This area is now part of Newington, but was part of the farm of Westmains of Liberton, which was part of the lands and Barony of Craigmillar owned by the Gilmour family. Savile Road was the first street to be constructed on the Liberton and Craigmillar Estate and there is a theory that the street was named after Sir John Savile, who was an English diplomat. This seems to be due to a rather tenuous connection when he was elevated to the peerage on the same day as Sir Robert Gilmour. The only trouble is that this was 10 years after Savile Road East and West were constructed! An alternative theory about the derivation of the name Savile is that, because high quality houses were to be erected, they took the name from Savile Row in London, a street where high quality goods could be obtained.
You are standing outside a small park area at the corner of Mayfield Road and West Savile Terrace. Mayfield Road was one of the main roads going south from the centre of Edinburgh and was part of the Turnpike Road system, which consisted of good roads for which travellers had to pay a toll. On the large-scale Ordnance Survey town plan from 1877, we can see that on part of this park there was situated a Tollhouse called the Powburn Tollhouse, which is where the road tolls would have been collected. The Pow Burn ran along the line now occupied by the railway and was probably culverted or realigned when the railway was constructed. This railway, which was opened in 1884, was the Edinburgh Suburban Line and runs along the north side of West Savile Terrace and Savile Terrace, with the former Newington Station to the east and the former Blackford Hill Station to the west. It closed to passenger services in 1962, but is still in use for freight traffic and sometimes diverted traffic.
Clue 1. Look for the railway bridge number painted on the wall. Subtract the first digit from the second.
As we stroll westwards along the north side of West Savile Terrace, the oldest houses here are the three large semi-detached properties nearest to Mayfield Road. All the ground to the west of these houses on the north of the road was formerly industrial premises, starting at this end from about 1880 and gradually extending along the road as it was formed.
Craigmillar Steam Laundry
You are standing on the site of the former Craigmillar Steam Laundry, described in 1893 as being the largest, best arranged and most perfectly equipped establishment of this kind in Scotland. The laundry used state of the art equipment including steam driven washing machines and hydro-extractors, a type of spin drier. In addition to the cleaning, ironing and finishing of clothes the laundry dealt with a whole range of materials including carpets and curtains. All finished goods were despatched in the company's horse drawn vans. In the late nineteenth century, the laundry employed roughly 130 people and handled over 30,000 articles of clothing a week. The site was developed during the twentieth century, with a petrol station opened in 1958, followed by a car showroom in 1960. Eventually, the site was sold for housing, but there is a plaque on a low wall near here to commemorate the former use of this ground.
Clue 2. This site was occupied by Craigmillar Laundry from 1881 to 19?9.
The site now occupied by the retirement housing at number 27 was initially a Preserve Works, then became Merchiston Printing Works. Old maps show further west a Cottage Laundry, Biscuit Factory and Newington Joinery Works. These have all now gone and become housing developments. There are now only two obvious businesses in West Savile Terrace.
Business site
Clue 3. The business at the rear is number 9?b.
We are not going any further west, but the Reid Memorial Church at the west end of West Savile Terrace is worth a look and the history of this Church, which is not as old as it looks, is covered by Peedieduchess in her Bimble through Blackford multi-cache. We will now cross the road and stroll eastwards along the south side of West Savile Terrace. There are trees planted along both sides of the road, which are cherry trees and give a lovely display of pink blossom in the spring.
Postbox
Royal Mail recently cut back on collection times from little-used postboxes. There are postboxes with later collection times just off both ends of the road.
Clue 4. What is the last collection time on a Saturday? ?am.
Bus stop
Clue 5. Look at the route number for the bus that goes along West Savile Terrace and divide the second digit by the first.
As you reach the traffic lights at the junction with Mayfield Road, you will notice that the road continues on the other side of the main road, but this part of Savile Terrace is a short cul-de-sac blocked off by a building at the far end. To find out what this is, cross the road and turn right then left into West Savile Road.
Royal Blind School
The Royal Blind School was founded in 1793 and run by a Charity. In 1876, they moved to this custom-built building designed by Charles Leadbetter. The School eventually catered for children aged 3 to 19 who were blind or partially sighted. In 1953, a company producing Braille documents was established on new premises on part of the site, although Braille production had been carried out on site since 1891. In 2014, the pupils in this site relocated to join fellow pupils at the newly-refurbished site at Canaan Lane in Morningside. The Braille printing business relocated to larger premises in 2018. This site has now been redeveloped for flats in the main building and houses aroung it.
Clue 6. The weather vane on top of the tower above the clock incorporates a flag. Choose the number 0 if this is the St Andrews Cross, the number 1 if this is the Union Jack and the number 2 if this is something else.
Now go back to Mayfield Road and, depending on the time of day and the weather, there are several places near here where you can find refreshment and/or a seat while you work out the location of the cache.
You will find the cache at
Cache Location N 55° 55.ABC W 003° 10.DEF where
A = Clue 2
B = Clue 6
C = Clue 3
D = Clue 1
E = Clue 4
F = Clue 5
The six numbers should add up to 23.
The fence to which this cache was attached has been destroyed and a barrier erected. Until this goes back to normal, please message me with the co-ordinates for the cache and I will let you log it as a find if they are correct.
Congratulations to Peedieduchess for FTF less than two hours after this went live.