'Knocking around' : to wander about without any specific purpose
‘Newington’ : New ton = new town
ing = meadow
Welcome the the New Town Meadow, which at one time was land sloping southwards from the city, covered with rich farmland and a few country homes.
Newington is an area of South Edinburgh with a population of around 11,000 people. It lies about 2 km south of the city centre and is bordered by St Leonards and Prestonfield to the east, Cameron Toll and Liberton to the south, Blackford to the west, and Southside to the north.
Originally the land here was part of the Great Forest of Drumselch. Around the end of the 16th century, the land began to be feued by the town council but remained mainly rural until the early 19th century when BENJAMIN BELL, a surgeon from Dumfriesshire, purchased the land and began to develop it as a suburb. Many of the street names come from his home in Dumfries, such as Blacket and Middleby. The area that includes the Blackets is known locally as ‘Belleville’. His great grandson Joseph Bell was the inspiration for Conan Doyle’s masterpiece Sherlock Holmes. It was once part of MidLothian but became incorporated into the City of Edinburgh around 1850.
Development of this area was encouraged by an Act of Parliament in 1794 ordering the building of the North Bridge and by 1812 the road was completed all the way south to Liberton and Gilmerton. At first, the rich folk of the New Town built houses in Newington to use as weekend retreats or country homes! (so nothing much has changed: many of the grand houses have been turned now into hotels, boarding houses and nursing homes; while student accommodation and short term lets spring up everywhere.)
Newington can be roughly divided into a northern section, which has mainly Victorian tenements and Georgian terraces and shops, and a southerly section, where the big villas of the rich folks can be found, and a few industrial buildings. You could also split it east and west: because in the19th century, the parts around Causewayside, Duncan St, and thereabouts, were considered to be very inferior to those on Minto Street and the East side. The evidence for this can still be seen today, and I’ll take you to a street where they used to shut the gates at either end to keep out the riff raff. (nothing new then about ‘gated communities’.)
There are twelve southside local history caches, and 2 bonus mystery caches:
First series: Gambol Through the Grange Second series: Sally into the Southside
Meander Through Marchmont Knocking around Newington
Saunter Through Sciennes Toddle Around Tollcross
Bimble Through Blackford Footerin' Aboot in Fountainbridge
Birl Through Bruntsfield Perambulate through Prestonfield
Mosey Through the Meadows Stravaiging around St Leonard's
There is a bonus mystery cache for the first series: Jig Through Half a Dozen History Multis
There is a bonus mystery cache for the second series: Jig Through another Half a Dozen multicaches
LET’S KNOCK AROUND. I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE YOU TO ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING THERE IS TO SEE, YOU’D NEED A WEEK, SO I'VE ONLY PICKED OUT THE BEST PLACES FOR AN INTERESTING WALK. You can visit the waypoints in any order you like. I have ordered them roughly north to south; if you like a circular route, then I'd suggest starting at no. 5 (Duncan Street) and walking in the order 5, 4, 3, 1, 2, then walk down Dalkeith Road to Blacket Avenue, no. 6.
WAYPOINT 1 Royal ‘Dick’ Vet School N 55° 56.379' W 3° 10.894
SPECKLES HORSE SCULPTURE COMMISSIONED BY WILLIAM DICK
RIP 3rd August 2012 - 5th April 2024
‘Summerhall’ is now a venue for theatre and music, gin making, weddings and houses the ‘hack lab’. Edinburgh Hack Lab
But it was once the world-famous veterinary school, founded by Professor William Dick in 1823 and before that there was the Summerhall Brewery, founded in 1704 and making use of the water from the South Loch, also known as the Borough Loch, which was later drained to form the Meadows. The school has now moved to a modern campus at Easter Bush, along with the wonderful animal hospital clinics. Speckles is one of their most popular clients and has trained many vet students over the years.
The coordinates are next to a plaque about an iconic horse sculpture, over 200 years old, that used to be here: it was moved to Easter Bush along with the school.
QUESTION: Look at the plaque about the horse on the wall near the side (goods) entrance. Be careful in case a vehicle comes! What is the last number on the plaque?
ANSWER = A
WAYPOINT 2 East Preston Street Burial Ground, Grave of Jean Lorimer N55 56.354 W003 10.540
'The Lassie wi’ the lint white locks’
Jean Lorimer (1773 - 1831) was the inspiration for over 30 poems and songs Robert Burns wrote about her. He gave her the nickname ‘Chloris’.
Jean was very beautiful, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and was about 16 yrs old when Burns first met her, but at 19 she eloped with a Cumbrian boy called Andrew Whelpdale. He abandoned her only 3 weeks later and ended up in debtors prison in Carlisle. Jean initially got work as a governess but became practically a beggar on the streets of Newington until a kind couple took her in as a servant in their house in Blacket Place. She died at the age of 56 of chronic lung disease. Of interest, so poor was she towards the end, that she could not pay the doctor, so he accepted in lieu of payment some of her collection of Robert Burns letters. The inscription on the grave reads:
The "Chloris" and "Lassie wi' the lint white locks" of the poet Burns
Born 1773 Died 1831
Erected under the auspices of the Ninety Burns Club.
I like this rendition by Karen Matheson:
Lassie wi' the lint white locks
Have a walk around the cemetery. Did you notice the watchtower? It was there so that people could keep an eye open for graverobbers. Some of the graves were enclosed with metal railings, also to discourage the bodysnatchers. By the way: just around the corner on Newington Road, is the house where the infamous Dr Robert Knox lived. He was the one who bought 'fresh' bodies for dissection from Messrs. Burke and Hare.
Take a look also at the Nelson War Memorial, which names people who worked at the Nelson Printworks and who fell in the First World War. The print works was on the site now occupied by the Scottish Widows building on Dalkeith Road. There are several gravestones for printworkers.
