Monday, June 29, 2015

London to Edinburgh by Way of Stonehenge


Following trips to Ireland in 2012 and Wales in 2014, Diana and I decided to spend some time in England and Scotland in 2015. Thinking of the weather and that we would be ranging at least as far north as Edinburgh, we scheduled our trip for the last part of May.

I took the airport shuttle from Cottonwood to Phoenix and stayed at the Airport La Quinta Inn on the night of 13 May, flying on to Washington, DC the next day. As I have done before, I chose a flight with a stop in Chicago in order to fly into National Airport in DC. That way I could take a short taxi ride to Diana's office and ride home with her for an overnight stay before we continued on to London on the 15th. On arriving at the airport security checkpoint at Phoenix Sky Harbor, I found that I had been entered in TSA PreCheck, possibly because I am classified as elderly. I had not even noted that my boarding pass was so marked until a TSA employee pulled me out of the regular line and redirected me.

After a good night's sleep, we took an early morning taxi to Dulles Airport and caught a flight to London, arriving there in time for another good night's sleep; that enabled us to avoid jet lag. Diana was also entered in PreCheck, likely because we were traveling together and I had made the reservations. I think that TSA must have found that they had idle employees manning their PreCheck lines part of the time and decided to move low-risk travelers to that line as an efficiency measure. We arrived at Heathrow in London a few minutes early, caught a taxi to a Ibis Hotel. I selected the Ibis because it seemed to specialize in spartan but comfortable and economical rooms (right). I was not disappointed and we stopped for an additional two nights at another Ibis in Newham, the Dockland area of London.

Bright and early on the morning of 16 May we ate breakfast and headed out to see the sights of London. We had decided to take a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and a riverboat cruise on the Thames.

It was Saturday morning and, as we walked to the bus stop to catch a bus to the subway “tube” station, we came upon a group of “tin man” lookalikes celebrating the start of the weekend. At least we think that is what they were doing because when asked their only response was, “hey, it's the weekend.”

Tin man” lookalikes cavorting in the parking lot at the Holiday Inn
We caught the subway train at the Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 Station and traveled to Picadilly Circus Station (left), actually located under Picadilly Circus. From there, we climbed to the surface street and walked to the nearest Hop-on Hop-off bus stop to start our tour of the city. There are a number of different route choices and, with the right ticket, one can leave one and take another at any one of a number of common stops. For us it turned out to be an excellent way to see the city and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour. An audio commentary, using individual headsets, identified and described major landmarks along the way and that satisfied us, so we didn't feel the need for a lot of hopping on and off. We did, however, take advantage of the separate river cruise that was included in the price of our tickets.

Physically, London is an exquisite mixture of the very old, the very new and everything in between, all melded into a harmonious whole that is visibly being reshaped as one watches. Just in the area around Parliament Square, for instance, Westminster Abbey (shown below) was constructed beginning in 1245, the nearby Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) was rebuilt after a major fire in 1834 and Portcullis House, built to augment limited space in the Palace of Westminster, was opened in 2001.

Westminster Abbey seen from the bus stop at College Green (Abingdon Street Gardens)
The bronze sculpture seen at lower left in the above photograph is Henry Moore's Knife Edge Two Piece, 1962-65. The photograph was taken from the top deck of a bus that was paused at the Parliament Square bus stop just east of Westminster Abbey Gardens. Victoria Tower loomed 50 yards to the northeast, marking the south entrance to the Palace of Westminster.

The photograph below shows Big Ben (center) located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster and a portion of Portcullis House (lower left) with the London Eye on the other side of the Thames visible in between.

Portcullis House, the London Eye and Big Ben
London has experienced a building boom over the last few years during which a number of landmark structures were added to the skyline. Some of these new structures, mostly photographed during our river cruise, are pointed out on the following pages.

The London Eye (right), a 443 foot high Ferris wheel on the south bank of the Thames, was built in 1999 to commemorate the millennium. The 394-foot diameter wheel was assembled lying flat on piled platforms (or temporary islands) in the river and then lifted into position. The first lift attempt failed and David Marks, one of the architects is quoted as reporting that “Virgin [Airways] had fun with that, since British Airways was sponsoring the Eye. Richard Branson flew a balloon overhead that said: 'BA can’t get it up!1'” Since the millennium the Eye has been sponsored by Merlin Entertainments, EDF Energy and, currently, by Coca-Cola.

The Shard (left), a glass-clad, 95-story skyscraper completed in 2012, has a height of 1016 feet and is the tallest building in the European Union. The Shard has 72 habitable floors with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck at a height of 802 feet, on the 72nd floor.

The tall, top heavy structure at the left in the below photograph is the Walkie-Talkie Building. Completed in 2014, this 525-foot, 37-story skyscraper is the thirteenth tallest building in London. The distinctive shape of the building resulted in the reflection of sunlight into streets to the south during construction with a concentration up to six times the heat of direct sunlight.2 The developer has received planning commission to install a “brise soleil” sunshade as a permanent solution to the problem.3

New London Skyscrapers (left to right): The Walkie-Talkie, the Cheesegrater and the Gherkin
The centermost of the three skyscrapers shown above is the Cheesegrater. Completed in 2014, this 737-foot, 48-story building is the fourth tallest building in London. Three bolts have failed due to hydrogen embrittlement, two dropping to the ground from the fifth floor. Ties were installed as a temporary fix and at-risk bolts are to be replaced.4

The rightmost of the three skyscrapers shown above is the Gherkin. Completed in 2003, this 591-foot, 41-story building is the ninth tallest building in London. In November 2014 the building was sold for £726,000,000.

Construction in the city continues apace as evidenced by the many cranes dotting the skyline.

Current construction activity is evidenced by the many cranes dotting the skyline
Below, in a nod to history, is a photograph of Tower Bridge as seen from London Bridge.

An old, familiar London icon, Tower Bridge as seen from London Bridge
Before embarking on our city tour, we stopped at an outdoor cafe for a snack and sat for quite some time just observing the rushing crowds of tourists and visiting with other diners. Although it was not raining, the sun was out only sporadically and we were bundled comfortably against a light but chilly breeze, I in my hooded jacket and Diana in a vest and a long sleeve shirt. Note the ubiquitous red telephone booth in the background (below right). Yes, they still exist, although many may now contain ATM machines rather than telephones.

Diana in vest and long sleeve shirt
 Ellis in a hooded jacket
After finishing the river cruise we paused for coffee and tea at a restaurant just across the way from the Tower of London. While we lingered over our drinks, I found a tourist-free moment to take a photograph of the tower.




Tower of London
We caught the Docklands Light Railway, an automated line, at Tower Gateway and traveled east to the Ibis Styles hotel on Victoria Dock Road in Newham. We found ourselves in a modest but neat, clean, and well-appointed room. The facility was newly-constructed and had a most intriguing modular shower; it was formed as a circular tube of about 36” diameter with a sliding Plexiglas door. The hotel also had a full-service restaurant and bar. At £148.33, tax included, we felt that we got our money's worth.

During our bus tour, we had noted a statue of Queen Boudica, the warrior queen of the ancient Iceni tribe, who is reported to have destroyed the Roman city of Londinium, precursor of London, in about AD 60.

Boudica, warrior Queen of the Iceni Tribe
Prasutagus, King of the Iceni, was a nominally independent ally of Rome. When he died, the Iceni expected his queen, Boudica to inherit the kingdom. However, the Romans instead annexed the kingdom, flogged Boudica and raped her two daughters. Boudica then raised an army from the Iceni and other tribes including the Trinovantes. According to one source,5 Roman historian Cassius Dio described Boudica as, “as very tall and grim in appearance, with a piercing gaze and a harsh voice. She had a mass of very fair hair which she grew down to her hips, and wore a great gold torque and a multi-colored tunic folded round her, over which was a thick cloak fastened with a brooch.

