Ghost Tour of Edinburgh

Went on the Ghost tour tonight.

Turned up at the muster point and met the guide (Looks a lot like Ron Perlman and has a voice to match).

He started the tour with the Mercat Cross describing the some of the gruesome methods used in executing criminals. The criminal would be suspended by a rope around their ankles and the rope release. It was only long enough to stop them about 2 feet from the ground and this was repeated.

He recounted the story of a building that has now been demolished and he told the story of the murder that took place. He wove a good tale about not actually telling the story on the site but one alley (close) over as supernatural events have happened when the story has been told on the actual site.

We went to a number of places on the tour including the South Bridge Vaults which were a arched bridge where the arches were enclosed by buildings on either side resulting in a large number of vaults.and the tour company runs historical as well as ghost tours.

The guide is expert at making you believe in ghosts. The vaults were not as low as the mine tour so I could stand up in most with a bit of headroom, but almost all of the vaults have wet floors and walls.

First day in Edinburgh

The hotel has a good hot buffet breakfast included in the room rate.

Walked up the Royal Mile watching some of the street performers in the fringe festival including

• Puppeteers
• Acrobatics
• Musicians
• A Predator (Film Monster).
• Ballerinas. They were standing on top of small stone pillars (about 20cms across) with rounded tops. Great balance.

Found the meeting place for the tour I had arranged at the Mercat Cross which is near St. Giles Cathedral. 

This is the fourth tour I have been on with other Australians.

The tour usually is up the Royal Mile but it is packed during the festival, so the tour guide takes a different route. 

The Mercat Cross is not a religious symbol but the name is the origin of the work Market.

It is also used to make official announcements such as election results and royal births three days after the event as it would have taken that long for a horse and rider to reach Edinburgh from London instead of four hours on the train. 

The train reached a peak speed of 218km/h on the trip from London.

The railway line is along the coast and the weather was nasty as the North Sea was very rough.

The East Coast Rail Company has a really good service. They put your luggage in the guard van at Kings Cross and unload it at you destination. This is different than the Cardiff trip as you have to get the luggage onto the train and store it in the carriage yourself.

Very interesting tour with a lot of history included. We walked down to to the grass market which did not sell grass but livestock. 

There is a superb view of the castle and volcanic rock outcrop that it sits on. The layout of Edinburgh is a result of ice age activity where a large glacier split in two when it hit the volcanic rock on which the castle sits and scoured two valleys each side.

Edinburgh sits on the top of the resulting ridge and down into the two valleys either side.

There seems to be quite a number of pubs in England,Wales and Scotland that are named 'The White Hart'.

I find this amusing because Arthur C Clarke wrote a series of short stories set in a pub called the white hart. They are some of his funniest stories.

Grass Market was also the site of hangings in the 17th century.

Edinburgh has a number of building that are up to 8 stories tall and built of stone. They are stepped down the side of the valley and start off with 4 stories and increasing in height as the valley falls away.

It was not uncommon for people of different classes to live in the same building and the small alley's (close's) that pass between the buildings were usually covered in waste as Edinburgh does not have 

river and most waste products were emptied from the bucket straight into the street.

Edinburgh also is broken in two with a Old City and a recent (300 years) New City the design of which influenced modern city design.

I have to upload the photos still so I will add them tomorrow.

Looking forward to the Tattoo tomorrow night and the highlands tour on Friday. I will probably get on the city sightseeing bus service that operates here as well as it is good value for 13 pounds for a whole 24 hour ticket.

Just had dinner in the hotel bar. I am going to order a starter instead of a main next time as it was a very large piece of fish and chips with a large salad on the side. 

It seems that the Scots like there meals large. 

The hotel is quite nice. No Air Conditioning in the room but it is comfortable if a little warm.. Wifi Included (usually 20 pounds per day) or wired internet at 10 pounds per day.

The hotel is very interesting in that a lane passes down the middle between reception and the lifts. This lane continues on up to some steps so I think it must be a traditional right of way and they had to accommodate it when the hotel was built. I picked it because it is very close to the railway station and the Royal Mile.

The Wifi is quite fast.

York

Just pulling into York. They just served lunch. It was some very nice canneloni.

Edinburgh

Just boarding the train to Edinburgh. Different railway company. They actually check your luggage instead of having to manhandle it into the carraige.

Slough

Caught the train to Slough to attend a one day Doctor Who event.

Paid the extra for a first class ticket to avoid the crowds on the previous day.

Weather is sunny but with a nice breeze so I walked from the station to the venue.

Only a small Doctor Who fan convention supporting a kids charity. I got meet a number of the doctor's companions. 

Only 300 tickets were sold. I thought I was slightly mad at auctions lately but someone paid 1250 pounds (about $2000) for a visit to a company called big finish who produce Doctor Who and other audio stories. 

It included meeting the Paul McGann and the other actors on the day of recording. I would probably bid but it was for late September.

I will post the photos later.

Oxford

Went for a day trip to Oxford to see the university.

One of the gleaming spires of Oxford.

This was the site of a fort.

Sheldonian Theatre. Would have looked as it is normally open to the public but some sort of presentation was happening.

A bronze statue on the top of the Blackwells books building. It currently has a set of headphones as a result of student pranks.

For any fans of Inspector Morse this is Thames Valley constabulary building which is used in the series (It really is the police station) and apparently there is a sign in the window that was Morse's office. Couldn't see it.

Went to see Christchurch college. This is the meadow and the exterior of the college.

The meadow extends from the college to the Thames.

It is 8.50 pounds to visit the College. You have to go in a side entrance. The main entrance is guarded by porters who still wear Bowler Hats (Even the women) as part of there uniform.

The interior view of the quad at christchurch.

The Cathedral at Christchurch college is beautiful.

Another shot of the Sheldonian Theatre.

Got the train back to London. It was rather overcrowded.

British Library

The weather forecast for today was 31 degrees so I changed my plans from Oxford and decided to visit the British Library which is just down the road from the hotel.

They have an exhibit of 'Treasures of the British Library' which included documents and books dating from 600AD to the 1960's.

No photographs as they don't allow photography which is quite understandable given the age and condition of some of the items on display.

The most interesting items were

• A Gutenberg Bible.
• Letters from the British Government to the Japanese Government when trade was opened up by the British East India Company.
• Two of the remaining copies of the Magna Carta. One is still readable (If you read old english) but is missing the royal seal and the other still has the seal but is not in such good condition.
• Various example of Joseph Banks and other early naturalists drawings and sketches. They are still beautiful work.
• Some of the Beatles original song lyrics.
• Early editions of Shakespeare's works.

They have a good website showing some of the exhibit. I did a quick search of the internet to find more information. A lot of these documents have been scanned and digital copies are available to examine more closely.

I think that libraries and museum are having to compete with the web.