History of Leith, Edinburgh

A GARDEN created by one of the New Town’s most celebrated architects is to be restored to its former glory under a twinning scheme with Italy.

The Italian flower garden at Lauriston Castle was established in 1844 by William Playfair, but has been allowed to fall into disrepair in recent years. for more click here

On the wall of Pilrig-St Paul’s Church is a memorial to Madge Barns CPO (Chief Petty Officer) who died during the Aguila disaster of 1941. The story behind the memorial is very touching and is as follows-

Commodore ship of Convoy OG-71 en route to Gibralter from Liverpool. The convoy, consisting of twenty three merchant ships and escorted by six corvettes and two destroyers, was attacked by German submarines while off the south western coast of Ireland. On board the Aguila were twenty-two W.R.N.S., (Women’s Royal Navy Service) the first batch of girls who had volunteered for cypher and wireless duties on the ‘Rock’. Also on board were many servicemen, all naval personnel, taking the Aguila’s complement to 161. Soon after midnight, the U-204 fired two torpedoes at the convoy and hitting the destroyer HMS Bath, which was manned by the Royal Norwegian Navy. She sank within three minutes drowning 83 of her crew, 13 of whom were British. Another torpedo, this time from the U-201, hit the Aguila amidships sending her to the bottom in ninety seconds. There were only 16 survivors, leaving a death toll of 145.

The dreadful, unbelievable truth, was that not one of the twenty two Wren had survived. Captain Arthur Firth and nine others were rescued by the destroyer HMS Wallflower. Six of the crew were rescued by the tug ‘Empire Oak’ but sadly lost three days later when the tug was torpedoed by the U-564. As a tribute to their memory, a lifeboat named ‘Aguila Wren’ was built and launched on June 28, 1952, for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. (This lifeboat is now in the hands of a private owner, Tim Kirton of Northumberland and is being restored)

Before the Convoy OG-71 reached its destination, eight of its ships had been sunk plus two escort vessels with a loss of nearly 400 lives).

Source-”More Maritime Disasters of World War II”

Noahs wife

Mary and Joseph

The Angels visiting Abraham

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FOR most of us November means the onset of winter and a time to hunker down to endure the first chills of the season.

But they’re not expecting a suntan this summer. The temperature will not get above five degrees. And the only neighbours they can invite to their party are seals and penguins. for more click here

THE rapid fire from the Turkish sharp shooters resonated in the air, a staccato counterpoint to the bass explosions of the shells discharged from the vessels in the treacherous waters of the Dardanelles.

Makeshift trenches were ripped apart, littering the bloody battlefield of Suvla Bay in Gallipoli with the hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded British, Australian and New Zealand troops. for more click here

PHILIP MARTIN MUST have felt kissed by the Fates on the day in 1985 that he wandered into Pilrig Park in Edinburgh and spotted the For Sale sign outside the apartments in the newly renovated Pilrig House. The house had intrigued him since he was a schoolboy at nearby Trinity. The property, which had fallen into ruin in the second half of the 20th century, was always in the background, a mysterious reminder of a grander past.

Philip, an engineer and keen historian, wasn’t looking for a property at the time, as he was working at sea and back in Edinburgh only intermittently. He’d simply decided to take the dogs for a walk in the park. “The house looked spectacular,” he recalls. “It was the first weekend that the flats were up for sale, and I knew that if I was going to buy one it had to be the flat with the staircase. The decision was made in about 20 minutes.” for more click here