Our first stop the next day was Guildhall Art Gallery and London's Roman Amphitheatre. Guildhall, built in the 15th century and still the headquarters of the City of London Corporation.6 The adjacent Guildhall Art Gallery was built in 1885. During restoration work to the gallery in 1988, the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre were discovered and the building was redesigned to incorporate the new findings.

Guildhall – Guildhall is straight ahead, Guildhall Art Gallery is at right
The primary purpose of our visit to this location was to see the Roman Amphitheatre and we intended to continue on from there to look at remaining sections of the wall that protected the city in Roman times. The remains of the old amphitheater remain in their original location which is now the basement of Guildhall Art Gallery.

The display is completely blacked out except for a few strategically placed spotlights that provide only enough light to permit safely walking through the exhibit. One enters by walking up the passage at the east gate into the arena. To the left and right are what is left of the stone foundations. Beneath the visitors feet, under glass, are the wooden remains of a drain system embedded into the floor. Ahead is a luminous sketch outlining the interior of the amphitheatre as it must have been in Roman times. Similarly, luminous reproductions of human figures, including gladiators, are scattered about.

Londinium's (London's) Roman Amphitheatre
I am not sure when the amphitheater was built; however, it could possibly have been when the city was rebuilt as a planned town following its destruction by Queen Boudica. Londinium itself ultimately grew to include approximately the area of the present City of London, about 1.12 square miles, which is basically defined by the London Wall, built by the Romans around AD 200. Parts of the old wall are still standing.

The below map,7 available on Wikimedia, shows Londinium as of about AD 400. Note that the location of Londinium's Roman Amphitheatre is shown by the elliptical shape on the map.

Londinium in about AD 400
Leaving Guildhall and the Roman Amphitheatre behind we next visited the Museum of London. The museum's “War, Plague and Fire Gallery tells the story of London from Elizabethan times, through the ravages of the English Civil Wars and the cataclysmic disasters of the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666.8 These were narrated film presentations that played over and over.

The museum also has extensive exhibits representing other periods, from prehistory to modern times. One of these exhibits displays bone fragments, tools and weapons covering the period from 38,000 BC to 4000 BC.

The attached label identified the objects shown as follows: Items 1 – 3 (People and animals, 30,000 – 11,000 BC); Items 4 – 7 (Spear tips and long blades, 11,000 – 9500 BC); Items 8 – 14 (Flint and antler tools, 8500 – 6500 BC); Item 15 (Flint arrow tips, 6500 – 4000 BC)
Another interesting display, dating to the 1850s, consists of a family's shattered pottery, china and other household items that were dumped into an old brick well at 21 Union Square, Dickens Square since 1937. The display label suggests that the items belonged to a widowed grocer, Samuel Greenfield, and his five children, Sarah-Ann, Ellen, Mance, Richard and Samuel. The family left the address in 1856 owing nearly a year's rent. It is suggested that the angry landlord might have dumped the family's belongings into the well.

Artifacts recovered from a brick-lined well at 21 Union Square in London
Although it had not actually rained this day, it had been cloudy for the entire time, with the sun barely making an appearance. We had done a lot of walking and were tired out by the time we left the museum. That, coupled with the generally gloomy day caused us to head back to our motel for an early night. We had originally planned to travel on to Chippenham and visit Stonehenge and Avebury Henge the following day, the 18th. However, we planned to use a guide who would drive us to the sites and he wouldn't be available until the 19th, so we would stay a second night at the Ibis Styles.

The trip from our hotel in London to the hotel in Chippenham would only take about 2.5 hours. That left us time on the 18th to visit a few of the remaining sections of the old London Wall before catching the train to Chippenham. We had actually seen a section of the wall the day before, near Tower Gateway where we caught the Docklands Light Railway back to our hotel and we would start by taking another look at that section. We hoped for better lighting this morning than had prevailed the evening before.

We were not disappointed. I was able to get a much better photograph (right) in the morning light. I also remembered that we had seen another section of the old wall while visiting the Museum of London, itself located at 150 London Wall, a street that runs for a distance along the course of the old wall. This particular section of wall (left) is visible as one approaches the entrance to the museum.

Below, behind a bronze statue believed to depict the Emperor Trajan, is shown a well-preserved section of London Wall.

Statue of Emperor Trajan in front of a section of London Wall
This photograph (right) shows a section of the old wall as it has been modified and added to over the centuries. According to what I have been told, the lower section, marked by layers of red rocks, are part of the original Roman wall. The wall shows additions and repairs, including brick and concrete, made over the course of centuries. The brick wall of a more modern building is shown at left.

Of all the bits and pieces we saw of London Wall the one that most vividly stands out in my mind is shown below. The old wall, located between a protective fence in front and a row of modern buildings behind, still sports its numerous defensive openings, despite the scars of the centuries. Though battered by time It still stands, proudly proclaiming its importance to the defenders of the city in ages past.

A relatively large still-intact section of London Wall

Saying goodbye to London, we caught the train to Chippenham and walked the short distance from the station to the Pines Hotel where we had reservations.

Our tour guide picked us up at 1030 the next morning and we were on our way to Stonehenge, about 25 miles away. About 1.5 miles west of the stones, we found a large, modern visitor's center complete with gift shop, cafe, ticket office, car and bus park, exhibition on the history of the site and even a site specific museum. For those who have no wish to walk, a shuttle bus ferries visitors to the stone circle.

As for the history of the site, most of the information presented in the next five paragraphs is available at www.stonehenge.co.uk.9

The first Stonehenge, consisting of a circular earth bank or Henge and the Aubrey holes is thought to have been built around 3100 BC. The Aubrey holes, named after John Aubrey, are a circle of round chalk pits, each about 3.28 feet wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms. Fifty-six in number, they form a circle (left10) about 284 feet in diameter. Their purpose is thought to have been as part of religious ceremonies. The site was later abandoned for 1000 years. The white dots (left) forming an inner circle are the positions of the Aubrey holes.

I clipped a view of an Aubrey hole11 from a 2006 picture (right) as it appears on the wikimedia.org site. According to the description it is Aubrey hole number 21.

Around 2150 BC, some 82 bluestones were transported to the site from the Preseli mountains, in south-west Wales. These stones, some weighing four tons, are thought to have been dragged on rollers and sledges for part of the 240-mile journey and carried on rafts by water for other parts of the trip.

The Sarsen stones (sandstone blocks) were brought in from north Wiltshire, some 25 miles away in about 2000 BC. These stones, weighing around 50 tons, must have been moved using sledges and ropes. It has been calculated that it would have taken 500 men to pull one stone.

Finally, not long after 1500 BC, the bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle seen today. These stones are thought to have originally numbered around 60. Many of these have been removed or broken up with below ground stumps remaining of some.

The guide turned out to be one of those individuals who romanticize the past. He seemed to see Stonehenge and other such ancient manmade marvels as the results of voluntary labor, somewhat akin to a “rearing” (“barn raising” in the United States). He expressed the belief that the introduction of agriculture and development of settlements destroyed civilization. I think he also sensed spiritual presences among the old stones.

Call me a pessimist if you will, but I envisioned the hard work being done by slaves captured from neighboring tribes or tribesmen in fear of damnation by pagan gods conjured up by a cast of avaricious, vainglorious priests. I was also undisturbed by any spiritual presences.

We took the shuttle bus from the visitors center to the site, arriving to find that only a few other visitors there at the time.

The stones are encircled at a distance by a single-strand cable wire fence (left) to keep visitors away and a solid all-weather footpath is placed just outside the fence. I am told that there are special tours on which one may actually walk among the stones; however, I was quite happy to view them at a distance, feeling that such a restriction was quite reasonable. After all the site receives approximately a million visitors annually and would be severely impacted by that many people wandering around and climbing on the stones.

