Latest news

How Dean got its bridge

Tuesday, 19 September, 2017 - 16:13
By David Perry In autumn, 1825, John Learmonth, the senior partner in the family’s coach-building business, feued 133 acres of the Dean Estate from Sir John Nisbet. The southern boundary of this land stood on the edge of an abyss - the Dean - created by the Water of Leith as it cut its way through the rock over the centuries. 100 feet below, the river flow drove the mills of the Village of the Water of Leith. And 500 feet across the ravine, on Randolph Cliff, grand new buildings were going up in the New Town. Learmonth wished to...
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Georgian Gardens revealed in new book

Tuesday, 19 September, 2017 - 15:29
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of Edinburgh’s Georgian New Town, and the publication of John Byrom’s much-awaited manual on the gardens that are so integral to this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The book is the result of decades of research, providing detailed guidance on the long term management and maintenance of Edinburgh’s 47 circus, square, crescent and informal grid-edge gardens that has remained previously unpublished. These gardens are very special, specifically designed to add colour and vibrancy to the city’s urban landscape – lush green contrasts to the classical sandstone architecture. They not only contribute aesthetically...
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‘Proposed Dean Valley Renovation: First Phase Feasibility Study

Monday, 11 September, 2017 - 11:55
The ‘Proposed Dean Valley Renovation: First Phase Feasibility Study’ outlines recommendations for the repair and restoration of the Dean Valley walkway. The Dean Valley walkway is part of a wider historic designed landscape that includes the three adjacent gardens of Moray Bank Gardens, Dean Gardens and Belgrave Crescent Gardens. The designed landscape falling within the Edinburgh World Heritage site is the subject of a Conservation Statement (Peter McGowan Associates July 2015) and a Biodiversity Scoping Study (Sue Bell Ecology July 2016). This ‘Proposed Dean Valley Renovation: First Phase Feasibility Study’ follows on from these two pieces of work and focuses...
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Hawthornbank regeneration

Tuesday, 4 July, 2017 - 23:05
People in Hawthornbank on the south side of the Water of Leith have put their weight behind a programme to regenerate their environment. The Dean Village residents, led by Don their newly appointed technical/design advisor, have approved a programme of regeneration of their locality. Don said “The support from the resident committee has been fantastic. We’ve introduced 315 new plants and I’m now working on a series of further measures to enhance the area and make the most of its natural beauty. We love Hawthornbank and it deserves to be seen at its best.” As well as new planting, the...
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