29 Thursday Sep 2016
Posted in Uncategorized
24/09/2016 The Sir Robert Rowand Anderson stone ready for viewing on Edinburgh Doors Open Day. It’s ready every day, of course, but it had a special marker for this day.
“Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, FRSE RSA (5 April 1834 – 1 June 1921) was a Scottish Victorian architect.”
Click this link to view his Wikipedia page… Sir Robert Rowand Anderson.
29 Thursday Sep 2016
Posted in Uncategorized
24/09/2016 The recently-cleaned War Memorial. Its official title is the Cross of Sacrifice, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield in 1918. It is present in Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 or more graves. (Ed.)
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission had ensured that the Cross of Sacrifice was washed down a couple of days before Doors Open Day. They have pressure-washers and have to bring in large containers of clean water, as there’s no source on-site. They also ensured that paths to War Graves were clear. Very well done CWGC! And there are a couple of new stones recently erected. (CG)
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10 Saturday Sep 2016
Posted in Contractor work
Stonework has been replaced and repointed along the top of the catacombs. The masons are now working on fixing coping stones along the west wall. Regrading of the carriageway under the tunnel is coming along nicely.
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06 Tuesday Sep 2016
Posted in Contractor work
September 6th 2016. Work on the tunnel floor (and lead-in at both ends) has begun. As well as putting gravel down they have been working on allowing the spring to flow away in a more controlled way.
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04 Sunday Sep 2016
Posted in Video
26 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in Views
Revealing an obelisk in the Secret Garden. At first sight, it was really hard to tell there was an obelisk here as it looked just like a tree with thick ivy covering the entire stone compressed together resembling tree bark plus the huge leafy canopy above. There must have been a lot of weight pressing down on the stone and the ivy caused a bit of damage to the stone facings. Here are some before, during and after shots of the reveal. Work had to be carried out very carefully, as always. The last photo is of the ‘crown’ removed from the apex. Some ivy had been removed during a previous work party session.
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19 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in Views, Views and Nature
A before and after sequence in the ‘Secret Garden’ area. The brambles had to be cut back because they had simply over-ran the ground and were in a poor state of health, producing few flowers and even less viable berries. The lack of sunlight caused them to reach out, seeking as much light as possible. This lead to a thick mass of interwoven stalks and some of the inner branches had already died or were dying. They also obscured several headstones so had to be cut right back. We will attempt to keep them under control when they produce new growth so that they will be healthy enough to produce flowers and fruit to keep the wildlife happy.
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19 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in Views
Remedial work has begun in the cemetery by workers contracted by Edinburgh Council. We had been undertaking extra work clearing the walls in the Secret Garden in order for the contractors to see what needed done most. We (the Friends of Warriston Cemetery group) have made it much more easy for them to do things such as repointing the wall above the east entrance to the Secret Garden plus replace coping stones atop a short section of the east wall as shown below. We have cleared walls as well as the ground so the masons could work safely and efficiently. This is just the start of the larger project.
19 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in Nature
These poppies were planted by the Friends of Warriston Cemetery group at the burial plot of James Young Simpson. Simpson was a Scottish obstetrician and a significant figure in the history of medicine. He died at his home in Edinburgh in May 1870 at the age of 58. A burial spot in Westminster Abbey was offered to his family, but they declined and instead buried him closer to home in Warriston cemetery.
Here is a link to his Wikipedia page; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Young_Simpson
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19 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in Views
Ongoing work in the ‘Secret Garden’ section. We didn’t manage to grab a ‘before’ picture of this area, so you don’t see the brambles we had to clear to get to these gravestones. However, this area is to the left as you enter that section through the second archway. Now clearer and more welcoming, with more to come.
The first photograph has been resized to fit this page. Click the image to view a larger version.
Friends of Warriston Cemetery 
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