Inverleith Park and Fettes College. Edinburgh.

                                                 ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN.

The free exhibition in Inverleith House proved to be better than expected... because it was all about soil/earth and its uses. A lot of modern art galleries are not to my taste as they don't really mean anything. I've been in both Glasgow's and Edinburgh's Gallery of Modern Art years ago and can't think of one single work that made a real lasting impression on me.... Like instantly forgettable songs.... yet certain songs...music or lyrics...or certain books....or certain paintings... or certain ideas.... will haunt me forever.

 Not so these beautiful colourful toilets in Edinburgh's GoMA done in vibrant primary  palm-sized tiles. That was wonderful and I still remember them. A photo from 2017.

Unexpected and amazing. Definite Wow factor here.

Back to Inverleith House and giant waist high pots. Or chest height if smaller. This exhibition was all about soil and it's myriad uses. But it wasn't about highly polished pieces of art/sculpture. It was more about what you could make that was useful... and raw. Still basic earth.

Like these blocks of soil. All different kinds of earth.

Soil data. This is why it matters. Obviously war is another way to ruin soil, either land mines taking up growing room, sprayed with poisons, covered in burning oil, open cast mines, soil simply power hosed away into rivers looking for gems or rare metals, an increasing trend worldwide... the list is endless. We do not treasure it enough... or our plant pollinators...

Straw and mud/soil/ peat. The earliest house bricks/ building materials and fuel. Still used today. From stone age to modern life.

The 'snake of soil.' All different types.

This snake tail reminded me strongly of chocolate. Maybe that's why they had someone guarding/ watching this one particular exhibit. And with good reason. I felt a very strong compulsion to put my finger in this then lick it and I'm never usually a 'I've got to touch things' person at all. And being gravel/ soil it would be grim to taste I'd imagine, unless I was a worm, but the eyes were completely deceived. It was chocolate on that table.

This was one item that seemed out of place here but also fascinating. The warrior daughter of a Pict. I don't think I've ever seen a Pict depicted before. They existed in Scotland before the Romans arrived in Britain, left carved objects in many places but then vanished. Either wiped out by the Romans or other tribes, assimilated into the Empire, or more probably, severely reduced to pitiful numbers by first contact diseases ( the biggest killer of ancient people worldwide.) And left few traces of what they looked like. The Romans called them 'the painted people' The Picts.... as they painted or tattooed their bodies, as seen here in this reimagined work. Ironically, it is mostly from Roman accounts of their startling appearance that they are remembered at all.

Weirdly, the only other mention of Picts and a Pictish Kingdom that I've read about (outside of real Scottish history) is in Robert E Howard's Conan books. Set before the dawn of recorded society in a primitive age this gifted USA small town Texas writer nevertheless created a very believable ancient world. His brilliant memory retention for facts and natural storytelling talent lifted these books into popular culture from the 1930s right into the 1960s and 1970s due to speedy pace and dramatic landscapes, filling each short story, often under 10 or 20 pages long, with a wealth of fine detail and gained knowledge without it showing up in the story at all. Marc Bolan was a fan of his books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Howard   In this link look at First Writings. 2nd paragraph down for his introduction to the Picts and his lasting obsession with them.

Info here. I had not heard of this explorers name before so  being curious I looked it up. It's amazing how there is always new stuff to learn and absorb. Enough for one thousand lifetimes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Le_Moyne

After that I was ready for something different so I picked Inverleith Park which is right beside the West Gate of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Being in an upmarket area, (Inverleith,) this is still a grand park. Unlike the twisting trails and hidden hollows of the Royal Botanic Garden Inverleith Park was refreshingly open and spacious. Seen above. Both parks are a similar size but feel very different in character. 

Entrance gates. And a park I had not properly explored before. I whizzed through it on a bike tour years ago taking under two minutes to cross it. This time I wandered slowly on foot, visiting all corners of the park from end to end.

Popular with dog walkers. Unless you arrive on foot or by bus or are a local living nearby you will be paying £4:50 an hour to park here mon to fri. £18 for 4 hours max stay.

Inverleith Park pond. A substantial one.

Different angle.

They had a marsh area with a raised walkway closed off to give birds a nesting and breeding zone away from the open bare pond.

A coot paddling past.

Pentland Hills in the distance.

Edinburgh Castle.

And you also get a glimpse of Fettes College from the park. One of the most exclusive private schools in Scotland. PM Tony Blair studied here along with many of the ruling classes. Future MPs, CEOs, entrepreneurs, hedge fund types all sent here to learn the connections, methods and skills required to rule the masses and get ahead in business... or whatever else they fancied on the menu. 

The entrance gates. Need a magic password to get in though.

The full view from a decade ago. Impressive building. I would not be surprised to learn that this was an inspiration for Harry Potter's School in Edinburgh based JK's books. My own school was rather different.... but just as exciting... in its own way.

Spring in Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden. A Photo Gallery.

                                    ALL PHOTOS CLICK FULL SCREEN. 

With the arrival of spring in 2026 I was keen to go back to Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden as I hadn't visited the place for years. So three hours later... I was walking in them. Alan didn't fancy six hours free bus travel ( with Saltire Card, over 60s) so I went by myself, just taking a good book with me. (I'm alternating between Peter Robinson's DCI Banks novels, Linwood Barclay novels, and Lee Child novels at the moment which keeps me entertained. Bestselling paperbacks from 50 pence to £1:50 each from local charity shops. Everyone else glued to their phones on bus journeys nowadays so not much chance of random conversations occurring on buses, with fellow passengers, which did sometimes happen in the past. Either that or I'm just older... and elderly folk might as well be invisible sometimes. Good spies presumably. Another thing that happened is that I viewed my blog ( this blog) on someone else's smart phone and was shocked. It does not do justice to my photographs at all. They really need a bigger screen than a smart phone to be effective.... or interesting.

