I've been in and out of Edinburgh all my life. I had grandparents and a great Granny and Great Uncle who lived in Leith and as a child would travel in by train and walk with my mother and sister down from Waverly station down to Leith to visit them. As a teenager I was on the train and into town as often as possible, shopping with friends, or on my own visiting museums and art galleries, exploring the history of the old town and the same as an adult, taking the kids into the same museums, sharing my love of history. Later still researching my ancestors as they moved around Edinburgh over centuries as gentry, trades peoples, dock porters and so on. David and I over the years have spent days in Edinburgh doing the same, in fact our second date 12 years ago was in Edinburgh visiting that same museum and wandering down the Royal mile, discovering our shared love of history and good food.
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But back to now, enough of this reminiscing! We took David's novel 'Touchpaper' on a tour of Edinburgh's old town in January. We explored some of the old closes off the High Street, where you could possibly find Traggheim's workshop...
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| Stevenlaws Close |
We started the day with a tour of Mary King's Close, which we've wanted to do for ages. January is definitely the time to visit Edinburgh, on a dry, sunny winters day, its so much quieter, but it was still busy but not the super overwhelming busy of spring and summer. You aren't allowed to take photos while visiting St Mary's Close, so no photos of there. Its a great experience, walking through the rooms that were buried below the City Chambers building when it was built in the 18th Century. You really get a feel of how congested, dark and unhealthy living there and indeed through out the old town would have been. As we weaved back and forwards through each room our guide Andrew brought to life how life was for different folk of different social standing who lived here and how they died, during an out break of plague. The tour lasts about an hour, eventually finishing in the close it's self, as dark as it would have been before the building were built over, due to the towering 14 floors of building that would have cut off much of the daylight.
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| The High Street Well head, Edinburgh |
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| The Heart of Midlothian |
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| Signs in Old Assembly Close |
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| Advocates Close |
After our tour we wandered up and down the High Street and down into the Grass Market. We read a lot of historical books so its always interesting to put ourselves in the locations and see places we know from a different perspective.
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| Fleshmarket Close |
Time for lunch and where else would we go but an American diner City Cafe Edinburgh. We've lunched or brunched here before, enjoying the diner vibe, good food and milk shakes. It's dog friendly too, so Maisie was well looked after. Garm would have made himself at home, dog friendly or not
from Touchpaper.....
"To get a little time to myself, I got into the habit of grabbing an hour each morning in a little place tucked away off the High Street. It was modelled on an American diner, all chrome and Formica, with comfortable booths to sit in. I was at my preferred table, with a clear view of the door, when a strong sense of warmth hit me. Not heat, but a feeling of inner happiness and love, which was odd, as Archer’s unrelenting teaching style wasn’t doing anything for my happiness."
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| David Dodds Author and his book |
After lunch we headed down to Princes Street Gardens so Maisie could get grass to piddle on, she's fussy that way. It was amazing to see how far on some plants are here, Hellebores and snow drops in full flowers and the heady scent of Sarroccoca. We headed back up the Mound to the High Street and up to the castle esplanade in search of the witches well.
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| Hellebores |
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| Snowdrops |
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| The Witch's well |
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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| View from the Castle esplanade |
From the Castle we walked down the stairs to the Grassmarket, in summer this area is super busy with the pubs and restaurant tables and customers spilling out onto the pavements. The grass market as well as pubs is steeped in history with monuments to the Covenanters, wells and remains of the Flodden wall which once ran around the old city.
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| Modern art |
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| A memorial to the Covenantors |
From here its a short walk to Grayfriars Kirk and graveyard which features in Touchpaper when the main character realises something is definitely amiss.
'Archer leaned forward, effortlessly pulling me up by my collar so our faces almost touched. ‘Listen, boy. Your life and your soul are at grave risk. It wasn’t smoke and mirrors, it wasn’t pyrotechnics and it wasn’t an audio-visual effect. It was real, and it wants you. Neither of us has the faintest idea why, so let’s stop passing the time of day and get you away from here.’
As the January day drew to a close we headed home, leaving behind the old town, the ghost and creatures of the night. We had a great day visiting favourite places and some new finds too.
What does a daemon, an angelus, a Jack Russell terrier, a feisty herbalist and an old clock-maker have in common with a failed student who has returned to the city to put his life back together? And why is he being hunted?
‘Touchpaper’ is now available in paperback and ebook formats. If you want to support local bookshops (please do) they should be able to order it in for you. Otherwise, both formats are available on Amazon or wherever you usually buy your books. I would be very grateful if you can leave a review once you’ve read it. You can also find David Dodds author on Insagram and Facebook.
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