Stonehenge
We had a quick lunch at the visitor center cafe and then set off to visit Avebury Henge, located 24 miles to the south by way of road A360.

According to English Heritage, “Avebury rivals - some would say exceeds - Stonehenge as the largest, most impressive and complex prehistoric site in Britain.” The same source indicates that the site was “built and altered over many centuries from about 2850 BC to 2200 BC” and notes that the circular bank and ditch enclose an area of 28.5 acres which includes part of Avebury village.

As also noted by English Heritage, “Avebury is part of a wider complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments, with many other ritual sites in English Heritage care. West Kennet Avenue joined it to The Sanctuary, and another stone avenue connected it with Beckhampton. West Kennet Long Barrow and Windmill Hill are also nearby, as is the huge and mysterious Silbury Hill. This extraordinary assemblage of sites seemingly formed a huge 'sacred landscape', whose use and purpose can still only be guessed at. Avebury and its surroundings have, with Stonehenge, achieved international recognition as a World Heritage Site.” These sites are identified on a poster map (see large map below) which is posted at the West Kennet car park.

We had scheduled the visit to Avebury primarily to see the large prehistoric stone circle, according to the National Trust the world's largest.12 When we arrived we parked very near a pathway that would lead us up a short slope from the road, through a gate and into the field (right) containing the first of the stones.

However, we first walked through the grounds containing Avebury Manor and Garden, the museum, the cafe and St James Church. We bypassed everything but the church which dates from 1000 AD and is still in use. The old church has many interesting features, including but certainly not limited to, several beautiful stained-glass windows and an interesting barrel font.



Poster map posted at West Kennet car park
The entrance to the church is shown below. The church tower, partly obscured by a tree, was added in the 1500s. The church grounds are, as might be expected, almost entirely taken up by the surrounding burial sites. The grounds and indeed the entire church site is well-maintained and presents a most pleasing and restful place for the pilgrim in need of rejuvenation.

Entrance to St. James Church at Avebury
The Wiltshire County Council history site says the tub font (left) is possibly of Saxon origin but has detailed carving of the first quarter of the 12th century. It was apparently done by a local stonemason and probably shows Christ trampling on two dragons, representing evil and sin”13.

The church nave is shown below; the decorated cylindrical object seen in the lower left corner of the photograph is the font cover.



St. James Church nave
The following photographs show three of the striking stained-glass windows.


Leaving the church, we crossed the road and proceeded up the path to the stone circle. The stones at Avebury are smaller than those at Stonehenge; however, the circle is much larger. Also one can walk among them and actually touch the stones.

Part of the stone circle at Avebury
Diana is shown here (right) examining one of the stones close up. One of the stones had what appeared to be a naturally-formed channel that funneled sound so as to amplify it. One could speak into the opening at one end of the channel and the words would emerge significantly amplified from the the other end of the channel. Our guide seemed to think this amplification had some spiritual significance.

The photograph (left) shows a section of the deep ditch or henge that runs all the way around the site. The henge, constructed between 3300 and 2630 BC, is about 460 yards across and was 69 feet feet wide and 36 feet deep. The large outer stone circle, with a diameter of 1,088 feet, ran around the inner perimeter of the henge and was either built at the same time as the henge or within a few hundred years after. Two smaller stone circles, one 322 feet and the other 354 feet in diameter existed within the larger circle. Both of these have been almost completely destroyed, the stones supposedly having been used for building material.14 The arrangement of the henge and the stone circles as they must have existed is shown on the below public domain drawing, first published in a late 19th-century edition of the Swedish encyclopedia Nordisk familjebok.15

Postulated original layout of Avebury
While the tourists might find the stones meaningful and exciting, this horned sheep (right) took a more prosaic view. She just thought one of the stones made a great spot to rest in the shade. I thought the day a little chilly myself and actively sought out the sun, but the sheep was wearing a wool coat.

West Kennet Avenue, a Neolithic Era processional road leading to Avebury Henge from the Sanctuary, located 1.6 miles to the southeast, is lined on both sides by large upright stones. After leaving the henge, we stopped a short distance from Avebury as we were on our way to West Kennet Long Barrow to look back at the old roadway, now filled with grass and wildflowers, as it stretched in a gently curving line back toward the henge.

West Kennet Avenue, looking toward the Avebury Henge
Concerning the Sanctuary and its relation to Avebury Henge, English Heritage says, “Begun in about 3000 BC, the Sanctuary was originally a complex circular arrangement of timber posts, which were later replaced by stones. These components are now indicated by concrete slabs.

Its function remains a mystery: possibly it enshrined the dwelling place of some revered person, and certainly huge numbers of human bones were found here, accompanied by food remains suggesting elaborate death rites and ceremonies. Later, West Kennet Avenue was constructed to connect it with newly-built Avebury, reinforcing the status of this enigmatic but clearly very important site.16

A 1743 drawing by William Stuckeley illustrates the connection between Avebury Henge and the Sanctuary along with another avenue that ran to the southwest from the henge. Stuckeley theorized that “ the two avenues were part of a giant 'snake' winding across the landscape with its head at The Sanctuary and also incorporating Avebury itself.17

Public domain drawing by William Stuckeley18
Of all the sites mentioned here, our goal was limited to visiting Avebury Henge, West Kennet Long Barrow and a section of the processional avenue that once connected them. Now only West Kennet Long Barrow remained and we headed directly there.

English Heritage describes West Kennet Long Barrow as, “One of the largest, most impressive and most accessible Neolithic chambered tombs in Britain. Built in around 3650 BC, it was used for a short time as a burial chamber, nearly 50 people being buried here before the chambers were blocked.”19

A car park (left), conveniently located alongside the busy A4 highway, serves the site; it was vacant when we arrived and held only one other vehicle when we returned. The long barrow is located less than 0.5 miles south of the highway and is accessed by a well-worn path that leads gently downhill to cross a stream and then ascends a gentle slope up a chalk hill to the site. We walked past the opening and took the below photograph looking back from the north side.

West Kennet Long Barrow entrance – seen from the north
The opening (right) to the long barrow is marked by the dark spot seen between the two center boulders shown in the previous photograph. The cavern is provided with natural lighting through a glass-covered hole, obviously a modern day addition, installed in the top. Note the spot of light on the floor.

Our guide had told us that there was a special spot against a stone in the back of the chamber where one would have a magical experience by touching the stone while a drum was strummed nearby. He insisted on bringing his drum for a demonstration and Diana is shown here (left), smiling bravely while he thumps away on his drum. I suppose one must be a true believer to feel the vibrations, for neither Diana nor I felt anything other than a touch of exasperation.

We had, on the way up the chalk hill to the cavern, noted a uniquely-shaped hill located just across the way to the northwest. It looked somewhat like an old volcanic cone. Our guide identified it as Silbury Hill and informed us that it was manmade. English Heritage says, “the largest man-made mound in Europe, mysterious Silbury Hill compares in height and volume to the roughly contemporary Egyptian pyramids. Probably completed in around 2400 BC, it apparently contains no burial. Though clearly important in itself, its purpose and significance remain unknown. There is no access to the hill itself.” As we descended from West Kennet Long Barrow on our way back to the car park we had an unobstructed view of Silbury hill across the yellow, rapeseed-covered fields. The rapeseed fields and Silbury Hill are shown in the following photograph.

