Royal High school pupils make it a milestone to remember

Royal High School sponsored walk from the city to the school in Barnton.

It was 50 years ago that the esteemed school moved from its grand edifice on Regent Road to its facility at Barnton, where it has remained ever since.

And to mark this special milestone, plus an incredible 890 years in the City of Edinburgh, more than a thousand pupils showed up at 9am to complete a charity walk between the two sites.

Starting at Regent Road, the charity parade made its way past the famous monument to former alumnus, Sir Walter Scott, and braved intermittent September showers on the 4-mile trek to East Barnton Avenue, only stopping briefly for an address by the Lord Provost at the Mound precinct.

Leading the way was the School Pipe Band, followed by the Edinburgh Rider and Lass, the High Constables, and scores of pupils, former pupils and parents.

Organising the event was the school’s deputy rector, David Simpson, and he was chuffed to bits with how the day panned out.

“It went fantastically - they didn’t let the weather dampen their spirits at all,” said David, who is soon to retire from his role after 11 years.

The charity walk aims to raise £10,000 for Cancer Research and the Teenage Cancer Trust, both chosen by the pupils themselves.

“We asked the kids what charities they wanted to raise for and those were the ones that came up again and again,” explained David.

He added: “We don’t know how much we’ve raised until the sponsor forms come back, but we’ve never done a sponsored walk yet that didn’t raise at least a five-figure sum.”

Among the hundreds who participated, were a number of former pupils from both the Barnton and Regent Road incarnations of the school.

“Good schools are always a strong combination of staff parents and pupils,” said David, “We’re lucky enough in the Royal High to have really strong links with former pupils, staff and parents and those in the current school.”