Morningside Road changes

Post by Kenneth MacDonald
It struck me today that I've no idea what stood on Morningside Road
between Newbattle Terrace and Falcon Avenue before the modern flats.
I seem to remember the flats looked very new when I arrived in
Edinburgh in 1987.
Were there tenements there, and if so why were they demolished?
Cheers,
Kenny.

Graeme Wood

2007-05-15 17:06:37 UTC

Historic Digimap (http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/historic/) shows there to
be gardens there. There is the building on the corner of Newbattle
Terrace and then a walled garden from there down to Falcon Road.

Arellcat

2007-05-17 14:01:39 UTC

In his book, "South Edinburgh in Pictures", the prolific Charles J. Smith
offers a few tantalising clues to the development of Morningside Road to the
south, but unfortunately there are no photographs of what occupied the site
where the flats are now.

Plate 120 (c.1910) shows a view from the corner of Millar Crescent, looking
north up Morningside Road, and you can clearly see Caanan Lane, Steel's
Place and the rather grand stone pillars of the entrance gate to the
driveway of Falcon Hall. You can also make out the series of little
cottages which were just to the north of the pillars. Beyond the cottages
looks like a lot of dense trees, either lining the road or more likely being
some the trees forming the western border of Falcon Hall estate, which
backed onto the buildings seen in the 1894 map from the NLS website that
Brian mentioned.

At least you can still see the imposing entrance gates from Falcon Hall as
they now form the frontage of Edinburgh Zoo, and the grand pillars and
entrance of Falcon Hall itself were incorporated into map man John
Bartholomew's new premises on the south side of Duncan Street.

The flats, though, look very 1980s to me, and if the walled garden was there
a hundred years earlier, did it last that long or did it become overgrown
perhaps?

Becky

Arellcat

2007-05-17 15:16:30 UTC

Post by Arellcat

Post by Graeme Wood
Historic Digimap (http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/historic/) shows there to
be gardens there. There is the building on the corner of Newbattle
Terrace and then a walled garden from there down to Falcon Road.

I've found another photograph, this time in Malcolm Cant's "Old Tollcross,
Morningside and Swanston". The view is looking east along Falcon Avenue
from Morningside Road, dated 1914. The north side of Falcon Avenue had just
been built: four-storey tenements looking very new and shiny. On the edge
of the photo you can see the south-west corner of the tenements, and it's
clear that it isn't quite on the corner with the main road. What is on the
corner is a tall wooden fence, surrounding that bit of space and a sign that
reads: "J R Cruikshank [or something], Builder". Presumably the
photographer didn't include much of that area his view because there wasn't
much to see.

Becky

Kenneth MacDonald

2007-05-17 20:16:40 UTC

Post by Arellcat

Post by Graeme Wood
Historic Digimap (http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/historic/) shows
there to be gardens there. There is the building on the corner
of Newbattle Terrace and then a walled garden from there down
to Falcon Road.

Arellcat> I've found another photograph, this time in Malcolm
Arellcat> Cant's "Old Tollcross, Morningside and Swanston". The
Arellcat> view is looking east along Falcon Avenue from
Arellcat> Morningside Road, dated 1914.

Great responses from usenet, as always! Malcolm's my neighbour's
cousin and she keeps lending me signed copies which she's duty bound
to buy. I'll look this one out.

I've been collecting old postcards of areas of interest to me and it's
amazing how little some places change. I have three different P/Cs of
my street alone from 1910-1920 and the only difference is the lack of
cars and big bins. Looked much nicer in the "olden days". Oh, and
sheep grazing on The Meadows amuses everyone.

My next challenge to you all is to find a photograph of the old
railway bridge over Lanark Road that carried the Balerno branch line.
The Water of Leith Walkway uses the original bridge with a new
concrete deck over the canal if you look closely.

It would be interesting to have a "time machine" of
www.geograph.co.uk for such questions!

Cheers,

Kenny.

--
Desktop Services Team, EUCS.

University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sir Chewbury Gubbins

2007-05-18 08:18:29 UTC

Post by Kenneth MacDonald
Great responses from usenet, as always!

*boggle*

Choobs

--
Sir Chewbury Gubbins <***@nelefa.org>
http://www.nelefa.org
http://www.nelefa.org/spofnod/
Abu the Monkey was never naughty.

Nick Fiddes

2007-05-15 21:07:23 UTC

Don't know. But it was a gap site for many years, that I walked past
(and sometimes played in) daily in the 70s. So you'll have to look back
further than that. Curiously my memory suggests it had a (proper) low
stone wall at the perimeter, which implies maybe it had been something
other than a tenement.
Historic Digimap (http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/historic/) shows there to
be gardens there. There is the building on the corner of Newbattle
Terrace and then a walled garden from there down to Falcon Road.

Any way that the rest of us can see this from outwith the privileged
realms of eduniland, from which I'm nowadays banished? I'd be
fascinated to see it.

Graeme Wood

2007-05-16 07:21:46 UTC

Don't know. But it was a gap site for many years, that I walked past
(and sometimes played in) daily in the 70s. So you'll have to look
back further than that. Curiously my memory suggests it had a (proper)
low stone wall at the perimeter, which implies maybe it had been
something other than a tenement.
Historic Digimap (http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/historic/) shows there to
be gardens there. There is the building on the corner of Newbattle
Terrace and then a walled garden from there down to Falcon Road.