Silbury Hill seen across rapeseed fields
On arriving back at the car we found that the trunk had been popped open, our backpacks removed and the trunk lid reclosed. For me that was really not a major problem as I have a habit of carrying everything that is not readily replaceable on my person. Except for some prescription medication that would have to be shipped from the States, I would just need to replace a few articles of clothing and some peripheral electronic accessories. Diana, however, had lost her passport and her smartphone. Some later suggested that perhaps the theft was an inside job involving our guide. However, both Diana and I ruled that out because he was so clearly distraught by the incident, appearing to be on the verge of tears, and because he refused to take the entire amount of the agreed fee for his services.

As it were, the theft drastically altered our plans; we gathered our wits about us and decided what we would have to do to recover from the loss of our belongings. For me it was straightforward. I would just need to find an outdoors store where I could purchase a new shirt, pants, socks and underwear. In addition to that, because I had carried a flash drive containing all of my passwords in my backpack I needed to make a few quick online password changes. The flash drive was encrypted and I was not too concerned but did consider it prudent to change the most important ones.

Diana, on the other hand, felt that with the loss of her smartphone all of her passwords could have been compromised, so she had a lot more work to do. She also had to obtain an emergency passport. We thought first that we would just take the train back to London and obtain a passport at the American Embassy there. But, although the embassy's website implied otherwise, actually making an appointment turned out to be virtually impossible. The telephone answering system is seemingly designed to make sure one never really accomplishes anything. She finally gave up in disgust and tried the consulate in Edinburgh, finally managing to get an appointment for the following Tuesday.

The following day we visited the Wiltshire County Police office to obtain a copy of the police report of the theft. To our surprise, we were told that those reports were only released to insurance companies. They were, however, quite anxious to help and finally decided that, since the American Consulate required a copy of the report in order to issue a replacement passport, they could at least provide a document verifying that such a report had been made and specifying the report number.

Next we walked to the station and caught a train to Swindon, the closest town with a discount outdoor clothing and equipment store. The store, GoOutdoors, was part of a chain nationwide chain and turned out to have everything we needed except, strangely enough, underwear which we later found at a Tesco supermarket. Having replaced the essentials, we stopped at the restaurant attached to GoOutdoors to eat and plan our next move. I had canceled all of our reservations for the next few days, so we needed to decide where we would stay tonight. I had made the reservations through Booking.com because of the convenience and because they clearly state cancellation policies. Usually, cancellation without charge is possible within two days of arrival, sometimes even as little as one day. In our case, the only fee we had been charged was for the stay we had scheduled for that night in Cirencester and now, finding that we still had time plenty of time to travel there by bus, I went online and reinstated that reservation.

We had verified that our Bed and Breakfast in Cirencester, the Talbot Inn, had Wi-Fi, so we would be able to continue cleaning up the mess caused by possibly compromised passwords and complete arrangements for next Tuesday's appointment at the consulate in Edinburgh. We would also need to print documents such as copies of Diana's old passport, her drivers license and birth certificate. Luckily, between us we had digital copies of all of those documents and had found that most places we stayed would willingly print documents for us if we just e-mailed them as pdf attachments.

On checking in at the Talbot Inn we found the accommodations to be quite satisfactory and the lady who showed us to our room assured us that the Wi-Fi reception in our room was the best. Oddly, however, she seem a little hesitant about the point. Soon, we were to find out why; the very best Wi-Fi connection in Cirencester is less than adequate. We couldn't even get a good enough connection to reliabye send e-mail. One message I sent to Rosemary, just disappeared and didn't even show up in my out box. We finally visited the local library and used their computers. The system there was also very, very slow but it did at least work after a fashion and Diana was able to print some of the documents she needed for the consulate.

We wound up staying three nights in Cirencester instead of the planned two nights. We were too stressed out and still too busy trying to recover from the theft to worry much about sightseeing. We mostly just explored the town on foot and visited stores to replace a few additional items such as my camera battery charger. Diana also found a package that she could purchase which enabled us to access the cellular network with our Kindles. It came with a data package adequate to last us for the rest of our trip. That way we could access the web anywhere we had cellphone service.

We did finally make time for a visit to the local Corinium Roman Museum. Corinium Dobunnorium was the name of a Roman settlement at the present site of Cirencester. According to English Heritage, “one of the largest Roman amphitheatres in Britain, built in the early 2nd century” was located there. “It served the Roman city of Corinium (now Cirencester), then second only in size and importance to London, and had a capacity of around 8,000 spectators20.

My camera battery was low and I didn't take any pictures while in the museum, but I did later find some interesting photographs that will serve to illustrate the kind of artifacts they had on display. My personal favorites were a large tile mosaic of a tiger and of a high relief sculpture of three goddesses.


Floor tile mosaic 21
Three goddesses22
The Corinium Museum website identifies the three goddesses as, “Mother Goddesses” of the “Iron Age” or “Early Roman” Period. It goes on to say, “The fruit and bread in their baskets help to identify these carved figures. Perhaps they were objects of prayer to provide a plentiful harvest with food on the table all year round.”23

Other sources relate them to the Three Mary's of Christianity, quoting Mark 16: 1-3 which reads as follows (NEV): “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” This is depicted in a 1396 painting, titled The Three Mary's at the Tomb, by Lorenzo Monaco (right)24. Some sources refer to Salome as “Mary Salome” and I suppose that is the source of the title “Three Mary's”.

Leaving Cirencester and the Cotswolds behind, we took the bus and a train to Newcastle. That turned out to be a very frustrating all-day trip. We were no sooner than settled on the train than I received an e-mail from my bank indicating that there was a problem with a cash withdrawal made just before we left Cirencester. The train kept going through tunnels and densely populated downtown areas where we lost the cell signal and we worked for a couple of hours attempting to contact the bank.

Finally, we just called Rosemary and had her contact them for us. As it turned out, I had first tried withdrawing £400 and then reduced it to £300 upon receiving a message saying that was over the limit. The machine then recorded both amounts as withdrawals. The bank promptly refused to recognize the £400 amount and automatically sent me a notice because two withdrawals had been attempted within a very short period of time at the same machine. Rosemary soon got the matter straightened out and notified us by phone, but it all made for a very frustrating train ride.

We arrived in Newcastle Upon Tyne and walked to our hotel, Jurys Inn. It was Saturday, 23 May and we planned to stay two nights, traveling on to Edinburgh on Monday in order for Diana to keep her appointment at the American Consulate on Tuesday. We had no specific plans for Newcastle other than just goofing off for a day and resting up for Edinburgh. Jurys Inn was a very good place for that. Our room was comfortable, the service was excellent and they had a good restaurant on site.

We did take a short walk on Sunday just for the exercise and to purchase our train tickets for the next day's trip to Edinburgh. The half-mile walk to the train station took us through Times Square and a large building labeled the International Center for Life, described as a “science village based in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne where scientists,clinicians, educationalists and business people work to promote the advancement of the life sciences”.25 At Times Square we also noted a place called Think Tank? Of which one customer wrote, “Great venue for small gigs, had a great time. Although barman was very impatient and unnecessarily rude”.26 Next door to the Think Tank? Was a night club called Digital which, if the Google reviews are to be believed, has a high-quality sound system and amazing DJs. That probably just means it is very, very loud.

On Monday, we made a late morning of it with a leisurely breakfast and caught the train to Edinburgh just before noon. Arriving at Edinburgh's Waverley Station at about 1430, we took a taxi to the Holiday Inn Express on Cowgate. Actually, it would have been just a short walk, but we didn't trust the Google directions for walking as they seemed to take us on a route where no streets existed. Later, we learned that the directions would have taken us on a shortcut through a “close”, or alleyway, in this case with steps. It appears that closes were originally private property. At least in this case, however, it is now a commercial passage, Fleshmarket Close that runs between Market Street and High Street (Royal Mile), crossing Cockburn Street. A small pub, the Halfway House, is located between Market and Cockburn Streets. Fleshmarket Close was featured in Ian Rankin's novel Fleshmarket Alley, an Inspector Rebus novel.

