Category Archives: Travel

The Lost Chapel of St Katherine’s-in-the-Hopes

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Glencorse reservoir from the air - the chapel is in the right-hand corner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the finest walks in the Lothians is by the side of Glencorse reservoir in the Pentland hills. The reservoir was built in 1822 to supply water to the city of Edinburgh. How many people know that beneath the reservoir are the remains of lost chapel of St Katherine’s-in-the-Hopes?  

St Katherine's-in-the-Hopes 1890s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are references to St Katherine’s chapel in thirteenth-century documents and it seems to have had some connection with Holyrood abbey inEdinburgh. There’s also a more fanciful story that it was built in the fourteenth-century by Sir William St Clair who had prayed to St Katherine to help him win a hunting wager with the king.

 

But who was St Katherine? The likeliest candidate is St Catherine ofAlexandria, famously martyred on a fiery wheel. At nearby Liberton, there was once a chapel dedicated to St Catherine and a famous holy well where the water had drops of oil in it.

 

St Katherine’s-in-the-Hopes is situated at the northern end of Glencorse reservoir, close to the Kirk burn and Kirkton farm. ‘Hopes’ is a Scots word meaning ‘a partly-hidden upland valley, often narrow and twisting’.    

 

The remains of the chapel have long been submerged underneath the reservoir but periodically they re-emerge during an extended period of dry weather. 

 

 

The Black Collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Black Collection, which is held by Midlothian Council archives, contains several reports about the remains of St Katherine’s becoming visible in 1898, 1901 and 1915. The site became a popular tourist attraction and many people took the walk from Edinburgh to have a look at the ruins.

 

At this time, only the foundations of the chapel and a few small walls remained. The chapel measured approximately 40 feet long and 20 feet wide. The walls were built of local stone in rubble work. The outlines of the chapel grounds were also clear. 

 

Interestingly, two ancient tombstones were still visible at this time.  One was very large and had the date ’1623′ and some figures carved on it as well as the text ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth’, which is taken from the Book of Revelations. In 1898, it was reported that the tombstone was broken in places and some thoughtless people had chipped pieces off as souvenirs.

 

Sketch of a tombstone at St Katherine's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some reports also state that there was another stone to the memory of James Glendinning and erected in 1666. It seems likely that some Covenanters would have been buried in the churchyard. On28 November 1666, there was a battle at nearby Rullion Green between the Covenanters and Royalist forces in which the former were routed and many Covenanters were killed.

Another report states that a local farmer used stones from the ruins of the chapel to repair dykes and walls in nearby fields. Supposedly, an urn containing several gold coins was discovered below the site of the altar, but where it is now is anybody’s guess.

 

St Katherine's in the 1930s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ruins of the chapel also became visible during a dry spell in the 1930s. Photographs suggest that by this time it was little more than a pile of stones.

 

The chapel and its tombstones still lie beneath its watery grave. Who knows when it will resurface again?

East Lothian Man perishes on the Titanic

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The Titanic

 

On 14th April 1912 the jewel of the White Star Line, the ‘unsinkable Titanic, hit an iceberg. The massive hulk scraped the starboard side of the ship leaving a large gash. Water began to flood in, pouring over the bulkheads. It was soon clear that the ship could not be saved and the lifeboats were brought into action. But there were not enough spaces on the lifeboats, and some were even put to sea half empty. The Titanic sunk at 2.20am on 15th April. Repeated attempts to signal nearby ships were in vain, and those that did respond were too far away. And so 1,517 people died in the icy-cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

Colonel John Weir

John Weir was born in 1852 in Scotland. Married, divorced and re-married, he became a soldier and rose to the rank of Colonel. During the Spanish-American War he was appointed Quartermaster-General by no less a man than President McKinley. He later became president of Nevada-Utah Mines & Smelters Corporation and was highly regarded in Nevada. One newspaper would write of him:

His heart was young, and his strong body … bore the straight lines of the typical soldier.

Although he worked internationally he always retained his link with Scotland and lived at a house called Ingleholm in North Berwick.

Ingleholm in North Berwick built for Colonel Weir c1902

 

In April 1912 Weir had to suddenly return to America on business. He was originally booked on a ship called Philadelphia, but the sailing was postponed due to a coal strike. Unfortunately for Weir he was transferred to the Titanic. On 10th April he boarded at Southampton on a £26 11s first class ticket. Four days later he went down with the ship.

