Corstophine Hill & Tower

Corstorphine Hill, one of Edinburgh's largest public parks has been designated as both a Regionally Important Geological Site and a Local Nature Reserve. It is managed by the Ranger Service, assisted by the Friends of Corstorphine Hill who organise events and tours of Corstorphine Hill Tower.

While in the area, look out for Alexander Stoddart's Kidnapped statue (64 Corstorphine Road) depicting the novel's characters David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart at their final parting on Corstorphine Hill.

http://corstorphinehill.org.uk

Dr Balfour Memorial Fountain

The four columned pink drinking fountain is an unusual sight, sitting as it does at the ends of a modern housing estate.

It was erected in 1907 to commemorate the much respected local doctor, Andrew Balfour, who had died the previous year.

In 1884, Dr Balfour risked his own life to give medical assistance to miners half a kilometer underground in Niddrie's No 7 pit. Six years later, an influenza epidemic broke out and the doctor worked tirelessly to treat 146 cases in a three week period.

For an altogether less uplifting story of another Edinburgh doctor honoured by a statue, see Dr Hugh Dewar Memorial Fountain.

Klondyke Street, Newcraighall, EH21 8SQ

Old Calton Burial Ground

27 Waterloo Pl, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH1 3BQ

Unlike other burial grounds, the management of Old Calton was not attached or under the control of a church, but was run as a business by the Incorporated Trades of Calton. Established in 1718 as the resting place for merchants and tradespeople, it was bisected in 1817 with the construction of Waterloo Place and interments ceased in 1865.

Monuments in the larger, southern section include:

• Philosopher David Hume's Mausoleum
• The Scottish-American Soldiers' Monument - a standing figure of Abraham Lincoln, with a freed slave giving thanks at his feet which, when unveiled in 1893 drew huge crowds.
• The Political Martyrs’ obelisk commemorating five political reformists from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The north section is by far the smaller but this rarely visited graveyard is worth a look. The entrance is next to the Parliament House Hotel(15 Calton Hill, Edinburgh EH1 3BJ).

Jim Haynes Rhino

Charles Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AD

The bronze rhino sticking out from the Faculty of Informatics building marks the spot where Jim Haynes' Paperback Bookshop was situated in the 1960s.

Haynes is credited with founding the Traverse Theatre and was a leading figure in the alternative scene. Nowadays, he is best known for hosting open-house dinners for strangers every Sunday at his Paris home. If this is your sort of thing, check out Charlie& Evelyn's Supper Club.

Dr Hugh Dewar Memorial Fountain

Abercorn Park, Abercorn Terrace, Edinburgh EH15 2EF

Edinburgh Council's description of Abercorn Park reads “The park contains a fountain in memory of local doctor Hugh Dewar, who cared for the sick in the area from 1866 to 1914” but that doesn't tell the whole story...

The inscription on the grey granite drinking fountain informs visitors that the foundation was erected in remembrance of Dr Hugh Dewar “by his grateful patients and numerous friends, who deplore the loss in the prime of manhood of a kind friend and skillful and beloved physician. His quiet charity was known to the needy”. And still, we are no closer to the whole story.

Jane Anderson, died at his hands on 4 February 1914, a day after Dr Dewar called to her house to deliver her first child.

In the third stage of labour, while trying to remove the placenta and umbilical cord, Dr Dewar noticed a 'tube' which he proceeded to pull. He had in fact removed the 4m mucous membrane lining of the large intestine.

Quite how a medically qualified person could make such an appalling mistake is utterly incomprehensible but, it happened, and Jane Anderson died, in agony, aged 25.

Dr Dewar was never brought to justice – on the day before his trial for culpable homicide, he took his own life, most likely with narcotics.

For more info see:  The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Volume 93, December 2000

A memorial to another, far less controversial doctor, is the Dr Balfour Memorial Fountain at Newcraighall.