If one leaves the close and follows Cockburn Street to High Street, one will pass The Baked Potato Shop at 52 Cockburn Street, an excellent place to enjoy a stuffed baked potato. Baked potatoes are available at a number of places in Edinburgh and can be filled with a variety of ingredients such as hummus and roasted vegetables (my favorite). Diana and I ordered baked potatoes several times as our main course while in Edinburgh.

The Holiday Inn Express on Cowgate turned out to be a very accommodating place. Its only real drawback was that the business center turned out to be a single computer in the lobby for which they charged an exorbitant fee. As is normal for this hotel brand Wi-Fi was free and about the only use for the computer in the lobby was for such tasks as printing documents such as airline boarding passes or, in our case, one final document that Diana needed to obtain her passport. Luckily, the hotel staff seemed to understand the futility of attempting to make money by renting a computer in a hotel that offered free Wi-Fi and volunteered to print documents, e-mailed to them by guests, on the office computer. So Diana soon had the final document she needed for the next day's trip to the consulate.

I walked with her the next morning to the consulate on Regents Terrace. The trip was only 0.6 miles by way of Cowgate, St Mary's Street, Canongate (Royal Mile), down Old Tool Booth Wynd (left) to Calton Road and then up Calton Hill by way of a steep, paved path (right) to end at the intersection of Regent Terrace and Regent Road.

The Robert Burns Monument on Calton Hill (left) stands alongside Regents road and just across the road is the lower end of Regents Terrace. Just above Regents Road and west of the Regents Terrace intersection we saw an imposing structure called the New Parliament Building. As I knew that the Scottish Parliament Building is located in the Canongate area near Holyrood Palace, I later checked it out and found that was originally the Old Royal High School. It gained its present name because, after being vacated in 1968, it was refurbished for use as the home of a devolved Scottish National Parliament. However, the 1979 referendum to establish the parliament didn't receive sufficient backing.

The American Consulate is located at 3 Regent Terrace, along a section of the terrace that is blocked to vehicular traffic, presumably to prevent the use of car bombs. We arrived a few minutes before Diana's 0900 appointment but she couldn't gain admittance until the appointed time, so I left her sitting on the steps (right) and headed back to the hotel.

We had agreed that I would stop at the first convenient cafe or pub on Canongate for a leisurely tea and to read the paper. Diana would then look for me there if she finished at the consulate sooner than expected.

As it turned out, I found a nice little cafe with an outdoor table directly across Canongate from the entrance to Old Toll Booth Wynd. But after drinking two cups of tea and finishing the Daily Telegraph, I decided that it was time to move on, so I returned to the hotel. Diana arrived soon after, having searched for me in several pubs on The Royal Mile.

I have used street names Canongate and The Royal Mile interchangeably and this might be a good time to explain why. The Royal Mile, one mile and 107 yards in length, is actually comprised of five different streets. From west to east, it starts at Edinburgh Castle which sits on an extinct volcano and runs down the spine of a ridge to end at Holyroodhouse Palace. Along the way it encompasses the following streets: Castle Hill, Lawnmarket, High Street, Canongate, a short section of Horse Wynd and Abbey Strand. All of these street names are still in use, so a street address may use either The Royal Mile or the local street name.

We decided that we both now needed some alone time and I wanted to see whether I remembered anything at all from a September, 1952 visit I made to Edinburgh Castle while on active duty in the Navy. That visit is described below as reported in my first book:27

By the time we arrived in Edinburgh, we were more than ready for some R&R The crew were on port and starboard liberty, that is at least half the crew had to be aboard at all times and, usually, the half that were granted liberty were required to be back on board by midnight. As one might guess, we called that routine “Cinderella Liberty.” But for our R&R visit to Edinburgh, we were granted overnight liberty. Sandy and I were really looking forward to our overnighter and we planned carefully for it. As soon as we disembarked from the liberty boat, we found ourselves an acceptable place to sleep for the night, paying cash as required by the proprietor. With our sleeping arrangements assured, we went merrily on our way to see the sights of Edinburgh.

We stopped at a couple of bars and then decided that we must see Edinburgh Castle. At the castle we wandered around the grounds and watched a kilt-clad marching band playing bagpipes. In the course of our wanderings, we met two very nice girls who insisted on showing us around the city and then invited us to their home for dinner. It was a very enjoyable experience. But strangely, my most vivid memory of that visit was noticing the mother wince visibly when I accepted the second lump of sugar that she offered for my tea. That is when it dawned on me that the people in Europe were really still under rationing. I had only accepted sugar at all because it seemed to be expected and the polite thing to do; now, afraid that it would only embarrass her if I changed my mind, I gamely stirred in the second lump and suffered in silence with the mother.

All pleasant experiences must end eventually and so it was with our day in Edinburgh. However, we were still looking forward to a good night’s sleep in full size beds as opposed to the canvas bunks we were accustomed to. We arrived back at our lodging a bit past midnight only to find the place locked up tight with a large sign saying “WE CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT” firmly affixed to the door. We then looked at the vouchers we had been given by the proprietor when we paid and found the same warning prominently displayed there. We were in the middle of Edinburgh, now a very silent city, after midnight and the liberty boat did not run again until 0800. We finally stumbled onto a derelict who was surprised that we didn’t even know enough to go to the “Old Sailors Home” for assistance. He allowed that if he were a sailor, that’s where he would be. Our new friend was kind enough to give us directions and we soon arrived at the home only to find that all beds were already taken. Fortunately, they were a kind and resourceful group who were able to scrounge up some spare blankets and they let us sleep on tables in the dining room. We would have to wait a bit longer for nice, soft beds.

Heading west on Cowgate from the hotel, I continued on Cowgatehead and Grassmarket and then climbed up Castle Wynd to Castlehill Street which I then followed to the castle entrance. Castle Wynd is divided into Castle Wynd South, leading from Grassmarket to Johnston Terrace, and Castle Wynd North, leading from Johnson Terrace to Castlehill. The area at the castle entrance was packed with tourists and I saw nothing that stirred any memories from that long ago visit.

Edinburgh Castle on 26 May 2015
My opinion of castles is that they are better seen from the outside, so I didn't even consider braving the crowd to continue any farther.

I next considered looking for the Old Sailors Home where I slept on a dining room table in 1952. I have been told that it is now a luxury hotel, the Malmaison. I can not be sure that is accurate, but the location does look about right. However, I decided that a visit to the location would not be productive because all I really remember about the Old Sailors Home is the table I slept on and the nice wool blanket that kept me warm. It was a pleasant, sunny day, so I lingered a while longer at the castle looking out over the city, took a series of photographs to stitch into a panoramic view and headed back to the hotel.

Panoramic view of Edinburgh from Edinburgh Castle.
We got an early start the next morning, arising at 0500 in order to avoid the crowds, and set out on foot to look at some of the wynds and closes we had noted. I have already discussed Fleshmarket Close and, as noted previously, we had used Old Tool Booth Close on the way to the consulate and I had used Castle Wynd on my trip to Edinburgh Castle. Both wynds and closes might loosely be termed alleys. But they do have some differences. The best explanation I found of these differences is contained in a Wikipedia article28:

The Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, consisted originally of the main street, now known as the Royal Mile, and the small alleyways and courtyards that led off it to the north and south. These were usually named after a memorable occupant of one of the apartments reached by the common entrance, or a trade plied by one or more residents. Generically such an alleyway is termed a close /ˈkloʊs/, a Scots term for alleyway, although it may be individually named close, entry, court, or wynd. A close is private property, hence gated and closed to the public, whereas a wynd is an open thoroughfare, usually wide enough for a horse and cart. Most slope steeply down from the Royal Mile creating the impression of a herring-bone pattern formed by the main street and side streets when viewed on a map. Many have steps and long flights of stairs.

