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Looking up in Edinburgh

Jane & Helen Peyton

Published by
Wiley-Academy Publishing, Inc. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/
10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256

A review (©, 2004) by the author Jane Peyton
Original Copyright - review and photos - by Jane Peyton.  Used by permission of the author.  Photos provided as a courtesy by the author.  All rights reserved.  This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission of the author.

Review

Looking up in Edinburgh directs readers through the city's medieval Old Town and classical New Town.  Along the route are remarkable architectural gems.  The goal is to find them, using the book as your guide.  You do not need any architectural knowledge, just some comfortable shoes.  Imagine yourself as a detective and put your best sleuthing foot forward.  You are on a journey to explore the treasure trove of incredible buildings that combine to make Edinburgh such an unforgettable city.

Your mission if you choose to accept it, is to explore Edinburgh, searching for the architectural treasures featured in this handy sized travel guide.  Imagine yourself as a detective and put your best sleuthing foot forward.  You are on a journey to discover the incredible buildings that combine to make Edinburgh such an unforgettable city.

This book is the key to a secret Edinburgh.  It will enable you to see the city in a manner that people who hurry along the streets looking straight ahead do not.  Entering Edinburgh's hidden world is simple, just look up above eye-level and prepare for a surprise.  Goddesses, dragons and cherubs are gazing down, waiting to be admired.

Beginning in the Lothian Road area of Edinburgh, you are directed with the help of a simple map through three central districts of the city.  Along the route are the remarkable architectural and decorative jewels featured in the book's glossy photographs.  The goal is to find them, using the book as a guide.

Three clues about each mystery site are provided.
   1. The name of the street on which it is located.
   2. A map grid reference.
   3. A cryptic clue about the location or its vicinity (the answer is in the building's address).

Arm yourself with a detailed map of Edinburgh's Old and New Town and slip on some comfortable footwear.  Once on the route, start looking up until you identify the locations in the photographs.  To learn more about each site, turn the page for some fascinating historical facts.

If sleuthing is not your style, you can still explore Edinburgh above eye-level using the book as a straightforward travel guide.  The exact street address is listed overleaf of the photograph.  Or if you would rather admire Auld Reekie from afar, Looking up in Edinburgh is ideal for flicking through from this side of The Pond - although it is guaranteed to tempt you to call your travel agent!

Review: According to Edinburgh Architecture "It is a quirky pocket-sized book that brings together a travel guide with a treasure hunt.  It uses maps, original photographs, cryptic clues and fascinating historical facts to reveal an alternative history of Edinburgh through the architectural features that are situated above eye-level.  It is a side of the city we would not necessarily see, as when we walk along, we always look straight ahead, or down at the ground."

Authors: Jane and Helen Peyton grew up in Skipton, North Yorkshire.  Jane is a writer and journalist, currently working on a book in the Interior Angles series entitled Fabulous Food Shops for Wiley-Academy; and Helen is an art lecturer in Yorkshire.  Looking up in Edinburgh is their second professional collaboration after Looking up in London, published by Wiley-Academy in 2003.  As children, holidays were usually spent in Scotland and parts of the country are as familiar to them as their hometown.  Helen studied printmaking and photography at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, Jane supports Queen of the South football club, and both hope to be welcomed as honorary Scots! Looking up in London was their first professional collaboration.

ISBN: 0470091479
Price: $20.00
Paperback
144 pages
Order securely on-line.

Photos of Edinburgh

The author graciously provided these photos of Edinburgh with accompanying text to give you more information about the city.

The Red Rampant Lion is above the entrance to the Queen's Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Abbey Strand and Horse Wynd, Edinburgh EH8.

Inaugurated during Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee celebrations in 2002, the gallery displays a selection of art, jewellery and furniture from the Royal Collection. It occupies the shells of a 19th century church, and a charity school. Over the entrance, Scotland's heraldic lion welcomes visitors.

