Winter Holdouts

Winter had truly arrived in Edinburgh with temperatures dropping below -5ºC. Although, still no snow. That’s not entirely surprising for the city. For all the images of snowy Edinburgh you might find on Instagram, it doesn’t actually snow all that often. Certainly not to the extent that you get lasting, deep, drifts laying like pillowy duvets, frosting the golden sandstone buildings. Instead Edinburgh gets winters that can be relatively dry, cold and bright. That was the state of things as I set out to Old Town for a bit of a city documenting wander. This is definitely one of my favourite things to do. Partially because it’s one of the core ways I reestablish my love for the city, exploring and observing, like a date with my beloved. Also it’s cheap, I can get away with spending absolutely nothing or just keeping it to a coffee and pastry at a good cafe. Something potentially true of a good date. This is the privilege of living in a beautiful city like Edinburgh, with all of its attractions and character.

It wasn’t dramatically early as I walked up the High Street, better known as the Royal Mile, yet there were only a few people around. The broad, ancient, cobbled road was nearly deserted. For those that have been to Edinburgh for a holiday this may sound surprising, but for those of us that live here it’s quite normal. The late winter into spring is Edinburgh’s quietest season, a time when the old city is handed back to its residents. Although I do come into the city during the summer months through to Christmas and Hogmanay, there is a very different sense of my place here then. Like I am the visitor, somehow encroaching on a space not entirely my own. Someone I know once described Edinburgh as, “a very beautiful theme park,” and there’s some truth to that. Particularly in the bustling, crowded summer months.

What I found surprising as I made my way up towards the castle was the number of tourists that were actually around. Several tour groups were gathering around guides with their large umbrellas. The tour guide sandwich board. Strolling leisurely along, pausing occasionally to photograph people and life on this pivotal street, I began to pay more attention to these tour guides becoming increasingly intrigued. Something seemed odd, apart from the fact they were slightly more busy than I’m used to for this time of year, I was starting to get a tingle of something amis. Then it struck me, written on the umbrellas next to the emblazonment of the tour company logo, were the words “Free Tour.”

Free? I thought, watching the gesticulating guide and sauntering group surrounding them, how are they free?

I’d like to say that this is where I went on a great in depth investigation into this phenomenon, but alas I have limited time and resources to get these stories out. So it’s deposited in my story bank, ready to go ahead when I have the time to get deeper and find interviewees. This is where it begins though, as I wander the streets and see things that intrigue and fascinate me. There may not be many people as interested as I am, but I always figure that if I’m intrigued there must be others who will also be intrigued. This particular interest has struck a chord though, and has now led to some further research and consideration. Although, I’m nowhere near a completed piece of work I can share with you.

There’s no doubt that tourism is important to the city but it’s very far from being the most important element to the local economy. In fact tourism is only our fourth or fifth most important sector. Yet, it’s the sector with the most outsized social and infrastructure impact on the city and its residents. To those that visit, Edinburgh is a beautiful fairytale experience, they walk the streets of the Old Town and find themselves accosted by ghost tours and writer pub crawls, encouraged into keepsake tat shops, and everything is “authentically Scottish,” probably made in China. There are “authentic, best fish and chips in Scotland” from several locations, find your authentic family tartan from multiple kiltmakers, and authentic single malts from Scottish whisky shops. Actually, the whisky might be one of the few things that is authentically Scottish.

Then there’s the bagpipes played by a Ghurkha from Nepal; the Harry Potter shops selling absolutely not knock off wands and capes; cafes; restaurants, and pubs of various kinds to take the weight off the weary tourists feet. It’s easy to be in the centre of this and believe that you’re in a theme park, a place built for your vacation enjoyment, staffed by doting customer service and theatrical extras. It’s easy to forget that this is a place people call home. As visitors go looking for that lovely quaint place they saw on Instagram, down one of the closes, they gawp through windows at the delightful scene of a person’s apartment. Some rub the feet of David Hume’s bronze statue, wearing his toe to a silvery slope, others the nose of poor Greyfriars Bobby, having been told it’s a local tradition for good luck. Something it absolutely is not.

I don’t begrudge people wanting to come to this place I call home, this city I love more than words can convey. It’s a joy to me that people want to come here and share their few days away from the grind. I just wish we were better at really educating people and managing their flow. This is the paradox of tourism though, and it’s one that Edinburgh is far from being alone in dealing with. It is in order to cope with these issues that the new changes to licensing for short term rentals has been introduced, that there’s a new levy being brought in on accommodation. Much of the funds raised are proposed to be spent on developing and improving tourist infrastructure and mitigating associated costs. So a few million every year to repaint Bobby’s nose, I guess. This is all a much bigger story than I can tell here though. It’s also a story that stretches into a more universal and international consideration. Still, I wanted to give you a glimpse into the thought processes and first insights that grab my attention and draw me towards a story I want to tell.

My wandering took me to the Central Library, a beautiful building that’s something of a Tardis. The main entrance is on King George IV Bridge and from there looks like it’s a three or four storey high building. Yet the building actually stretches down to the Cowgate below, making it more like six to eight storeys in height. For an early Victorian stone building that’s quite impressive. The collections and spaces in the library are also impressive. The reference library is spectacular with its high dome ceiling of golds and marble hovering over the single-person study tables. My purpose for being in the library was simple though, information. There is almost no better place to find local information for community groups, cultural offerings and events aimed at the local populous. There were a number of things I found interesting, but then it struck me that I hadn’t yet used my library card for Edinburgh Libraries. So I went to peruse the lending library. There a decision was cemented.

Those of you who have been following me on Instagram or Threads may have caught wind of my unhappiness with the MSc I’d been undertaking. A masters in Information and Library Studies, surely the perfect option for someone that’s a bit of a book geek. A person looking for a work life complimentary to the love of books and writing. Unfortunately the course was not at all what I was expecting or wanting. Although I’m sure it’s probably perfect for some, it was a true disaster for me. Sometimes though you have to learn what you really don’t want in order to find what you really do want. It’s probably blindingly obvious to people that know me what I really should have been doing. Mostly because I was already doing it. Be it back in 2016 as the “official boat blogger” when I sailed around the western isles and Hebrides. In 2014-15 when I was travelling around the North West of England writing stories about cultural events and travel interests. Perhaps going back to 2011 after graduating, when I went to India and volunteered with a Microfinance charity, helping them tell their story, and the stories of the communities they served. Then more recently in 2022-23 I put together videos on YouTube about local community groups and charity organisations around Inverclyde.

I picked up a book on journalism from the shelves. Although I have little interest in the realms of breaking news, for some time I’ve been listening to and viewing the content of Vox and Tortoise Media. Their deeper dives and slow reportage dynamics bring you into a closer understanding of systems and issues. Things at the centre of our lives, but often under-appreciated. They have been inspiring to me. It is this that I now realise is my direction, because it always was. Don’t worry, this blog isn’t about to immediately change having only just begun. On the contrary, this blog is a useful way of informing you of my processes and development, the foundations of what I do. So that, when I do put out the more journalistic work, you will know where it came from and be able to trust or critique it from a place of authenticity and humanity. I find this is in line with my considerations last week about the shifts happening on social media. That an assurance of authenticity and humanity will become increasingly important. So now I’m going to continue my research into tourism in Edinburgh, both its positive and detrimental effects. I’m sure I’ll resurface soon.