Because of the need for security within its town walls against English attacks in past wars, Edinburgh experienced a pronounced density in housing. Closes tend to be narrow with tall buildings on both sides, giving them a canyon-like appearance and atmosphere.

However, in actual practice, these definitions seem to be violated. For instance Fleshmarket Close is obviously a public thoroughfare with a pub located along the way. Likewise, Castle Wynd is too narrow for a horse and cart and also has steps, making it unsuitable for other than foot traffic.

Lady Stairs Close (left) was the location of a townhouse built in 1622 for Sir William Gray. It was called Lady Gray's House after his widow. It was later bought by the widow of the first Earl of Stair, thus the present name. The close houses the Scottish Writers Museum which celebrates the lives of Scottish writers Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and Robert Burns. The close also contains Makars' Court, a courtyard containing quotations from Scottish literature inscribed onto paving stones.

South Grays Close (right) is apparently named after a John Gray Burgess. According to the RCAHMS search site, Canmore, “South Gray's Close, High Street, Edinburgh In 1512 South Gray's Close was inhabited by a Burgess of the City, one John Gray. Originally, the Close lay on the land of the Grey Friars so the origins of its name are obscure. It has at other times been known as Mint Close and Coyne House Close. Many titled families had townhouses in this part of town. South Gray's Close was inhabited by the Earls of Buchan, Selkirk, Hyndford and Rosslyn. The Close was also used for business. From 1574 to 1709 it housed Scotland's Royal Mint and officers of the Mint lived here until 1877. In later years the use of the buildings changed and in 1847 the United Industrial School opened here, with 50 pupils. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.”29

After our early morning expedition, we ate breakfast and then set out to catch the tour bus for a city tour. The tour was quite interesting with commentary on the points of interest along the way. It was not, however very conducive to photography. There was always someone or something in the way of the things I would have liked to photograph. So I just made a note of what I wanted to photograph or see more closely and resolved to return another day.

When we returned to the hotel, we reviewed our schedule, discarded any plans for trips to other parts of Scotland and booked ourselves into the hotel for an additional four nights. Having learned that I would not get award points for reservations made through Booking.com, I went online and booked the additional nights through the IHG site using my awards number. That also turned out to be a good thing for another reason. When we later decided to cancel the last night and take the Caledonia Sleeper back to London, they were at first going to charge us for that last night's lodging because I gave less than 24 hours notice of the cancellation. However, when they looked again at the reservation and found that I had used their own reservation system, they canceled the charge.

The next day we took a boat tour of the Firth of Forth. A bus took us to Hawes Pier at South Queensferry where we caught a boat, christened “Forth Belle.” The Forth Belle is licensed to carry 215 passengers, although we had only about half that number, and has a cruising speed of 12 knots.

Looking west from Hawes Pier to Forth Road Bridge, a suspension bridge
Beyond Forth Road Bridge, completed in 1964, can be seen three towers. These are the cable towers for the new stayed-cable Queensferry Crossing Bridge, scheduled for completion next year. This new bridge, being built at an estimated cost of between £1.72 billion and £2.34 billion, “will carry motor-cycles, cars and heavy goods vehicles, while public transport, cyclists and pedestrians will use the existing bridge.

Wind shielding will be built into the design of the new bridge, to enable usage during periods of high winds, which regularly lead to restrictions on the existing bridge.”30 An artist's conception of the new bridge, along with the two existing bridges at Queensferry, is shown below.

Artists conception of Queensferry Crossing Bridge along with Forth Road Bridge and Forth Railroad Bridge31
The Forth Railroad Bridge, officially just Forth Bridge, is the red structure shown in the above graphic (and also below). It is a cantilever bridge opened in 1890 and, at 8296 feet, is exceeded in length only by one other cantilever span bridge, the Quebec Bridge in Canada.

Forth Bridge, the railroad bridge across the Firth of Forth at Queensferry
After passing under the Forth Bridge we could look at the old fort on Inchgarvey Island. King Henry IV ordered a fortification to be built on the island in 1513. It was subsequently used as a prison and in 1580 was made a place of exile for the plague-stricken. In 1779 the islands fortifications were renewed in response to the threat posed by American Commander John Paul Jones. Inchgarvey was important to the security of the Firth of Forth during the two World Wars, during which, it was used to defend against air and submarine attacks on the Forth Bridge and the Rosyth Dockyard.

Inchgarvey Island and the end of Forth Bridge
The boat continued on a counterclockwise circuit after passing under the railroad bridge. It passed BP's Hound Point oil terminal where crude oil is delivered from the Buzzard and the Forties North Sea oil fields for loading onto tankers. The oil is loaded directly from the pipeline or from a nearby tank farm. As we passed Hound Point the British Falcon, a 63462 GT crude oil tanker, built by Samsung Heavy Industries in 2006, was being loaded. The ship is owned by BP Shipping and is registered in Douglas, Isle of man.

British Falcon crude oil tanker loading at BP's Hound Point terminal
As we sailed past Hound Point terminal, I wondered how it got such a name. Looking it up later, I learned that the name was derived from a headland on the estate of the Earls of Rosebery. A local legend holds that an early Lord of Barnbougle Castle, the original home of the Earls of Rosebery, went off to the crusades and was killed. At the moment of his death, his hound started howling uncontrollably and eventually died of grief. Since then the howling ghost of the hound has returned to the point whenever the current lord is about to die.32, 33

Leaving Hound Point behind we continued east along the southern coast, heading toward Inchmickery Island. Along the way we passed a fully-loaded container ship, the Nor Feeder. The Nor Feeder (previously Jan Fabian until 2006) is a 3999 GT container ship, built by JJ Sietas Schiffswerft ‐ Hamburg, Germany in 1998. The ship is owned by Arriva Shipping, Vindafjord, Norway and is registered in Gibralter.

Nor Feeder container ship, entering port fully loaded
We approached Inchmickery Island under slightly overcast skies. This is a tiny island, around 328 feet by 656 feet. It was fortified during both World Wars by gun emplacements and the still-remaining uninhabited concrete buildings make the island look a bit like a battleship when seen from a distance. The conclusion of Iain Banks's novel Complicity was set here and the film adaptation used it as a location.34

Inchmickery is now “part of the Forth Islands Special Protection Area and home to a range of breeding seabirds including shag, eider and fulmar and a small population of puffins (less than 20 pairs)35.”

We turned north quite far from the island and never got close enough for a really good photograph. So instead of using my own, I have instead substituted a much better public domain photograph (right36).

We stopped at Inchcolm Island (left) to discharge those passengers who had bought tickets for a separate tour of the island. The boat would pick them up on the next tour later that day.

Inchcolm was once used as a home for hermits. It is said that King Alexander I was looked after by a hermit when marooned on the island in 1123. Alexander subsequently decided to make the island the site of an Augustinian monastery. The monastery is thought to have been chartered in 1162 or earlier and raised to the status of an abbey in 1235. Its ruins, now under the care of Historic Scotland, are the best-preserved of any Scottish medieval monastic house. The island was fortified during the First and Second World Wars in order to defend Edinburgh-Leith and the naval base at Rosyth. The remains of a NAAFI (British version of a Post Exchange or PX) still stand and is currently used as a shop by Historic Scotland. As of the 2011 census, the island had no permanent inhabitants.37

I did manage to photograph the old Abbey as we sailed along the shore; however, I found a much better photograph available online that I chose to use instead.



Inchcolm Abbey on Inchcolm Island38
We left the dock at Inchcolm and sailed around the north side of the island, now heading back toward the bridges.

The most interesting sight on the way back along the shoreline was the large number of seals basking in the sun as it danced in and out from behind the always lurking clouds. Mostly they had settled themselves on rocks; however, this fat fellow (right) had found a spot on one of the buoys that mark the ship channel.

