Accessible Edinburgh 1 - Full PDF eBook

80 Accessible Edinburgh: A Festival Guide Sights 81

Royal Botanic Garden
0131-248 2909; http://www.rbge.org.uk; Arboretum Pl; 10am-6pm
Mar-Sep, to 5pm Feb & Oct, to 4pm Nov-Jan; buses 8, 23, 27

Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden is the second oldest institu-
tion of its kind in Britain (after Oxford), and one of the most re-
spected in the world. Founded near Holyrood in 1670 and moved
to its present location in 1823, its 70 beautifully landscaped
acres include splendid Victorian glass houses (admission £5.50),
colourful swaths of rhododendron and azalea, and a world fa-
mous rock garden.
The John Hope Gateway visitor centre is housed in a striking,
environmentally friendly building overlooking the main entrance
on Arboretum Pl, and has exhibitions on biodiversity, climate
change and sustainable development, as well as displays of rare
plants from the institution’s collection and a specially created
biodiversity garden.
The Garden is largely accessible to wheelchair users and
public buildings have level or ramped ground floor access. There
are tarmac paths around the Garden, most of which are flat and
accessible. Any steep paths that are not wheelchair-accessible
are signposted and Garden staff will advise on any of the Glass-
houses that are not accessible to motorised wheelchair or mobil-
ity scooter users. Assistance dogs are welcome in the Garden.
Detailed accessibility statements are available for all of Edin-
burgh’s botanic gardens at http://www.rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/edin-
burgh/accessibility.

West End & Dean Village

Edinburgh’s West End is an extension of the New Town, with
elegant Georgian terraces, garden squares and an enclave of
upmarket shops along William St and Stafford St. It takes in the
Exchange district, now the city’s financial powerhouse, and the
theatre quarter on Lothian Rd, and in the west tumbles downhill
into the valley of the Water of Leith to meet the picturesque Dean
Village.
Take a stroll among the independent boutiques of Stafford St
and William St before heading down to Dean Village. Follow the
Water of Leith Walkway upstream to the Scottish National Gal-
lery of Modern Art, and plan on having lunch at Cafe Modern One
(p108).
Spend a couple of hours admiring the modern masterpiec-
es at the gallery’s two major exhibition spaces, allowing time to
explore the outdoor sculptures and landscape art in the gallery

grounds. Then head back uphill to the West End via Belford Rd

and Palmerston Pl for a relaxing pint of real ale at Bert’s Bar.

The Water of Leith Walkway is a hidden thoroughfare linking

the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to Dean Village and

on to Stockbridge. Look out for Antony Gormley’s steel sculp-

tures of human figures sited along the river.

Dean Bridge

Buses 19, 36, 37, 41, 47

Designed by Thomas Telford and built between 1829 and 1832 to

allow the New Town to expand to the northwest, the Dean Bridge

vaults gracefully over the narrow, steep-sided valley of the Water

of Leith. It soon became notorious as a suicide spot – it soars

27m above the river – and in 1912 the parapets were raised to

deter jumpers.

Dean Village

Buses 19, 36, 37, 41, 47

Set in the valley that runs beneath the Dean Bridge (dene is a

Scots word for valley), Dean Village was founded as a milling

community by the canons of Holyrood Abbey in the 12th century

and by 1700 there were 11 water mills here, grinding grain for

flour. One of the old mill buildings has been converted into flats,

and the village is now an attractive residential area, with walk-

ways along the river.

7 Scottish National Gallery of 33 Kilderkin....................................................H

http://www.nationalgalleries.org; 75 Belford Rd; fee for special exhibi-

tions; 10am-5pm; bus 13

Edinburgh’s gallery of modern art is split between two impressive

neoclassical buildings surrounded by landscaped grounds some

500m west of Dean Village. As well as showcasing a stunning

collection of paintings by the popular, post-Impressionist Scottish

Colourists – in Reflections, Balloch, Leslie Hunter pulls off the im-

probable trick of making Scotland look like the south of France –

the gallery is a the starting point for a walk along the Water of

Leith, following a trail of sculptures by Anthony Gormley.

MODERN ONE

The main collection, known as Modern One, concentrates on

20th-century art, with various European movements repre-

sented by the likes of Matisse, Picasso, Kirchner, Magritte, Miró,

Mondrian and Giacometti. American and English artists are also