Duddingston Domestique

No sacrificial effigies to be seen...

Cycling on an off-road road trail in East Lothian and almost gate crashed a wedding. Was going along a path in a forest and spotted a crowd of people up ahead. Thought it was a barbecue or picnic and carried on; then spotted a rustic wooden archway and people in kilts. Did a discreet about turn.

You could go back to GB News with your findings and take up their offer of an appearance. The combination of cycling, danger to children and an asylum seeker in one story would be irresistible.

Thank you for that. A throwaway historical observation on my part has turned into a linguistic moral conundrum...

It is amusing that the phrase "Schröindger's cyclist" has entered the social media vernacular of cyclists and active travel campaigners without their knowing that the renowned physicist himself was a keen cyclist. A paradox in itself.

Schrödinger’s Dublin: Cycling in the trail of exiled physicist Cultural commute takes in sites associated with his 17-year stay in Ireland

There is a cycle trail around Dublin visiting those locations associated with his 17 year stay in Ireland.
www.irishtimes.com/culture/heri...

Well Schrödinger himself might be amused at the appropriation of his name into a cycling paradox. He used to cycle daily from the Dublin suburb of Clontarf into the city centre to his work at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. He had come to Ireland, fleeing Nazi persecution in 1939.

Anecdotal and not hard data, but definitely noticing more children and their parents in the mornings on Duddingston Road heading to St John's and Duddingston Primary Schools. Thankfully, the cycle lanes are now permanent.

I wonder how many of those fulminating about the supposed danger to children posed by putative asylum seekers resolutely oppose road danger reduction measures that actually reduce harm to local children?

Two topics on PP and its sub-variants are guaranteed to send it into meltdown: 1) rumours of a local hotel being converted to accommodate asylum seekers and 2) poposals to improve road safety (cycle lanes, reduced speed limits, filtering of roads etc)....

The council published proposals a couple of years ago to convert it to a CYCLOPS style roundabout. Not sure how closely the proposal follows Dutch style separation of cars and bikes. I suspect it will be quite a few years l before we ever see implementation on the ground.

Yes, half a dozen or more cars parked on Duddingston Road pavements and cycle lanes at St John's RC Primary drop off, despite plenty spaces a couple of minutes away.

Thank you very much for your endeavours on this. Because the gate is open, my daughters and I could access the Park by bike and cycle around the estate roads. They very much enjoyed this. Previously, access would have been via a more circuitous route and on a busy road.

Perhaps an inebriated passer by can be persuaded to install a traffic cone?

Begs the question if a statue of Robert Viscount Melville is ever "used"?

The land north of Linlithgow is hilly so a new road would probably require a few cuttings etc. (I am not a civil engineer though). As a comparison, the Maybole bypass in Ayrshire over similar ground and for a roughly similar length of 5 km apparently cost £29 million in 2019. £33 million today?

Royal Mile is probably not feasible at the height of The Festival. A bit circuitous but could cut up through Dalry Colonies, cross Western Approach Rd to Fountainbridge and then onto Meadows/Innocent Path. Would have to take Duddingston Rd West, notionally 20mph limit, often exceeded by drivers.

If a climb and cobbles are "preferable" to avoiding tram tracks, then an option would be Bread St., Spittal St., Johnstone Terrace and on down the Royal Mile to Holyrood. Generally fewer vehicles than Princes St but descending Royal Mile need to keep speed in check for pedestrians crossing.

You are welcome. This photo shows it was quite busy. Doubt we will be able to recreate this for many years...
images.app.goo.gl/Z1aTzA8Zj7NF...

Lovely photo. Apparently the rules of curling were first codified by the Duddingston Curling Society and still (more or less) used today.

That's nice. Last year Duddingston Kirk celebrated 900 years since it's foundation. There were various events to celebrate this. There is more information on its history here:

duddingstonkirk.org.uk/about/histor...

Yes, Duddingston Kirk is quite historic. There is a stain glass window donated by the daughter of Allan Pinkerton of the Pinkerton Dectective agency (who organised intelligence for Lincoln in US Civil War). Her mother was from Duddingston and used to sing in the choir before emigrating to the US.

Apparently, Wee Jim's mother used to work in a local mill. She used to bring him to work. Unfortunately, he contracted TB and died. Despite the poor wages her colleagues clubbed together and bought a gravestone. Sculptors used to charge by the letter hence Wee Jim rather than his full name.