Jewish Edinburgh

Where, you might ask, is Jewish Edinburgh?  You might think first of a synagogue; after all, this is where Jewish gatherings commonly take…

My Medico-Legal Edinburgh

As an academic medical lawyer, my day job involves teaching about the regulation of the human body, of what can…

The Writers’ Museum

“It’s a grand thing to be given leave to live” Nan Shepherd (1893 – 1981) This is the cheerful message…

Second-hand Bookshops

Shortly after arriving in Edinburgh to live, I was walking through Bruntsfield in the South of the city when I…

Climbing Blackford Hill

I first climbed Blackford Hill, to the south of the city and one of the ‘seven hills’ of Edinburgh, in…

The Hermitage of Braid

As a child growing up in the 1960s in the area called the Braids on the south side of Edinburgh,…

The Scotsman Steps

At the point in the Old Town where the North Bridge leaps towards the New, stands a grand building bearing…

A Most Elegant Dirt Heap

If you are on Princes Street, whichever end you are coming from the line of sight will be dominated by…