hospital housed 836 Edinburgh mental patients.
After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, it soon became clear that significant hospital accommodation would be required for war casualties. The War Office decided that a large hospital would be required in Scotland and that Bangour, with its modern facilities, was the ideal site. By the middle of 1915, plans were in place to evacuate the mental patients to other hospitals around the country. The capacity of Bangour was rapidly increased from 800 patients to 1,350 and within three weeks the first casualties arrived. Bangour became the largest military hospital in Scotland. By 1918, with the addition of temporary buildings and marquees, Bangour housed over 3,000 patients. After the Armistice, the number of patients gradually decreased, but it was not until the end of 1921 that Edinburgh War Hospital finally closed and the site handed back for civilian use. Bangour Village again became a mental asylum in 1922, housing 1,000 patients by 1928.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw Bangour again being requisitioned as a war hospital. Fearing large numbers of casualties from the expected German blitz, the government quickly established thousands of new beds in temporary hospitals, including at Bangour. An Annexe rapidly took shape on the hilltop north-west of the farm to allow for 1400 additional beds. After the war, the Annexe became Bangour General Hospital and part of the National Health Service from 1948 serving West Lothian. The Bangour Village reverted once more to a mental institution. In due course St John’s Hospital in Livingston replaced Bangour General Hospital completely and the Annexe buildings were demolished. Eventually Bangour Village Hospital also closed, but its listed buildings remain, including the beautiful war memorial church completed and opened in 1929 to commemorate the site’s days as a war hospital. The whole site is now for sale for housing development.
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