Once in Edinburgh it was a quick visit to Edinburgh's bus station (toilets both here and in Buchannan Bus Station as well as on city to city bus routes) then another bus, the third bus of this trip so far, down Broughton Street, seen here, to Botanic Gardens. No 8 Muirhouse which drops you outside the East Gate. Get it on Broughton Street a few minutes walk down from the Edinburgh bus station.

Broughton Street is on the eastern edge of Edinburgh's New Town district, built in stages between the mid 1700s to mid 1800s. Several street endings ( including Leith Walk) have round elegant corners and I have mentioned before that Edinburgh likes round buildings, far more than Glasgow. It either started here or was influenced by the even older Edinburgh Castle, which also has round edges in places.

A more conventional street ending. The new town is very grey throughout, a prestigious address, but that is one thing that is more attractive in Glasgow, (I think anyway,) is it's wonderful red sandstone buildings and its often ornate city centre streets, full of many different types of architecture, often quirky, period elaborate, or modern glass and steel... like a pick and mix sweet selection thrown together in a bag. Edinburgh's new town is just grey. All of it. Even on a sunny day. No access to west coast geology and different rock types here.

A street in Glasgow's Hillhead. And these are not elaborate buildings unlike the carved masterpieces in Glasgow's City Centre around Charing Cross or Bothwell Street. 

 Anyway, Botanic Gardens. Spring is when the trees are at their most colourful with fresh new leaves appearing and flowering shrubs like Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and gorse/broom in full bloom. Mid/Late April and May, early June period.

And I arrived at just the right time to see them fully out. Rhododendron display.

I'm always disappointed slightly if public gardens do not have a pond or water feature but Edinburgh's botanical garden has a handful, including this attractive artificial stream gurgling down from a high point with small waterfalls and deeper pools created on the way.

Like Brigadoon in reality. Worth an almost six hour round trip to see it. The white section in the middle here is another pond.

An exotic large bloom.

East gate entrance. Inverleith Park, right beside Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden, is slightly larger but far more open in aspect so the dozens of twisting paths and plantings here make the Botanics appear much larger than they really are. Two to three hours to see everything fully.

This time I visited areas I hadn't seen before on other trips, like this modern hedge.

 Looks old but both the hedge and this cottage are relatively new features.

Botanic cottage info above.

Yew hedge info. Doesn't look like a Yew Hedge unless the section I viewed up close was a different tree type. Beech trees I'd guess on my close inspection section of this hedge with yew being a small part of it... at a guess.

The Cottage.

White and yellow. similar look to 'egg on a plate' domestic garden varieties.

White Light. White Heat.

One plant that really captured my attention was this one. Senecio Cymosus. I think. According to a label on it. Native to Chile.... but bigger and more flamboyant on this specimen. Only a few of these in the royal botanic garden but almost luminous visions each time. Brighter and more vibrant than gorse or broom so easily seen from a long distance away. A dazzling yellow splash in the landscape, especially on a sunny day. Flower heads look similar to ragwort flowers, also a spring/ early summer flower here. Maybe a distant shrub cousin perhaps?

Another one.

In the rock garden.

A rainbow of colour.

Pink beauty.

Mixed Rhododendrons.

Late April flourish.

Jungle trails. Rhododendrons are native to the Himalayan valleys and foothills but do really well in the UK.... and Scotland in particular with its wet mild climate.

Prayer flags and bell. Nepal garden area.

A sculpture detail. Nepal Garden.

Full sculpture.

Giant Rhubarb info.

Giant Rhubarb in spring regrowth.

Damp loving plants. Pond edge.

A type of Lords and Ladies I presume.

A row of star people around their crashed ship. (That's what I see anyway.)

A happy gardener. Happy Easter written on it.

A bluebell shady corner located to the west of the cottage. The famous Edinburgh Glass Houses have been closed for a few years for a makeover. They will reopen at some point. The Royal Botanic Garden is still free at present but car parking in the surrounding streets is now up to £4:50 an hour... max of 4 hours only. I used to park here for free no problem but that is no longer an option in most of Edinburgh. Plus £30 in fuel to get here and back by car in 2026. Edinburgh does feel like a richer city than Glasgow in many ways.... or that's the visual impression I get anyway after 30 plus day visits. More money to spend on services. With enviable tourist numbers, year round events, huge university, and parking charges ( Edinburgh council owns the parking meters apparently but gets someone else to look after them.) I'm not surprised. But even here the traditional main High Street shops are still competing/struggling against online sales by the look of it. Even on Princes Street, which I was surprised at given the tourist numbers there year round.

Harp pagoda and path.

Main pond. Royal Botanic Garden.

Mixed planting.

Purple flag Iris.

Small waterfalls.

Slate cone sculpture.

Which was beside this house. It had a magical glimmer about it that pulled me towards it. And magical words adorned it. Inverleith House. Free Exhibition. I'm not generally mean but with everything else going up in price and not being full of extra cash every little saving helps if you can get it. I did donate a few quid afterwards in a plastic box as it was a worthwhile exhibition. So good in fact I will save the interior for another post.

Winding paths.

The West Gate entrance on Arboretum Place. (the streets where I used to park all day for free. Happy times.)