Empty
On this day in 1590, King James VI of Scotland -- later also James I of England and Ireland -- made landfall at the port of Leith, after a perilous homeward voyage from his unplanned honeymoon in Denmark.
Our ongoing research into the history of Greyfriars cemetery has uncovered a number of fascinating characters buried in the kirkyard, and it's interesting to note that not all of these residents date back to the 17th or 18th centuries. One such later arrival is Leslie Balfour-Melville, who was buried in the graveyard in 1937. In some sporting circles, Balfour-Melville has been described as Scotland's greatest ever sportsman.
Our co-founder Robin Mitchell appeared in the fourth episode of the Channel 5 documentary series Walking Victorian Britain.
The Mad Monk of the Cowgate has turned his attentions to a new hobby: skateboarding.
Well, that was a long lunchbreak. Four months! My goodness me, that is a long time for the ghosts to be cooped up inside. So, like many of us, we are looking forward to getting back out onto the streets of Edinburgh.
Our walking tours will initially run on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays until we gauge what the demand for the tours will be.
And so Christmas 2020 approaches at high speed, which must mean 2021 is just around the corner.
As Halloween looms, we are preparing ourselves for what will be the most surreal 31st October we've experienced since 1985. Can you believe it? Thirty-five years of ghoulish endeavours in the Old Town of Edinburgh on what was always our busiest night of the year.
The summer of 2020 was a surreal experience for all of us.
It was a double-edged sword for tourist guides as tourism ground to a halt. The upside, however, was an eerily quiet capital city to explore; including Greyfriars cemetery, which was a joy to wander through as the kirkyard was as silent as its long-term occupants.
It's great to be back on the streets of Edinburgh's Old Town conducting our evening outdoor walking tours.
We've adapted very quickly to a socially-distanced tour with a limit of 15 guests in each group. It's been a creative challenge reinventing aspects of the trip which require audience participation, but so far so good. For their part, the customers attending the tours -- a mix of locals and visitors -- are acclimatising well to the "new normal" by keeping a respectful distance from other family groups and wearing face-coverings when required.
17th May 1718: On this date Edinburgh's Greyfriars Kirk was accidentally blown up by gunpowder. Not quite the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 on London's House of Lords but instead just a simple accident.
Edinburgh Town Council at that time stored their gunpowder in a small tower at the west end of the church. "This was surely asking for trouble!" I hear you loudly shout, and you'd be right. The west end of the church was obliterated, and a new west wall was built.