 

East Lothian reacts

Haddington Advertiser

When news of the disaster reached East Lothian the reaction was one of shock. Condolences were quick in coming; many church sermons mentioned the event and closed their services with ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’. A performance of The Mikado at North Berwick Foresters’ Hall raised £19 10s, whilst a benefit concert was held by the Haddington Amateur Dramatic Society.

Colonel Weir’s dispute

Unfortunately for Colonel Weir’s family, he had not made a will. Before the estate could be divided a man came forward claiming to be Weir’s son. It was proven that he was indeed a relative and entitled to part of the estate. His intervention meant that the case was not settled until 1914.

Staycationing – North Berwick Style

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North Berwick c1930

So Summer is here.  Technically. What more could anyone want.  Sea, Sand, Seagulls.  So North Berwick, East Lothian is obviously the ideal location for anyone seeking a summer break.  This was definitely the case back in the 1930s.

Long before the term ‘staycation’ was coined, the normal idea of a holiday in the UK was to find somewhere with a beach that wasn’t where you normally lived. Then on to the charabanc for a few days of peace and quiet away from the urban thrum, this was a generation or so before the whole week of sangria on the Costa Del Sol concept had even been considered.  Such was the demand on accommodation in the town of North Berwick that the Town Council that they appealed to the Department of Health for Scotland so that the ‘overcrowding standards’ laid down in the Housing (Scotland) Act 1935 could be temporarily relaxed to cope with the ‘seasonal influx of holiday visitors’.

East Lothian Council Archives hold a range of applications from householders from 1937 applying for the right to take in additional people for the summer.  The applications provide an amazing level of detail into the households of the people who wish to take advantage of the scheme.  However any tenant who had been located to North Berwick under the ‘Slum Clearance’ arrangements was prevented from participating as the ‘prohibition is absolute’ in their cases. So ‘staycationers’ could be assured of only the best sublet accommodation during their visit to North Berwick.

Surprises in store

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With the focus at East Lothian Archives firmly on getting ready for the new John Gray Centre, I have been spending a lot of time in our archives store making sure everything in properly catalogued and ready to move. Not the most thrilling of jobs you might think but the bonus is that every so often I come across items I didn’t realise we had. The past fortnight I have found two wee gems.

One is a visitor’s book from Whittinghame Manse. The visitors came from all over the world and there are comments from as far afield as Johannesburg, Sudan and even St Andrews! Some of the more artistic guests left poems and drawings in the book. The manse was occupied at the time by Rev Lang who became Moderator of the Church of Scotland and there are many references to Auld Lang Syne by the guests as they tried to make a play on his name.

The other find is a passport issued to Thomas Todrick in 1838. The Todricks are a well known East Lothian family with several generations serving as Procurator Fiscal and working as Bankers and lawyers. The passport was issued to Thomas at The Hague and allows him “to pass freely without hindrance” while travelling on the continent. The reverse of the document is covered in the stamps of the countries and cities that he visited. These include Rotterdam, Cologne, Frankfurt, Bern & Geneva. Considering this piece of paper travelled around the continent over 170 years ago it’s in very good condition.

I’ll get back to my tidying – you never know what I’ll find next!

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Tom Curr & the Portobello Pool Beauty

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Tom Curr  is a name largely unknown to the general public, but as one of Scotland’s most successful and accomplished commercial artists and cartoonists, his work has been seen by millions of people.  This particular  poster advertising the Portobello open air swimming pool for the local council was probably painted by the artist in the 1940s or ’50s and is a wonderful example of his work.

Tom was born in Edinburgh in 1887 and spent his entire working life – apart from his military service in WW1 – in the employment of the Leith-based printers McLagan & Cumming, the firm which printed this Portobello pool poster.  Many of the army recruiting posters he produced for the firm are on display at the National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle although no information is provided there about the artist.  He was, in later in life, a noted painter, exhibiting at the Royal Scottish Academy and his work is included in the Government and Clydesdale Bank art collections.  His paintings of Clydesdale horses now sell for very respectable prices.

