Ruth Boreham is a local provider of women's history walks. We met in the Old Town to enjoy a chat about Scotland's often overlooked, but hugely talented, women writers. We started out in Lady Stair's Close which is home to a beautiful building that houses the Writers' Museum. The Museum focuses on just three writers: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson, but we talked women instead!
We also enjoyed studying the paving stones of Makar's Court which are covered in quotations from Scottish writers through the years.
Lady Stair's Close is between the Mound and the Lawnmarket: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LVMx12gPuPYWVYzU7
If you want to find out more about the women writers we talked about you can find links below:
Mairi Mhor nan Oran: https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2017/06/a-sense-of-place-in-the-poetry-of-mairi-mhor-nan-oran/
Susan Ferrier: https://www.nls.uk/learning-zone/literature-and-language/themes-in-focus/women-novelists/susan-ferrier/
DE Stevenson: https://dalyght.ca/DEStevenson/index.html
Mary Somerville: https://www.nls.uk/collections/john-murray/authors/mary-somerville/
Ruth Boreham's website is here: http://ruthboreham.com/
The Scottish Poetry Library is a great resource: https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/
For the Scottish Women Writers book published by the National Museums of Scotland: here
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38:06
Tea with Edinburgh Union Canal Society
The Edinburgh Union Canal opened in 1822 to transport coal and other goods into the city. It closed to commercial traffic in the 1960s, but is now busy with rowers, canal boats and wildlife. Ford Buchanan is treasurer of the Edinburgh Union Canal Society, and he welcomed me for tea beside the well loved boathouse on Ashley Terrace, and we talked about how the society manages the age old tradition of Sunday afternoon boating and its role in supporting activities on the canal. We also talked about plans to build a new boathouse on the site and how people can come along and enjoy the society's events, which seem to involve quite a lot of cake, as well as its role in hiring out their own boats on a Sunday afternoon.
So listen into our chat and you'll hear school rowing boats and friends passing by and how Edinburgh's notorious Burke & Hare started out working on the canal.
To view the Boathouse on Ashley Terrace and rent rowing boats go here
To find out more about EUCS: https://www.eucs.org.uk/
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30:29
Tandem Cycling with VIE Velo
VIE Velo is an Edinburgh cycling community that pairs sighted and sight impaired cyclists who head out on tandems together. This club is an example of how a passion for cycling transcends the usual volunteer/participant set-up, with all members of the club simply being there because they love cycling. You'll also hear how much they love stopping for cake and chat too.
I was blown away by the positivity and welcome I received from the members of VIE Velo and enjoyed talking to them about cycling, wearing bright pink, sight impairment and how this club is just an example of excellence.
We talked in Abercorn Park in Portobello and then I met up with the cyclists heading out the following day from their base in Saughton Park.
To find Abercorn Park: https://maps.app.goo.gl/VtaahqQ82XHBCfcQ6
To find Saughton Park https://maps.app.goo.gl/5nQj5KNs98HUrxA17
And for more about VIE Velo visit their website: https://www.cyclinguk.org/group/vie-velo
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35:23
The Lochend Park Mystery with Hetty's History Walks
Could Lochend Park be the actual location of the famous Skating Minister painting by Henry Raeburn called: 'Skating on Duddingston Loch'? Regular contributor, Hetty Lancaster, offers listeners an artistic challenge as she reveals the clues within the painting's background which indicate the loch where he skates may not be Duddingston, but might actually be at Lochend.
Hetty takes us on a tour of Lochend Park to the North East of the City Centre. The Park contains one of only two remaining ancient, glacial lochs in the city and is crammed full of history and heritage. Originally the grounds of an old tower house, then the water source for Leith and the site of many years of industry, Lochend Park is now a wildlife haven in the middle of a built-up area. It retains many indicators of its fascinating past.
And enjoy listening out for Edinburgh Outdoor's first "pod-bomb" from a lifelong local resident who shared her family photos with us!
Find Lochend Park here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Gv9tor8bwpvNAeGRA
To view the Skating Minister, here: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/5327
You can find the pictures we discussed which I have found are also on the excellent Threadinburgh site: here
(and on Edinburgh Outdoors Instagram you can see Hetty's industry map showing the 'Lochend Butterfly')
To find out more about Hetty's History Walks: https://www.hettyshistorywalks.co.uk/
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26:30
Dry Stone Walling with Richard Love
Richard Love changed career in his mid forties to become a dry stone waller and has enjoyed a long career in the outdoors creating everything from Pentland walls to works of art for artists.
Richard and I met in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh to view the Nepalese prayer gate, a project he worked on some years ago. We rang the bell on the gate and talked about how it was constructed and how it stays standing, his career as a dry stone waller, his teaching of the craft, his previous role chairing the Drystone Walling Association, and his lifelong love of the outdoors.
If you want to visit the Nepalese prayer gate you can find it here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/3Ywu743kN9czYtym8
For more information about the Drystone Walling Association: https://www.dswa.org.uk/
You can read about the construction of the prayer gate and view pictures on the RBGE website: https://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/29979
To find out more about storm Eowyn damage and donate to the RBGE recovery fund: https://www.rbge.org.uk/news/storm-eowyn/
https://pod.fo/e/2bc032
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Edinburgh Outdoors is a podcast exploring the city’s green spaces and the people in them. From community gardens to secret spaces, learning about the city’s history or just finding a space to breathe, getting outside brings benefit to everyone, and being outdoors in Edinburgh is the best place to be!
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