Oxgangs

The Oxgangs tower blocks (known locally at the Oxgangs high rise flats) were a group of 3 tower blocks which were built on Firrhill Drive/Oxgangs Crescent in 1961 and 1962. They each contained a mixture of flats and maisonettes with 2 bedrooms each, totalling up to 80 homes per block. The blocks were called "Allermuir Court" "Caerketton Court" and "Capelaw Court", and were named after three of the nearby Pentland Hills.The original name of the group of three blocks was "Comiston Luxury Flats". They boasted outstanding views across Edinburgh, and offered a much better place to live than the slums of the inner city. However, a short while after their completion several problems were drawn into attention such as dampness, and after the 1970s the original families were beginning to move out of the blocks in search of other housing. By the 1980s they had become a very undesirable and run-down place to live, drugs and crime blighted the tower blocks and the people that lived in them. Only the desperate came to live in them and by this time they contained very few families. Structurally, the towers were suffering from neglect and because of this they were steadily but rapidly falling into disrepair. But nonetheless a community spirit existed and in 2000 frustrated tenants of the towers decided to hold a meeting with the council to try to find out the long-term future of the flats. The council told them that nothing was possible for at least another 10 years and because of this the tenants held a campaign to have the flats demolished, and with the help of a local MSP they won it. In 2003, Social Justice Minister Margaret Curran announced £10,000,000 in funding for demolition of the blocks and rebuilding of affordable housing on the site.Work began in 2003 with the decanting of Capelaw Court and by 2004 it was empty, finally being demolished (with the use of controlled explosives) on 17 April 2005. The demolition was screened live worldwide by the National Geographic Channel. Allermuir and Caerketton Court were next and they were both demolished within seconds of each other on 26 November 2006. On the site of Capelaw Court, 60 flats and 31 houses were built (managed by Dunedin Canmore Housing Association, Communities Scotland and the city council, in partnership). The first residents moved back to the new homes in early 2007. The site of the other two tower blocks is currently being developed into more housing. The whole project was due to be completed in around 2009/10.

Hunter's Tryst is the name of a long-established inn in Edinburgh, Scotland; it has lent its name to the surrounding area, near Fairmilehead.The inn, once well outside Edinburgh's built-up area, was a popular leisure destination and was a meeting place of the Six Foot Club. The area was written about by Robert Louis Stevenson who, along with Sir Walter Scott were honorary members of the Six Foot Club (being too short to be full members).Today the inn is surrounded by modern housing estates and is next to a Morrisons supermarket. It is served by several Lothian Buses routes - services 5 and 27 commence or terminate at Hunter's Tryst, with services 4, 16 and Skylink 400 passing nearby. Hunter's Tryst was also formerly served by service 16 (now serving Colinton and turns nearby at Redford Road), service 17 (terminus was later changed to Craighouse and Granton before later being withdrawn), service 18 (running from Fort Kinnaird to Gyle Centre renumbered to Skylink 400), service 32 (inner circle) and service 52 (outer circle) (Oxgangs - Wester Hailes - Granton - Leith - Portobello - Niddrie - Kaimes).

Comiston (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Chaluim, IPA:[ˈpaleˈxaɫ̪ɯim]) is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is south of Morningside and west of the Braid Hills, linking the suburbs of Oxgangs and Fairmilehead. The main road through the area, Comiston Road, is a continuation of Morningside Road, and further south becomes Biggar Road. It is classified as the A702 which runs eventually to Biggar. A part of Comiston Road has signage as Pentland Terrace, the name of a terrace of Victorian houses set back from, and above Comiston Road, with a roadway of its own immediately in front of the houses. Comiston House was owned by the Forrest baronets. Sir James Forrest, 1st Baronet, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, occupied it from 1837 to 1843. Its grounds now form Fairmilehead Public Park.

Greenbank is a residential district of south Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated between the districts of Morningside and Oxgangs, i.e. slightly to the south-west of the heart of Morningside. The older part of Greenbank consists largely of inter-war period detached houses and bungalows. Since 2003, modern flats and houses have been constructed on the site of the former City Hospital on Greenbank Drive, some of which incorporate parts of the Victorian contagious diseases isolation hospital. The area of the new development has become known as Greenbank Village.

The Edinburgh City Hospital (also known as the Edinburgh City Hospital for Infectious Diseases or the City Hospital at Colinton Mains) was a hospital in Colinton, Edinburgh, opened in 1903 for the treatment of infectious diseases. As the pattern of infectious disease changed, the need for in-patients facilities to treat them diminished. While still remaining the regional centre for infectious disease, in the latter half of the 20th century the hospital facilities diversified with specialist units established for respiratory disease, ear, nose and throat surgery, maxillo-facial surgery, care of the elderly and latterly HIV/AIDS. The hospital closed in 1999 and was redeveloped as residential housing, known as Greenbank Village.

Firrhill is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is south of Merchants of Edinburgh Golf Club and lies next to Oxgangs. The area is mostly made up of public housing which was built by the Corporation Housing Department in the mid-1950s, however most of the council properties have now been bought by tenants using the right to buy scheme although a fairly large number of these are rented out privately by individual landlords.Firrhill High School lies in the area.