We sailed west under the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge, and continued past the towers erected for the new Queensferry Bridge. The below photograph, taken from the fantail of the Forth Belle after we had passed under the bridges, shows one of the towers for the new stayed-cable bridge in the left foreground, the colorful structure of the cantilevered Forth Bridge in the distance and the Forth Road Bridge, a suspension bridge, in between.

Looking back at the bridges at Queensferry from the west
We continued on past Rosyth Dockyard, located on the north bank. Construction was started on the Royal Naval Dockyard Rosyth in 1909 and the first ship docked there was the battleship HMS Zealandia in 1916. In 1989 the dockyard became a government owned privately operated facility. In 1987 operation of the dockyard was privatized with the awarding of a management contract to Babcock International and Thorn EMI. Babcock International subsequently bought out Thorn EMI's interest and then bought the dockyard when the facility was privatized in 1997. Rosyth Dockyard is currently performing the final assembly of the first of the Royal Navy's two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.39

HMS Queen Elizabeth being assembled at Rosyth Dockyard
The Forth Belle then turned back east, passing by the towers that are all that presently exist on the Queensferry Bridge, continuing under the Forth Road Bridge and easing alongside Hawes Pier to unload her passengers. Our Firth of Forth cruise was over and the bus was waiting to take us back to Waverley Station.

The next day was designated for alone time and I think Diana spent a large part of it at the hotel weeding out the photographs she had taken. As for me, I was determined to take a walk in Holyrood Park and get a closer look at Holyrood Castle and the Scottish Assembly Building.

Leaving the hotel, I walked east on Cowgate which became Holyrood Road after about 100 yards and continued until I reached the Scottish Assembly at the end of Holyrood Road. The devolved Scottish Parliament was created in 1998. The new Scottish Assembly Building, actually a group of several buildings, was opened by the Queen in 2004. It is a controversial post-modern building, but I think the complex, shown in the public domain photograph below, is beautiful.

New Scottish Parliament Building seen from Salisbury Crags40
The red-roofed building seen in the above photograph is Queensberry House, a 17th century building that was incorporated into the complex. Like the photograph above, the site plan shown below is also from the public domain.


Site plan of the Scottish Parliament: 1 Public Entrance, 2 Plaza, 3 Pond, 4 Press Tower, 5 Debating Chamber, 6 Tower one, 7 Tower two, 8 Tower three, 9 Tower four, 10 Tower five Canongate Building, 11 Main Staircase, 12 MSP's Entrance, 13 Lobby, 14 Garden, 15 Queensberry House, 16 MSP building, 17 Turf roof, 18 Carpark and vehicular entrance 41
When leaving the Scottish Parliament traveling west/southwest, on The Royal Mile (Canongate), the last part of the complex one sees is the Canongate Building, labeled # 10 on the site plan shown on the previous page. This attention-grabbing structure had captured my attention on the bus tour we had done two days previously and I was now returning to photograph it from a better angle. Later, however, I found an even better rendition along with a description on Wikipedia and that is what is shown below.42

The Canongate Building and the Canongate Wall43
According to Wikipedia, the Canongate Wall is, “constructed from a variety of indigenous Scottish rocks such as Lewisian gneiss, Torridonian sandstone and Easdaleslate. The stones are set into large concrete casts, each one inscribed with a quotation.44


Two of the 24 quotations inscribed on the wall are shown below, a proverb of unknown origin (left), provides a translation. The other, a verse from the Jute Mill Song by Mary Brooksband (right), can be read as follows:
O, dear me, the world is ill-divided
Them that works the hardest are with the least provided
But I must bide contented, dark days or fine
There's no much pleasure living off of ten (shillings) and nine (pence).

Just across Horse Wynd from the Scottish Parliament complex, at the intersection with Abbey Strand is located The Queens Gallery (left). The gallery, opened on 29 November 2002 as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, hosts a program of changing exhibitions from the Royal Collection. Not wishing to see any exhibits, I just passed on by.

Passing the gallery, I continued along Abbey Strand toward the Palace of Holyroodhouse. In the below photograph of the palace a bit of the Holyrood Abbey ruins are seen to the left.

Castle of Holyroodhouse with a bit of the abbey shown at left46
I continued on past the palace, following Horse Wynd to Queens Drive and then taking Radical Road into Holyrood Park. It is said that, following the Radical War of 1820, unemployed weavers were put to work paving a track around Salisbury Crags; the track (right), known as Radical Road, still exists.

Radical Road climbs diagonally up the slope of Salisbury Crags, passing three old quarry sites (North Quarry, Long Quarry and South Quarry). It tops out and rejoins Queens Drive below the saddle between Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat. It is not clear whether Arthur's Seat is named for the legendary, possibly mythical, King Arthur.

The photograph below shows Arthur's Seat (the peak in the middle) and Crow Hill (the rounded peak at the right) above the old South Quarry site.

South Quarry at Salisbury Crags
Moving on past the large boulder shown at the right side of the old quarry, one comes to the saddle between Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat.

Looking out over Hunters Bog from the Salisbury Crags/Arthur's Seat Saddle
In the above photograph, a side trail leading off to the left from the very distinct track shown in the center will take one to the top of Salisbury Crags; that was my goal. I started my climb from the saddle under a lightly clouded sky, but it soon closed in and a light rain started, causing me to don my rainproof windbreaker. Soon though the wind picked up and I donned my full-length raincoat to keep my pants legs dry. By the time I had reached the rim of the Crags, the rain had turned into hail, but I pressed on until I reached my goal, the rim of the Crags just above the North Quarry. From there, I photographed the Parliament Building and Holyroodhouse Castle. This is approximately the same spot, by the way, from where the photographer must have taken the (previously shown) photograph of the Scottish Parliament Building.

Showing the Scottish Parliament, the Castle of Holyrood house and the surrounding area – seen from Salisbury Crags

By the time I was ready to make my way back down to the saddle, the hail had stopped and the clouds were thinning out. The hail-littered path (left) was still treacherous, however, and I made the descent with extreme care.

It didn't take long to descend the slippery trail, make my way past the castle and parliament building and then back  to the hotel by way of Holyrood Road and Cowgate. The one-way distance from the Holiday Inn Express to the rim of Salisbury Crags above the old North Quarry was only about two miles and, even adding a couple of extra miles for wandering around, the round trip was only about six miles. So I hadn't had a very long walk nor was the climb in the park very demanding, but I was pleasantly tired and I turned in early.

The next morning we took a free, guided walking tour offered by Sandemans New Europe Tours. This organization runs free, guided walking tours in major cities throughout Europe and in New York, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The guides are self-employed and work on a tips only basis, so an unsatisfactory guide is not likely to last very long. Travel website TripAdvisor rates the Edinburgh tour very highly.

A large number of people gathered outside Starbucks at Royal Mile and Blair Street at 1000. The organizers checked us in and sorted us into smaller groups of manageable size. Each group was assigned a guide, ours being a young woman named Sabela. Although born and raised in Madrid, Sabela spent a lot of time while growing up in Scotland and England, she decided to move to Edinburgh and now makes her living as a tour guide. She was quite enthusiastic about her job, very knowledgeable about the city and its sites and very effective in communicating that knowledge to her audience. She definitely knew how to work a crowd and I am sure she received quite generous tips.


One of our first stops was the Heart of Midlothian, a mosaic (right) set into the pavement near St. Giles Cathedral (the High Kirk of Edinburgh), to mark the location of the Old Tolbooth. From medieval times to the 19th century, a Tolbooth (or townhouse) was the main municipal site of a Scottish burgh; it normally included a council meeting chamber, a jail and a courthouse.


