Colinton Local History Society have published a new book about the Bonaly area of Colinton.
Bonaly:Three Centuries of Rural Life in an Edinburgh Suburb chronicles the everyday life of residents and how it was affected by the changing ownership of the land and developments in agricultural practice.
The author, Bob Henderson, is a member of the Society. He said: “As a resident of Bonaly for over 45 years I have been interested in the area’s history for a long time. However, I have found that very little has been written about Bonaly and some of what I have read seemed debatable. I therefore decided to start researching the history myself, using such original material as I could find. I opted to look at, and try to explain, the changes which have occurred in Bonaly over the last three centuries and the impacts these have had on the local residents.
“I discovered that developments in agricultural methods had a profound effect on life for the residents in Bonaly. These led to changes in both prosperity and in the locations of their homes and associated farm buildings. The questions I was interested in trying to answer included how many people were likely to have lived in Bonaly at any one time, what were their cottages like, what did the residents eat and wear, what was their relationship with the kirk and when did Bonaly cease to be primarily an agricultural settlement.”
Bonaly: Three Centuries of Rural Life in an Edinburgh Suburb is now on sale from the Society [email protected] on Amazon or from Colinton Post Office at a cost of £6.99.
