Bartimaeus

I had an appointment with the dental hygienist. One I moved when I had to cancel due to rail strikes and they could only offer me one three months hence. Since I knew I was coming to Edinburgh I had invited my friends to come as we had not arranged our annual visit to somewhere exciting yet. I thought we'd never get together this year if we didn't spring on this time. 

Just before we started travelling Nye gave us the bad news that the boiler seemed to be playing up and heating and hot water were again a topic of conversation and concern. It seems to be the theme of 2026. Much as we were looking forward to getting together, my friends might be finding the accommodation below par, having to use sofa and platform beds and perhaps no showers! They might wish they had booked somewhere separate. Still Nye had booked a plumber who had looked at it and was coming back with parts, so we had our fingers crossed.

I wasn't at all sure of the weather to expect further north and with autumn coming but it was warm when we set off for the station so I braved the shorts. Stone Station was looking jolly with planters that had flowers and herbs in them and pleas from children not to damage the plants. They were cute but I am left surprised anyone would choose to sit on a planter if any benches were available.

I had rubbed my fingers on a herb and then had smarting eyes, may have been unrelated but it was a bit uncomfortable for a while. A sight for sore eyes was also the developing ladybird. It should keep some ruinous pests at bay.

Our travel went well. We were able to eat our lunch in Crewe, making the wait pass easily. We arrived in Edinburgh and passed more planters shortly after leaving Haymarket station, in the walk through the Dalry Colony houses built for tradespeople and their families by The Edinburgh Cooperative Building Company Limited. 

These houses are much sought after homes in Edinburgh nowadays. When built they were called 'colonies' because they were built on cheap land on the outlying areas of Edinburgh. Some were for railway workers and near their work, so not too isolated, but since being built, the city has grown so they all seem pretty central.

From the historic we pass through some new buildings replacing the area where the old breweries were. When I (and my two invited friends) came to Edinburgh to go to university, the distinctive smell of the breweries was what hit you when you arrived... a strange smell at first, but it became the smell of home. 

As we passed through the modern builds I was surprised to see a for sale sign, but it wasn't attached to the building. Nobody is setting up home in a lamp post but it is unclear what flat is for sale at all.

When we got home, Shane got the stove on since the heating wasn't working. It wasn't too cold but I had certainly felt a snell breeze on the walk home. The plumber wasn't due for a few days.

In readiness for the "quines" visit we had a new mattress to unroll and a bit of tidying of the boxroom to be done. Would they be tossing a coin to see who would be climbing the ladder to the high bed? I got Nye to pass the old hoover up to the platform, as that high spot is no place for the robot hoover, which would plummet off the edge if put up there. It wasn't even performing that well, as it was making a screeching noise intermittently. That was not going to improve the ambience! Shane decided to take it apart. 

Unfortunately this explorative dissection didn't improve the situation. The plumber came and went and while the boiler had now started working, we discovered it was leaking. 

I enjoyed sunshine in my garden of my sister's home... much better placed for catching the sun than mine and we really enjoyed looking at all the different flowers. 

I had received wool from my niece, Lorna, who lives in Edinburgh, and so I was making a start on gloves for her with it. She had bought it on holiday and it was quite variable in thickness, but was going to make a sturdy pair of mitts. I managed to finish one and get started on the other before the guests were due to arrive. I wanted to finish them before we left Edinburgh. The mixed texture and colour makes the spotted pattern hard to see and a plainer or bolder design may have been a better choice but they were knitting up fast, which was good.

She would definitely get them before the weather was cold enough to need them. I could see now that there was enough for a second pair so I might get that other design done too, but not this visit. I wouldn't be able to focus once the quines arrived.

What an excitement it was to get together! They managed to arrange their transport so that they arrived in Edinburgh within half an hour of each other. I met Margaret at Haymarket from the train and despite a notice telling me a road vehicle had struck a bridge at Burntisland, which might cause delays, her train was bang on time. Marion was getting the tram to Haymarket from the airport. While waiting for her, Margaret and I had a leisurely hot drink and baklava. The holiday at home (for me anyway) had started! We all walked together back from Haymarket, past the canal. There are widebeam narrow boats at the Canal basin and perhaps they would have preferred that as a central holiday accommodation, though my friend Muriel hadn't been wowed by the toilet arrangements when she was there. The toilets at both Edinburgh and in Bartimaeus are fully functioning at least and not chemical toilets. The hotel boats don't move. 

We cracked into the prosecco and had a lovely evening. The next day both quines had nearby relatives to visit during the day and the plumber returned and I got the gloves finished. Unfortunately there was still a leak so the repair was not complete, and the pressure was not right but at least the showers did both work!

 I had a nice lunch out with Margaret, in the new refurbished area that used to be the Royal Infirmary. Then  she went to see her brother and I managed to finish off the gloves.

The next day I felt our trip was properly started. I had thoughts of revisiting old student haunts as well as exploring areas where we hadn't lived or hung out as students, like Leith, to make it an explore like our usual city breaks together. I had failed to book a play that we fancied but had sold out quickly, but we had quite a few other ideas. Marion had said she'd like to see some things she had never seen before. So our first day I had that in mind but we didn't have to go far away. 

We also wanted to meet up with Peter so I  arranged with him to show us something I was confident Marion wouldn't have seen before. On the way we dropped into John Livingston's tomb from the same century. At that time this was not part of Edinburgh, but was an estate outside and he was buried in his own estate.

Roses, autumn colours, sunshine and hidden history... It was was a good start to our day but the next visit I had arranged was something even less accessible to the public. Peter works at Napier University at a campus that is built around Napier's tower. Shane had been filling us in on logarithms and Napier's Bones, a helpful tool for making mathematical calculations. Napier lived in Edinburgh and part of his abode is preserved, and still used as a meeting room in the university.  

While we were taking pictures, Peter came out and met us. He took us to the room up some spiral stairs.

In the meeting room we could see the original painted ceiling with a huge variety of paintings. I have been before but it was a first for Marion and Margaret.  They are enormously varied pictures between the beams and some of the rafters themselves are carved on the sides.

On the meeting room wall was a portrait of Napier. We did all however spend more time with our necks cranes looking at his ceiling than at the man himself.

Peter looks in the reflection like he is looking towards Napier but he is pointing something out to Marion. We went up another floor and got a closer look. It looked as though there had been another floor between but now there was just a stair and an L shaped balcony. These were near a particularly surprising set of pictures for a man so pious. I was also struck with some extraordinary imagination in some of the beasts.

We headed downstairs and could see some more Napier exhibits. There was a case with a stuffed cockerel - allegedly he would surprise people with his large cock... not just the ones on his ceiling... well that may not be true but he was the King's poulterer and kept one as a pet. The mathematician used a bit of logic to scare and capture a thief. When a thief was suspected in the household, he told everyone that his cockerel could detect a thief and would crow if touched. He put it in a dark room with soot on it and only one person came out with clean soot-free hands. He must be the thief, too afraid to touch the cock, who believed it would squeal on him. (Alternatively it was someone who didn't  believe the story but was afraid of birds.) I hope the thief confessed and didn't get unjustly blamed. It was after all a time of much superstition and witch trials. Did someone accused of stealing get a fairer trial than those accused of witchcraft with no witnesses  or logical evidence? 

A look round the computer laboratory with historical photos of VIP visits showed that a few decades back women were being introduced to computers, though then it was a technical college. 

I wonder what Napier would have thought of the women being educated under his name. Would he have thought it logical or heretical?

We went out into the sunshine again thanking Peter for a fascinating tour. We had two hidden gems under our belts before ten a.m. The day was young yet!