The Old Edinburgh Club, the local history society, was founded in 1908 and is concerned with all aspects of the city’s history and development. We are pleased to hear from them about their most recent meeting:-
“On Wednesday 8 December 2010, members of The Old Edinburgh Club enjoyed another excellent lecture in their winter programme. The talk was delivered by the well-known journalist and historian, Willis Pickard. His subject was Duncan McLaren, the former Lord Provost and Edinburgh MP, who was a leading figure in 19th Century Scottish political, ecclesiastical and social life. Also, as proprietor of the Mayfield Estate in South Edinburgh, McLaren was responsible for developing the many streets of villas called after him, his friends and relations and places with which he was associated. The Club were glad to have a good turn-out of members and friends,(despite the bad weather!) Those present enjoyed the presentation by Mr. Pickard, whose book on McLaren will be published in the spring of 2011.
Members and friends are looking forward to the next meeting, which will be on Wednesday 19 January and will be held as usual in the Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, at 7.00 pm. The speaker then will be Mr. James Simpson, the leading conservation architect and his subject will be The Strange Migration of Botanic Cottage. Botanic Cottage was designed by John Adam in the 1760s. Originally part of the Leith Walk Botanic Garden, it was recently dismantled stone by stone with the intention of rebuilding it within the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.”
The club welcomes as members anyone interested in Edinburgh’s history. Each member is entitled to the latest volume of the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club when it is published (about every two years). There are six lectures during the winter and a number of visits in the summer. Lectures are free to members, but are also open to the public for a small fee of £2 a lecture.
If you are interested in the club, please contact Dr Alan Borthwick, 25 West Relugas Road, Edinburgh EH9 2PW Tel: 0131 668 3118 – email info@oldedinburghclub.org They also have a website which you can access here.
