Introduction to a walk around the Leith boundary, taking in the Rosebank Cemetery, the North Leith Burial Ground, and the streets in between, with information, photos, video, maps and conversation about the wonderful women associated with Leith’s past and contemporary connections.
(This walk was originally made on foot with a live group in Edinburgh on 23 February 2020, 3pm – sunset (5.30pm). This event has now taken place but it is hoped that there will be more in the future.)
The original tour was a circular one of approx. 2.5 hrs, that meditated on boundaries and borders – between one community of people and another, day and night, life and death and on the cusp of the new moon.
We visit the graves of notable women in Rosebank Cemetery, North Leith Burial Ground and South Leith Parish Church. Briefly, at each stopping place, we face the memorial stones, and learn about their incumbents.
The North Leith Burial Ground is ‘the dead centre of Leith’ according to The Spirit of Leithers
The steps we take from one stopping place to the next, are equally, if not more important, so take note of them too. You are invited to walk in memory of loved ones, and to muse on life and mortality. It is an opportunity for exchange and silent contemplation.
The walk starts at the join of Pilrig Street and Leith Walk, opposite the location of the Boundary Bar (now renamed as Bier Hoose) which marked the former border between Leith and Edinburgh, and terminates at Robbies Bar on the corner of Iona St and Leith Walk, more or less opposite the start. There you can find libation and chat about where you have been – both in yourselves and the city.
Always wear hardy shoes or boots for tramping pavements and negotiating sodden grass between stones and at the edge of the Water of Leith.
Psychogeography is ‘The study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.’
Guy Debord from Making Maps
The annual Terminalia Festival of Psychogeography
Terminus was one of the really old Roman gods. He didn’t have a statue, he was a stone marker, and his origin was associated with a physical object). He had influence over less physical boundaries too, like that between two months, or between two groups of people. Terminalia is celebrated on the 23rd February which was the last day of the Roman Year, the boundary between two new years.
Women Who Walk
TI am a member of Women Who Walk. This network is for women who use walking in their creative or academic practice, and it includes artists, writers, field historians and archaeologists, psychogeographers, and academics.
I led a series of these walks, in-person and online (for anyone who was ambulant or not, in Edinburgh or not!) including ones that were part of the Audacious Women Festival 2021, Women Who Walk, and Terminalia Festival (2023 and 2021).
Walking Between Worlds 1 an account of the first part of the walk
Walking Between Worlds 2 the second part of the walk
Walking Between Worlds – 3 the third part of the walk
Walking without a donkey 