A new group is being launched to protect and improve one of Edinburgh’s most historic parks.
Inch Park, once part of the grounds of the 17th century Inch House, was an integral part of the design of Edinburgh’s first “garden city” – The Inch estate – just over 70 years ago. And when the Friends of Inch Park holds its first annual general meeting on Wednesday, September 27, at 7pm, at Inch House, the guest speaker will be Bill Cook, former councillor and author of the history of the estate.
Bill, whose family moved to The Inch from Greenside, behind the Playhouse, shortly before he was born, said when it was built around 1950 the estate – Edinburgh’s first “garden city” – was recognised as “transformational” for many of the residents who had come from the oppressive conditions of the slums and found themselves in new homes amid open spaces. “It derived directly from the post-war consensus and the initiatives people took during the war – they were planning during the war to build new houses when it was all over. The country was fighting to defeat Nazism and they were saying ‘We need to build a better world’.”
Here’s a look at the fascinating story of The Inch in 13 pictures.
13. New pillar box blown up in royal protest
This early photograph of Gilmerton Road was taken before the drama which took place there in 1953. After the Queen's coronation in 1952, the first pillar box in Scotland to carry the EIIR insignia was unveiled next to the lamppost in the picture. But some nationalists objected that Scotland had never had an Elizabeth I, so the new monarch wasn't Elizabeth II here. One day, a postman collecting mail from the box found an explosive device, but luckily the fuse had become detached from the detonator. Fearing another attempt, police mounted a surveilance operation from an empty house close by, but it failed to prevent a bomb exploding at the pillar box on February 16, 1953. No-one as injured and the culprit was never caught. Photo: Bill Cook