Edinburgh Outdoors

West Port Garden is a true hidden gem that that I went to discover with local resident, Jennie Renton.  Set at the west end of the Grassmarket behind railings then climbing up the hill from the busy street, it's a remarkable place. Originally created as one of Edinburgh's late victorian 'slum gardens' aimed at bringing nature experiences to local kids, the garden is now an oasis for visitors and locals alike.

Join me as I discover the history of this amazing garden, the idea of philanthropist, sociologist and town planner, Patrick Geddes, then designed and created by his talented daughter landscape architect, Norah Geddes. 

You can visit the garden on Sundays between 2pm and 4pm and on other days when the volunteers are there.

The garden is HERE: 

And on What3Words: https://w3w.co/month.wiping.skin

The Grassmarket Residents Association, known as Grass, manages the space: https://grassmarketresidents.org/west-port-garden/

You can find them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grassmarketresidentsassoc/

You can view pictures of my visit on the Edinburgh Outdoors Substack: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/

And also on Instagram: @edinburghoutdoors_ 

And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors

Lauriston Allotments, part of Lauriston Agroecology Farm, host multi-cultural gardening and the most vibrant community of gardeners.   I met with Lisa Houston to discover how this location has become a hub and home for a diverse range of people.  We explored the many wildlife spots and she explained how they'd built a mud kitchen and pizza oven.

Join my exploration of this unique space and its multi-cultural gardening, with many surprises along the way.  Lauriston partners with the Granton Community Gardeners who I interviewed in the previous podcast. 

The allotments are located here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bTcZ1wXK3jUHDsaK9

The community growing is online: https://www.lauristonfarm.scot/what-we-do/community-growing/

They have a Facebook pagehttps: https://www.facebook.com/EdinburghAgCoop/

And you can view my photographs and video on

Instagram: @edinburghoutdoors_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors/

Substack: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/

Granton Community Growers is a wonderful example of a neighbourhood initiative that started small and then grew beautifully in ambition. From a one-off meet-up, when a group got together to dig up a street corner, to a sourdough bakery producing pay-what-you-can bread, many street corners now in production, and a garden where people come together to cook and eat, this is real community in action.

To the backdrop of the most delicious food smells, I met with Tom Kirby who told me how he started the project and how it's grown and developed over the years. 

Work is also funded through an initiative called Sowing our Horizons which was created by Marie Amelie Viatte, so she also came along to sit with us in the garden to talk about how community growing is more than just an initiative, but is a way to create new communities and address overreliance on food systems. 

Granton Community Garden is HERE

You can view the corner plots created by locals all over this area, including THIS ONE

You can find out more here: https://www.grantoncommunitygardeners.org/

This is where you can buy bread on a Saturday at 73 Boswell Parkway: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XzarEpGDTAJiJmCx8

Sowing our Horizons is here, where you can find out more: https://www.sowingourhorizons.org/

You can see pictures from my visit on 

Instagram - @edinburghoutdoors_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors/

and on my Substack: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/

Greyfriars Kirkyard is a tourist hotspot with millions visiting each year to seek out Harry Potter graves, poltergeists and the much-loved Greyfriar's Bobby.  I met with the brilliant Mark Hatton of the Friends of the Kirkyard to find out much more about the space, its history and heritage.   

Dating back to an original group of farming friars, for centuries the Kirkyard was Edinburgh's only green space and it's packed full of interesting history which is well worth discovering.  

The Kirkyard is HERE

Find Friends of Greyfriars here: https://fogk.org/

And they are on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/188879245722935

For old images, Capital Collections is a good place to start: https://www.capitalcollections.org.uk/

You can see my photographs and images on Instagram: @edinburghoutdoors_

and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors/

Check out my Substack where I write up some visits and post photographs: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/p/edinburgh-outdoors-podcast

Steve Garrett, musician, artist, writer and geo scientist is performing in this year's Fringe: The Song of the Ice at St Mark's Church on 13-15; 18-20; and 26-28 August.  We met at the Scotland's Stones monument in Regent Road Garden to talk about Deep Time, creating music from carbon data, how creativity can communicate science and his time in the Antarctic.

In a first for Edinburgh Outdoors, Steve brought his guitar and so we listened to his haunting and beautiful music while contemplating Arthur's Seat and the city's extraordinary geology beside the monument.   Listen to the music, find out more about how it was created and learn about the monument too, which features stones from each district of the country and was created to mark the opening of our Parliament.

Regent Road Park and the monument are HERE

To find out more about Steve's Fringe show: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-song-of-the-ice

Steve Garrett's website: https://www.stevegarrettguitar.com/

Our Living Rivers and Glens here: https://deedonceilidhcollective.com/our-living-rivers-and-glens

You can read more about the Stones of Scotland here: https://edinburghgeolsoc.org/geological-site/stones-of-scotland/

Steve's book "A Suitable Stone": https://stevegarrettguitar.com/a-suitable-stone-book

And we referenced the excellent Hamish Napier (I'm his biggest fan!) and his new album: https://hamishnapier.bandcamp.com/album/the-hill