Tuesday 30 November 2010

Views of Edinburgh

The last day of November is St Andrew's Day, and Scotland's official national day, so I've chosen four views of Edinburgh, all dating from November 1980, all sent by my father to himself.


A view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill with the Dugald Stewart Monument in the foreground.  Dugald Stewart was the Professor of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh from 1786 until he died in 1828.  Calton Hill is now where the Scottish Government has its headquarters.


Princes Street and the Castle, Edinburgh.
A general view of the Scottish Capital showing the Castle, the National Gallery, the Royal Scottish Academy , and the Scott Monument, dominating Princes Street, one of the finest thoroughfares in Europe.


John Knox's House, Edibnburgh
Situated in the High Street, this 16th century house was built by the goldsmith to Mary, Queen of Scots, and is reputed to have been at one time the property of John Knox.
John Knox is considered to have been the founder of the Presbyterian church in Scotland.


The Lawnmarket: This panoramic view of the Lawnmarket and Edinburgh Castle in the distance was taken from St Giles Cathedral.  Behind the Cathedral is Parliament House, where the Scots Parliament met from 1639 until the Union of Scotland and England in 1707.  Nearby is the National Library of Scotland and the Central Public Library.  Gladstone's Land is a fine 16th and 17th century six-storeyed house in the Lawnmarket and it preserves Edinburgh's last arcaded ground floor.
I haven't tried yet, but it would be fun to find these places on the map card I posted a few weeks ago.

A happy St Andrew's Day to my Scottish readers.  All right, one Scottish reader.  I know there's definitely one of you out there.
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6 comments:

  1. Looking at these, I am amazed at how unchanged it is from the turn-of-the-century Valentine prints I have of the same locations. Edinburgh is very high on the list of places I would like to visit.

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  2. Thanks for the lovely photos. Have you read any of Alexander McCall Smith? He has a series of books based in Edinburgh ("44 Scotland Street") ... and now I have a picture in my head as to where his characters live! Thank you!!

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  3. I was at St Andrews University in the 1950s and got to know Edinburgh well arriving there by overnight bus for term time. We always went to Murrayfield for the rugby - no tickets needed then. I wish I had a camera in those days; it's marvelous city.

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  4. Edinburgh is one of my favorite places that I visited. I was there around Christmas, but it was so cold.

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  5. Stunning postcards! I loved Edinburgh and must get around to posting about it one day.

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  6. Great post, love the way postcards are a real insight into history and geography of different times and places

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