 Each of Edinburgh's suburbs has its own distinctive style or charms - this arose from many of them originally being separate towns which were outlying the city itself, but which were gradually incorporated into Edinburgh as it expanded and developed. Morningside is one such suburb, running along one of the main arterial roads into and out of Edinburgh to the south-west of the city centre. This roadway has been one of the historic access roads to Edinburgh for centuries - today it's a popular and well-heeled part of the city, famed for its genteel atmosphere, 'millionaires' row' of charity shops, and distinctive accent. The area has been home to a number of writers, including Ian Rankin, JK Rowling, and Alexander McCall Smith. Not for nothing has part of the area been nicknamed Writers' Block...! Although it's a busy thoroughfare with lots of local shops, cafes and amenities, here's my rundown of some of the more curious features of Morningside that are worth looking out for...  HOLY CORNER The point at which Bruntsfield becomes Morningside, at least in terms of the road names. Bruntsfield Place becomes Morningside Road at a crossroads where each quadrant of the junction has a church - hence its popular nickname, Holy Corner... Three of the churches are active as centres of worship, whilst the fourth is the Eric Liddell Centre, a community space named for the Olympian and Christian missionary who garnered fame for his performance at the 1924 Paris Olympics, events depicted in the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire.  THE BORE STONE A slab of stone stands on the left hand side of Morningside Road as you crest the peak and begin the journey downhill into Morningside proper. This ancient artefact is alleged to have been the stone which held the banner of James IV as he mustered his troops nearby before marching south to fight the Battle of Flodden, in September 1513. It's a nice story, and a significant moment of Scottish history - but alas there are several pieces of evidence which dispute the details given in the plaque affixed beneath the stone itself. There was no such mustering point for troops in this area, and the king himself had left the city before the banners had been produced. Still, significant as a piece of Victoriana, having been mounted here in the 1850s...
 The name originates with a large private estate property which used to occupy this land, built in 1780 and later acquired by a wealthy merchant of the East India Company named Alexander Falconer. He renamed the property Falcon Hall (playing on his surname) and commissioned Thomas Hamilton to build a grand neoclassical facade onto the front of the building. Falcon Hall was demolished in 1909, and the land it once sat on was redeveloped, with many of the new streets taking the falcon as their name. Two parts of the original property have survived, however - the original gates, each graced with a stone falcon, now stand outside the entrance to Edinburgh Zoo, and Hamilton's facade was dismantled and reassembled for the headquarters of the Edinburgh Geographical Institute, about a mile to the east of its original location. A DIAMOND JUBILEE MARKER This one is easy to miss - look up high on one of the buildings on the right hand side of Morningside Road as you head downhill, and you may see a memorial commemorating Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, in 1897. The tenement buildings here were being developed extensively during this period, at the end of the nineteenth century, and the monument commemorates Victoria's sixty years on the throne - at that time the longest reign of any British monarch (and still the second longest, after Elizabeth II's 70 years as queen). The plaque features a likeness of Victoria and references her as Queen of Britain, and also Empress of India, a reminder of the extent at that time of the British Empire.  THE WILD WEST OF EDINBURGH Tucked away just off the main road is a quirky feature that dates back to the mid-1990s, when a local furniture company had the street decorated as a Wild West frontier town for a TV advert. Peer down the passageway off Springvalley Gardens and you'll discover more than the usual old garages and lock-ups. Today the alley contains a livery, a jail, a Mexican cantina, a Wells Fargo staging post, and a blacksmiths - or their frontages, at least! Several of the doors are emergency exits for the businesses on Morningside Road. It's a curiosity that is worth taking a few minutes to look at, even if it will get you a few strange looks from the people running their business from the lane today...  THE CANNY MAN'S An iconic watering hole on Morningside Road, the Canny Man's was originally called the Volunteer Arms, and has become known for its quirky interior decor and its distinctive atmosphere. Opened in 1871, customers today still enter through a door known as the Stage Door, and inside are a number of smaller rooms for socialising, including the Boomerang Room, the Churchill Room, the Four Ale Bar, and the Residents' Lounge. The interior walls feature an eclectic display of objects, from empty bottles and heritage signage for the beers that used to be sold, to stuffed animal heads, musical instruments, newspaper clippings, puppets, bunches of keys, typewriters... It's like no other pub in the city - and possibly the world! Stop in for a drink - it's a truly unique experience.  HANGING STANES
Just past the bottom of Morningside Road, along Braid Road, you'll find two small stone features set into the roadway. These are known as the hanging stanes, and mark the footings of a set of gallows which were erected here in order to execute two men accused of robbing a passing merchant in November 1814. The two men - Thomas Kelly and Henry O'Neil - were Irish immigrants to Scotland, and at their trial for robbery were found guilty by a jury without the need for any time for deliberation. Such was the social climate in Edinburgh at that time, justice could be swift and meted out without a huge amount of due process... The two men were to be hanged at the site of their robbery, on this main road into Edinburgh, known to have been a dangerous route where highwaymen targeted merchants as they headed to the city markets. The gibbets were set up in the road, and after the men were executed, on 25 January 1815, their bodies were left to rot on the gallows as a warning to others. Discover more of Edinburgh's intriguing moments of history with my private city walking tours! Comments are closed.
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