Any way that the rest of us can see this from outwith the privileged
realms of eduniland, from which I'm nowadays banished? I'd be fascinated
to see it.

You don't have to be in eduniland. You just need to be able to access
Athens protected resources: any university or the NHS should do.

Halmyre

2007-05-16 08:38:15 UTC

Don't know. But it was a gap site for many years, that I walked past
(and sometimes played in) daily in the 70s. So you'll have to look
back further than that. Curiously my memory suggests it had a (proper)
low stone wall at the perimeter, which implies maybe it had been
something other than a tenement.
Historic Digimap (http://digimap.edina.ac.uk/historic/) shows there to
be gardens there. There is the building on the corner of Newbattle
Terrace and then a walled garden from there down to Falcon Road.

Any way that the rest of us can see this from outwith the privileged
realms of eduniland, from which I'm nowadays banished? I'd be fascinated
to see it.

You don't have to be in eduniland. You just need to be able to access
Athens protected resources: any university or the NHS should do.

Sadly, not always the case. Heriot-Watt for instance has only subscribed
to the OS Map collection, and even then you have to have good reason to
be given access to it.
I suspect it probably costs them a packet, because I used to be able to
access the Historic Map collection without any prior request, but not
any more, so I take it they've cancelled that bit of it.

--
Halmyre

Smithy

2007-05-16 21:59:12 UTC

I seem to remeber a builders yard being there before the "new" flats were
built. Would have been about 1984-6 time frame.

Cheers

Smithy

Graeme Dods

2007-05-18 15:28:12 UTC

Post by Nick Fiddes
Any way that the rest of us can see this from outwith the privileged
realms of eduniland, from which I'm nowadays banished? I'd be fascinated
to see it.

You don't have to be in eduniland. You just need to be able to access
Athens protected resources: any university or the NHS should do.

I have access, of a sort. I can see the directory listing for that
page (a bunch of .jsp files mainly). Any links clicked give a rather
prettified Digimap/Edina Java error page. I'm surprised that I get
anything at all if it's meant to be restricted as you say. I don't
think a West Australian ISP matches any of the above criteria!

Graeme

Graeme Dods

2007-05-18 15:31:55 UTC

Post by Graeme Dods
I have access, of a sort. I can see the directory listing for that
page (a bunch of .jsp files mainly). Any links clicked give a rather
prettified Digimap/Edina Java error page. I'm surprised that I get
anything at all if it's meant to be restricted as you say. I don't
think a West Australian ISP matches any of the above criteria!

Ah, misunderstanding there. It's not some weird extranet creating the
access restrictions, just a username/password requirement. Shame, I'd
got my hopes up a little there.

Graeme

Sam Nelson

2007-05-18 15:34:30 UTC

Post by Graeme Dods

Post by Nick Fiddes
Any way that the rest of us can see this from outwith the privileged
realms of eduniland, from which I'm nowadays banished? I'd be fascinated
to see it.

You don't have to be in eduniland. You just need to be able to access
Athens protected resources: any university or the NHS should do.

Where I am, you have to register properly for Edina access---it was more than
just Athens. I had to get a form filled in and signed by the local Edina rep
and justify my addition. Do other institutions get to hand out access to
`everyone onsite'?

--
SAm.

Dave

2007-05-16 18:06:26 UTC

On Tue, 15 May 2007 21:07:23 GMT, Nick Fiddes
<***@myforenamemysurname.com> somehow managed to impart:
[snip]

Any way that the rest of us can see this from outwith the privileged
realms of eduniland, from which I'm nowadays banished? I'd be
fascinated to see it.

Historic Digimap seems to show the same as my copy of Edinburgh Sheet
3.11 - the Old Ordnance Survey Map of Merchiston, Bruntsfield and
North Morningside 1896. These maps were widely available in shops.

From the text: "A line of mansions stood south of Newbattle Terrace,
including Falcon Hall which by 1896 had become a ladies college run by
the Misses Gossip."

The maps are fascinating. This one's ISBN number is 0 907554 49 0.

Sadly, a search at:
<http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/>
didn't find anything.

Dave.
<http://www.henniker.org.uk> 3000 photos especially
Edinburgh & Scotland. + 3D rendered art, old ads etc.
Délété david for email; watch the spam filters.

Halmyre

2007-05-16 18:42:59 UTC

In article <***@4ax.com>, ***@dªv¡
dhenniker.org.uk says...

Post by Dave
On Tue, 15 May 2007 21:07:23 GMT, Nick Fiddes
[snip]

Any way that the rest of us can see this from outwith the privileged
realms of eduniland, from which I'm nowadays banished? I'd be
fascinated to see it.

I assume "Misses Gossip" isn't a name, it's a statement of fact?

--
Halmyre

Sam Wilson

2007-05-17 09:46:04 UTC

Post by Halmyre
dhenniker.org.uk says...

Post by Dave
From the text: "A line of mansions stood south of Newbattle Terrace,
including Falcon Hall which by 1896 had become a ladies college run by
the Misses Gossip."

I assume "Misses Gossip" isn't a name, it's a statement of fact?

Could be, but I have a friend who is Miss Gossip, and she and her sister
would have been the Misses Gossip before the sister was married.

Sam

Brian Campbell

2007-05-16 21:36:49 UTC