The Old Tolbooth 50 
The Old Tolbooth (left) served Edinburgh in this capacity for some 400 years until it was demolished in 1817. The Old Tolbooth was located at the west end of the Luckenbooths, a row of tenement buildings with shops (locked booths) on the ground floor, dating back to 144047


Old Tolbooth and Luckenbooths51
The Luckenbooths ran the length of St Giles and were separated from it by a narrow alley. Both the Old Tolbooth and the Luckenbooths extended into the street, reducing the width of the High Street so as to cause a major obstruction (right). They were all demolished in 181748. Other functions having already moved elsewhere by 1811, the Old Tollbooth remained in use “as a prison and place of execution until it was finally demolished.”49

Although we didn't note this phenomenon, we were told that if we watched for a few minutes we would see a passerby spit on the Heart of Midlothian. Apparently this custom originated as a contemptuous gesture toward authority -- specifically toward prisons, the gallows and taxes. Spitting on the heart is also said by some to be lucky.

Sabela discussed famous Scots such as Robert the Bruce who defeated the English at Bannockburn, Deacon (William) Brodie, a cabinet maker and thief, who was hanged at Tolbooth Prison and “Half Hangit” Maggie Dickson who survived a hanging and lived for another 40 years. Robert the Bruce is such a well known figure as to require no further comment. Deacon Brodie is commemorated by Deacon Brodie's Tavern (left) on the Royal Mile, by the close off the Royal Mile which still bears the family name and by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, which was inspired by his life.


Maggie Dickson's name lingers on as the name of a pub (right) in the Grassmarket.
Leaving the Royal Mile we descended the hill below Edinburgh Castle by way of Johnston Terrace and Granny's Green Steps (left).

The castle loomed high above us, perched on the 350 million year old volcanic plug which is called Castle Rock. Glacial erosion later removed the softer sedimentary rock surrounding the plug and a hard basaltic tail extending to the east. This tail is the route taken by the Royal Mile between Edinburgh Castle and the Castle of Holyroodhouse. Before descending Granny's Green Steps, I paused to photograph the castle and the volcanic rock beneath it.

Edinburgh Castle seen from Johnston Terrace and Granny's Green Steps
Granny's Green Steps took us to Grassmarket where we stopped for lunch.

Lunch at Grassmarket
We went next to Greyfriars Kirkyard (graveyard) where we saw graves with mortsafes, designed to deter body snatchers. We also heard the story of Greyfriars Bobby and that of the George Mackenzie poltergeist.

Mackenzie's poltergeist is reported to have have kicked, bitten and scratched people. These reports escalated after a homeless person broke into Mackenzie's mausoleum (right52) for shelter in 1998. According to a Wikipedia article, “In 2000, an exorcist, Colin Grant was summoned to the graveyard to perform an exorcism ceremony; he was said to have picked up 'evil forces' and claimed that the forces were too overpowering and feared that they could kill him. A few weeks later, he died suddenly of a heart attack.”53 That section of the cemetery is now closed off except for nocturnal guided tours. The site has been featured on several television programs about the paranormal.

Greyfriars Bobby is the story of a dog who followed his owner's body to its final resting place in the cemetery and refused to leave the grave until he died 13 years later. A statue of Bobby (left) is located just outside the cemetery at George IV Bridge. Some researchers term the story a complete myth.

The stop at Greyfriars ended our free walking tour and we headed back to our hotel.

On Cowgate about a tenth of a mile from the Holiday Inn Express, we
saw an office block that had recently (since 2010) been converted into student housing. It was located just across Cowgate from the Sin Nightclub (right). We thought that was a handy arrangement for the students. Later, I found that the nightclub is located in a building that was once a church and was until recently called Faith Nightclub. I wondered whether the conversion of the office block to student housing had anything to do with the name change.

Continuing on toward our hotel we came to a building at the corner of Niddry Street that had the rear end of a cow protruding from the building as though she were entering from Cowgate.  Just around the corner the front part of the cow appeared to be exiting the building (left) on Niddry Street. It was, to say the least, an attention-getting display and I am sure there was some point to it, but just what that might be escaped me.

We had now decided to check out a day early and take the Caledonian Sleeper back to London. By sleeping on the train we would save a nights lodging, making the cost of the sleeper quite reasonable. Unfortunately, we were too late to get sleeper berths, but the coach seats turned out to be comfortable enough. Because the train would not leave Waverley Station in Edinburgh until quite late in the evening, we arranged a late checkout from the hotel and then just spent the rest of the day goofing around and drinking tea.

Below is a panorama of several photographs taken from Jeffrey Street looking north at trains entering and leaving Waverley Station.

Looking north across Waverley Station: the clock tower at left is part of the Balmoral Hotel; the obelisk-shaped structure in the middle is Martyr's Monument in the Old Calton Burial Ground; Governor's House is located just the right of Martyr's Monument; finally, the tall structure at the right, shaped like an upended telescope, is Nelson's Monument
We arrived back in London at Euston Station early the next morning and took the bus and tube to Heathrow and then on to the nearby Holiday Express where we had reservations. There, we were able to check in early so as to get a good nights sleep before our morning flight back to Dulles.

On the long flight to Dulles the next day I watched two movies, I remember not what they were, and finished the current edition of the Economist on my Kindle. That night I stayed with Diana and she dropped me off at the downtown Washington National Airport the next morning for my flight back to Arizona. I had a layover in Chicago but was back home in Cottonwood around 1800.


1Kate Abbott, The Guardian, 10 February 2015
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Fenchurch_Street
3 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/walkie-talkie-skyscraper-to-be-fitted-with-permanent-sunshade-after-it-melted-cars-9379037.html
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/122_Leadenhall_Street
6 The City of London, a tiny part of Metropolitan London, is a separate city and ceremonial county within London. It has its own Lord Mayor
8 http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/whats-on/galleries/war-plague-fire/
9 http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/
10 Drawing by Adamsan. Copied from en:Image:Stonehenge phase one.jp for better availability through Wikimedia Commons
11 Taken by User:Adamsan on 02/01/06 and posted at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aubreyhole.jpg
12 http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/
13 http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getimage.php?id=5788
14 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury
15 Ibid
16 http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/the-sanctuary/
17 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beckhampton_Avenue
18 Ibid
19 http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/west-kennet-long-barrow/
20 http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/cirencester-amphitheatre/
21 By Tony Grist (Photographer's own files) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
22 Ibid
23 http://coriniummuseum.org/collections/ten-treasures/
24 Lorenzo Monaco (circa 1370–circa 1425) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_for_Life
26 https://www.google.com/search?q=Think+Tank?,+Bio+Science+Centre+Times+Square,+Scotswood+Road,+Newcastle+upon+Tyne+NE1+4EP&ludocid=16132909400655317440#lrd=0x487e774b53ff1475:0xdfe39b9fc39ec9c0,1
27 A Little Work and Some Luck, pp 65-67
30 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensferry_Crossing
31 By Transport Scotland [OGL (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/1/)], via Wikimedia Commons
32 http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst1464.html
33 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hound_Point
34 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchmickery
37 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchcolm
38 By Magnus Hagdorn (Inchcolm Abbey Uploaded by Snowmanradio) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
39 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosyth_Dockyard
40 By Andrew Gainer (Ubernerd42) (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
41 By Russ McGinn, converted to SVG by DTR (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
42 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Parliament_Building
43 Thomas Duesing [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
44 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Parliament_Building
45 CanongateQuote". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CanongateQuote.JPG#/media/File:CanongateQuote.JPG
46 by Kim Traynor (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
47 By Alexander Kincaid [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
48 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luckenbooths
49 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tolbooth,_Edinburgh
50 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tolbooth,_Edinburgh
51 By Alexander Kincaid [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
52 By Jonathan Oldenbuck (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

53 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Kirkyard

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