QUESTION: Have a look behind you as you face Jean’s grave. Find the lair belonging to William Frier. When was it erected? Take the penultimate number and double it.
ANSWER = B
WAYPOINT 3 Longmore Hospital, Salisbury Place N55 56.234 W003 10.732
Now known as Longmore House, this is now the headquarters for Historic Environment Scotland.
It was opened in 1875 as a hospital for ‘incurables’, but Peedieduchess knows it better through her work as an anaesthetist; she used to work in the breast cancer unit here every Wednesday morning until the specialised breast cancer unit moved to the Western General Hospital in 1994.
QUESTION: look at the entrance and exit gates. There are signs written in both English and Gaelic. What is the last letter of the Gaelic word for the exit? Convert this to a number then divide it by your answer for B
ANSWER = C
NOTE: THERE IS A TRAD NEAR HERE: DON’T MISS IT: Longmore House
WAYPOINT 4 National Library of Scotland ‘Map Library’, Salisbury Place N55° 56.179' W003° 10.802
This is a modern building constructed in the 1980s as an annexe of the main library on George IV Bridge, and houses an enormous collection of maps. There are 3 levels below the street and a roof terrace. Its the place to come if you want to look at an old map: by appointment only. ‘Not history’ I hear you say: but the parent building is and I thought that a place with over 2 million maps would be of interest to geocachers, so please forgive me for including this. Also, this site was once where the Middlemass Biscuit Factory used to be. Robert Middlemass (1819-1904) claimed to have invented the digestive biscuit. He is buried in Grange Cemetery.
NOW and THEN
QUESTION: Look at the poster of the globe in the window, round the side on Causewayside. What Scottish city is marked in the segment to the right of the middle, near the bottom? Convert the last letter to a number with 2 digits, then add them together to get a single digit
ANSWER = D
NOTE: THERE IS A WAYPOINT NEARBY FOR AN ADVENTURE LAB ‘EDINBURGH MAP MAKERS’.
WAYPOINT 5 The Geographical Institute, Duncan Street N55° 56.120' W003° 10.632'
Now converted into flats, but was the headquarters of the Geographical Institute, founded by Dr J.G. Bartholomew, FRCS. He was a surgeon but also outstandingly knowledgeable about cartography. His father had established the firm of map makers called John Bartholomew & Sons in 1826, and in 1888 Bartholomew changed the name to the ‘Edinburgh Geographical Institute’, later called ‘The Royal Scottish Geographical Society’, in order to promote geographical knowledge. He lived in Newington House, Blacket Avenue, which you may have a look at later.
QUESTION: There is a plaque on the wall, behind a pillar. How many times does the name Bartholomew appear on the sign?
ANSWER: = E
NOTE: THERE IS A WAYPOINT NEARBY FOR AN ADVENTURE LAB ‘EDINBURGH MAP MAKERS’.
WAYPOINT 6 Blacket Avenue N55° 56.141' W003° 10.564'
GATE PILLARS, BLACKET AVENUE, JUNCTION WITH DALKEITH ROAD
Now here we reach the (very) posh bit of Newington; packed full of listed buildings. You’ll not get any change from a few million if you buy one of these houses. Do you see where there used to be gates? they were locked at dusk to keep out the riff-raff from over the road in Causewayside. There are 3 sets of gate pillars on Dalkeith Road end, leading into Belleville at Blacket Avenue, Blacket Place and Mayfield Terrace, and these ones here on Minto Street. The 'smaller' houses near the pillars were for the lodgekeepers who locked the gates at dusk: it was important to get home before that!
This is the part of Newington known also as ‘Belleville’. This is named after Dr Benjamin Bell, a surgeon, who bought the whole area in 1803. He died in 1806 so didn’t live long enough to enjoy his lands for long. His grandson Dr Joseph Bell was the inspiration for Conan Doyle’s master detective Sherlock Holmes. Bell built Newington House whose later occupants included Dr J.G. Bartholomew, founder of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in 1884. Newington House became a home for blind servicemen, then was demolished in 1966 to make way for University accommodation.
Have a seat here to work out your final coordinates.
Before heading for the final location, you may wish to take a stroll along Blacket Avenue and Blacket Place to admire the houses. 44 Blacket Place is where Bartholomew lived; Belleville Lodge, which is now a nursing home at the junction of Blacket Avenue and Blacket Place, was the original home of Joseph Bell (Sherlock Holmes); and look in awe at Arthur Lodge, at the junction of Blacket Avenue and Dalkeith Rd. It has been lived in by Andrew Usher (of the Usher Hall and Brewing fame) and later his daughter and son in law William Burn-Murdoch (d.1939) artist, Antarctic explorer and co-founder of the Scottish National Party. He entertained Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott in this house.
If you’d like to see inside, here’s a link:
ARTHUR LODGE
Some other people who have lived in the nearby streets around here: Eric Liddell (missionary and athlete); David Bowie (singer) Lindsay Kemp (actor); Ian Rankin (author).
QUESTION: There used to be a bench here where you could sit to do your sums: sadly it's standing room only now! Find the 'no right turn' sign. On the back you will see 2 numbers and 2 letters. Subtract 2 from the second number to get F.
ANSWER = F
The cache can be found at: N 55° 56.ABC' W 3° 10.DEF
Checksum: 22
I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of Newington. Please keep your answers safe: you will need them for the bonus
A note for wheelchair users and the less able: The route is all on city pavements, except for a little bit of grass in the cemetery. Not all of the pavements have dropped kerbs, but the final location is accessible to you. Peedieduchess takes about 1.5 hours to walk the suggested circular route.