Swanston is a village and residential area on the southern edge of Edinburgh, Scotland, noted for its picturesque thatched cottages set around an informal village green. Because of its relatively isolated position at the foot of the Pentland Hills, it has remained largely unaffected by commercial or suburban development. The village grew up in the 18th century, originally to provide accommodation for farm workers on Swanston Farm. The farm, in turn, can trace its origins back at least to the 13th century and possibly earlier. The area has also played a role in supplying Edinburgh with fresh water. Its most notable resident was the young Robert Louis Stevenson, whose family leased a holiday home in the village during the late 19th century.

Craig House is a historic house and estate located on Easter Craiglockhart Hill, between the Craiglockhart and Morningside areas of Edinburgh, Scotland. Old Craig House dates from the 16th century, and succeeded an earlier building. In the late 19th century it was purchased by the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, and the site was developed as Craig House Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, including substantial new buildings. Following refurbishment, the site was opened in 1996 as the Craighouse Campus of Edinburgh Napier University.

Firrhill High School is a secondary school located in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The school was established in 1960, and was officially opened by the city’s lord provost. The school has around 1123 pupils and a teaching staff roll of around 121. The school serves areas such as: Oxgangs, Colinton Mains, Colinton Village, Bonaly, Fairmilehead, Buckstone, Craiglockhart and Longstone.In 2001, the school underwent drastic refurbishing work, with several run-down buildings dating from the 1960s being either refurbished or demolished with new buildings built in their place. Work was completed in mid-2005. The school was refurbished by a private finance initiative.

Morningside Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It was established in Edinburgh in 1878 by the Metropolitan Cemetery Company, originally just outwith the then city boundary, the nearest suburb then being Morningside. It extends to just over 13 acres in area. The cemetery contains 80 war graves. Although arguably visually uninspiring the cemetery contains the graves of several important female figures; including a female air commandant, Scotland's first female surgeon, the first female Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, a Nobel Prize winner and many church missionaries.

Fairmilehead is a district of southern Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies approximately 3 miles (5 km) due south of the city centre and borders Midlothian. The area comprises the neighbourhoods of Buckstone, Caiyside, Caiystane, Swanston, Frogston and Winton. The centre of the area is the crossroads between Buckstone Terrace/Biggar Road and Frogston Road/Oxgangs Road. There was a Royal Bank of Scotland (closed October 2015) and there remains an accountant's office and a local convenience shop at the crossroads, as well as Fairmilehead Parish Church, which is a parish church of the Church of Scotland. Fairmile House Nursery and the nearby Morton Mains Farmhouse Nursery provide private childcare facilities suited to the exclusivity of the local community. This area contains some of the most expensive houses in Edinburgh, with an average home value of £362,798 and the most expensive streets being Frogston Road West (average £955,118), Margaret Rose Loan (£595,298) and Galachlaw Shot (£586,754). In 2017, the area was named by the Edinburgh Evening News as being in the top four 'happiest places to live in Edinburgh', with a 96% satisfaction rate.The eastern part of Fairmilehead contained the Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital from 1932 to 2002, when it was demolished to make way for new luxury housing. Recently, the Scottish Water Fairmilehead water treatment works have been converted into more high-end residential housing built by Cala and David Wilson Homes. Scottish Water retain offices there, adjacent to the Charwood Grill restaurant (previously Tusitaila Italian restaurant). The area is represented by: Scottish Parliament by Gordon MacDonald MSP (Scottish National Party), British Parliament by Ian Murray MP (Labour) On the City of Edinburgh Council (Colinton/Fairmilehead ward) by Cllrs Scott Arthur (Labour), Phil Doggart (Conservative) and Jason Rust (Conservative)

Dovecot Studios is a tapestry studio and arts venue in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dovecot Studios was established by the 4th Marquess of Bute in 1912, recruiting weavers from William Morris' workshops at Merton Abbey in London. The Marquess commissioned the studios to produce large tapestries for Mount Stuart House, his home on the Isle of Bute. Dovecot Studios' first home was in Corstorphine, which at the time was a village on the west side of Edinburgh. It was originally housed in a purpose built studio next to a sixteenth-century dovecot, the only remaining part of the medieval Corstorphine Castle. After the Second World War, the studios became known as Edinburgh Tapestry Company. They focused on working with the most famous contemporary British artists, with individuals including Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland providing designs for tapestries. In 2001 it lost its financial support and went into liquidation. However the company was purchased and renewed by a new Board of Directors the same year, but could not remain at the Corstorphine site. Since 2008 Dovecot Studios has been residing in the refurbished Infirmary Street Baths in central Edinburgh, which gives a new life and purpose to what was a derelict building.As well as housing the Studio's Tapestry Studio, Dovecot's Infirmary Street home now also includes a cafe, shop, event hire spaces and three exhibition galleries. These spaces have shown a number Dovecot-curated and touring exhibitions, including "Weaving The Century: Tapestry from Dovecot Studios 1912–2012", "Jerwood Makers Open" and exhibitions by artists as diverse as Ptolemy Mann, Wendy Ramshaw and Michael Brennand Wood.During the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe, musical performance "A Tapestry Of Many Threads" written by Alexander McCall Smith and Tom Cunningham received its world premiere on the weaving floor at Dovecot to critical acclaim. The performance celebrated a decade of Dovecot weaving and included performers from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. "A Tapestry Of Many Threads" won a 2012 Herald Angel Award.