Abbey Strand represents the boundary of the Girth of Holyrood - Scotland's largest sanctuary. A letter S marked in bronze on the road indicates the perimeter. Sanctuary (a protection from civil law traditionally afforded by religious establishments) was established at Holyrood in the 12th Century under a charter granted by King David I. Those claiming asylum had to make a formal application to the Bailie of Holyrood for the benefit and privilege of sanctuary. If haven was granted, the asylum seekers paid a booking fee, and letters of protection were issued. This allowed them to live in the Girth of Holyrood, free from arrest because it was not under the jurisdiction of Canongate or Edinburgh. The sanctuary enclosed Arthur's Seat and Holyrood Park and was like a small town with shops, lodging houses, taverns. Refugees were known as Abbey Lairds and could leave the sanctuary at midnight on a Saturday and spend the following day without fear of arrest because legal proceedings were forbidden on a Sunday.

Debtors in particular took advantage of Holyrood's sanctuary. Until 1880 when mandatory imprisonment for insolvency was abolished, thousands of men and women sheltered from their creditors within the Abbey precincts. Holyrood's sanctuary has never been formally annulled though whether traffic wardens would recognise it for delinquent car parking is doubtful.

This is the dome of the Headquarters of the Bank of Scotland on The Mound (Bank Street, Edinburgh EH1).  The gold statue on the green dome is Fame.

A statue of Fame stands on top of Britain's oldest clearing bank established in 1695 by an act of the Scottish Parliament. At that time, Scotland was a poor country living through a turbulent period and uncertain future with its neighbour to the south. Barter or payment in kind was the manner of business in much of rural Scotland. In urban areas, coins were in short supply and not always trusted. The introduction of paper money by the Bank of Scotland in 1696 improved conditions for trade and industry and helped to stabilize the economy.

This site on Bank Street was purchased at a cost of 1,350 Pounds for a purpose built company headquarters. A Georgian villa with dome was constructed in 1796. Within 50 years it was too small for the expanding business. New wings were added and the old building was encased in the current Baroque exterior. Statues on the facades represent goddesses and subjects related to commerce.

Fame is symbolic of achievement; Prosperity, with an urn and grapes, and Plenty holding a sheaf of corn in her arm stand on two subsidiary domes. Other statues represent Britannia and her children, Agriculture, Navigation, Commerce, and Mechanics.

When Bonnie Prince Charlie was on his march south in 1745 to proclaim his exiled father as Britain's rightful King (James III), the Bank's directors, concerned that civil strife would accompany the Prince's arrival in Edinburgh stored papers and valuables at the Castle. In addition, the business closed its doors for several weeks until the rebels had passed through.

This is the clock tower of the Balmoral Hotel on Princes Street (1 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2).  It was formerly the North British Hotel and served Waverley station down below.  The clock is always two minutes fast so travellers running to the railway station still have two minutes in hand.  The only time the clock runs to the correct time is on Hogmanay when Princes Street is the scene of a huge party, and the clock counts down the minutes to midnight.

Robert Louis Stevenson described the North Bridge corner of the Balmoral Hotel as the high altar in this northern temple of winds. Afternoon tea in the hotel's Victorian Palm Court is a great escape from the windiest spot in town.

The Balmoral was originally called the North British and it was built as a grand hotel to serve Waverley railway station. Luxury extended to the smallest furnishings - japanned dishes to capture drips from fire hydrants and thermometers in lacquered cases to measure the temperature of bath water. On New Year's Eve, the Balmoral's clock is the focus for thousands of Hogmanay revellers on Princes Street when the countdown to midnight begins. This is the only time the clock registers accurate Greenwich Mean Time. On all other days it is two minutes fast so people running late for the train will arrive with time to spare. The clock tower is an Edinburgh landmark and its situation has made it the second most photographed location in the city after the Castle.

Waverley is unique for being the only railway station in Britain named after a novel (by Sir Walter Scott). British Rail planned to rename it in the 1990s but opposition to change was too strong.

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