Public service was central to Tom Curr’s life and he served his city in many roles including that of town councillor, baillie and magistrate.  He was a member of many committees and was one of the original members of the Scottish Advisory Council of the BBC, as well as a radio and television broadcaster for the corporation on religious matters.  But it is for his work with the youth of Edinburgh, specifically his leadership of the 46th Company of the Edinburgh battalion of the Boys’ Brigade that he would have wished to be remembered.

For those interested in Tom’s life, career and painting, a book by Dr Sandy Brewer – Edinburgh Rock: The Life and Art of Tom Curr – is due to be published next year.

Wheelbarrow Men

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Bob Carlisle and his Peep Show

The Black Collection is a remarkable record about Penicuik and surrounding area from 1880 to 1930. It is named after James Black and his son Robert, who assembled a mass of material about life in Penicuik.

The collection includes research and lecture notes, newspaper cuttings, notebooks, postcards, photograph albums and many other items. It is particularly strong on papermaking, the Thistle Lodge of Free Gardeners, the Penicuik Rifle Volunteers, and Penicuik and the First World War.

The main part of the collection is a series of carefully compiled scrapbooks on life in Penicuik. The subjects range from local industries, sport, clubs and societies, and biographies of Penicuik people.

In the 1970s, the Black Collection was gifted to Midlothian Library Service by James Black’s grandson, William. The originals have been indexed and microfilmed, and these can be consulted in Penicuik Library or in Local Studies at Loanhead.

Amongst the collection is a small, 3-page scrapbook about the curious phenomena of ‘Wheelbarrow Men’.

Originally Wheelbarrow Men were carters or delivery men, who carried goods from one place to another on their wheelbarrows. They were too poor to own a horse to pull their wheelbarrows so instead relied on their own strength and power.

With the arrival of the railways and improved transport the role of the Wheelbarrow Man changed into one of entertainment and novelty. Wheelbarrow Men promoted themselves as being able to travel huge distances by their own efforts whilst relying on charity and donations to survive. The idea seems to have originated in the United States of America where there are records of several Wheelbarrow Men who tried to walk across the entire continent pushing their wheelbarrow.

The scrapbook in the Black Collection mentions several intrepid Wheelbarrow Men who became quite familiar characters in late nineteenth-century Scotland. Amongst these were ‘Cochrane’ the Dundee Street porter who in February 1887 walked from Dundee to London and back again in 45 days, pushing his wheelbarrow all of the way. The report states: ‘He received very little encouragement in England, and was barefooted and almost starving ere he got back to Scotland. Since he crossed the border on his return matters have improved.’

Another prominent Wheelbarrow Men was Michael Heriot, who in June 1887 walked from Cramond to London and back again in 28 days. Herriot’s feat was doubly remarkable as he had only one arm, the other having been replaced by an iron hook after an accident. Heriot also met with little success or sympathy in England. The newspaper report states: ‘The reception accorded him did not meet his expectations, or even his requirements, and for several days he was without even some of the necessities of life.’

Gambling and betting were an important factor in the story of the Wheelbarrow Men. They survived by taking bets that they could accomplish various feats. In some cases they were encouraged by wealthy sponsors who challenged them to achieve certain tasks. This in turn created a circle of betting about their progress and whether or not they would succeed.

The scrapbook contains an account of the life of Bob Carlisle, a famous Wheelbarrow Man of the late nineteenth-century. Carlisle claimed to have been the first man to introduce the idea into Britain from the United States. Carlisle was a native of Edinburgh but was brought up in Haddington. When a young man he heard of an American visitor called Weston, who took bets that he could walk two thousand miles in one thousand hours on the turnpike roads of England. Carlisle resolved to do something similar and his first stunt was to walk one thousand miles around the roads of Cornwall. Subsequently he made his living by undertaking mammoth walks around the country pushing his wheelbarrow. On at least one walk, from Glasgow to London, he was accompanied by his wife.  

Carlisle was certainly a colourful character with an eventful life. He had been in the Navy and a merchant seaman, and worked in the travelling circus as a clown and a lion-tamer.

However by the time of the newspaper report in 1906 the days of the Wheelbarrow Men were starting to fade. To earn extra income Carlisle built a tiny house on the top of his wheelbarrow and put on a miniature peep-show for paying customers.