194-537: The Waverley Route was a railway line that ran south from Edinburgh , through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders , to Carlisle . The line was built by the North British Railway ; the stretch from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849 and the remainder to Carlisle opened in 1862. The line was nicknamed after the immensely popular Waverley Novels , written by Sir Walter Scott . The line
388-644: A UNESCO World Heritage Site , which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. The city's historical and cultural attractions have made it the UK's second-most visited tourist destination, attracting 4.9 million visits, including 2.4 million from overseas in 2018. Edinburgh is governed by the City of Edinburgh Council , a unitary authority. The City of Edinburgh council area had an estimated population of 514,990 in mid-2021, and includes outlying towns and villages which are not part of Edinburgh proper. The city
582-465: A royal charter , c. 1124–1127 , by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline . The shire of Edinburgh seems to have also been created in the reign of David I, possibly covering all of Lothian at first, but by 1305 the eastern and western parts of Lothian had become Haddingtonshire and Linlithgowshire , leaving Edinburgh as the county town of
776-463: A 104-mile (167 km) line from Ayr to Berwick to complement its main line from Carlisle to Glasgow . In 1847, the Caledonian obtained powers to construct a line eastwards from Gretna on its main line to Canonbie , only 8 miles (13 km) from Hawick, but these powers were allowed to lapse. A second scheme was promoted in 1857: a single-line branch to Langholm whose sole aim was to keep
970-548: A 4-mile-50-chain (7.4 km) branch to Haddington . The company's chairman and founder was John Learmonth , the chairman of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway , whose ambition it was to enclose the triangle of land between Edinburgh, Berwick and Carlisle with NBR rails. Carlisle was a key railway centre where a cross-border link with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway could be established. The NBR's Edinburgh-Berwick line
1164-673: A 900-foot (270 m) summit at Falahill , before dropping down to the Gala Water which it crossed fifteen times to reach Galashiels . The next stage passed through the Tweed Valley , around the Eildons to Melrose and St Boswells , and finally to Hawick over undulating terrain. Construction was already under way in June 1846 when the company obtained authorisation to build seven branch lines – four from its Berwick line and three from
1358-433: A fast, a local and a Parliamentary . Journey times were 3 hours and 3 minutes for the express and fast trains, and 4 hours and 36 minutes for the local and Parliamentary services. There were no through services ; the express and fast trains connected with services from England at Carlisle. Passengers departing Edinburgh at 9:45 am would arrive at London Euston at 9:50 pm, while an afternoon service connected with
1552-412: A full-length parcels/brake , arrived two hours late into Carlisle due to anti-closure protesters. Trouble had started at Hawick where a set of points had been tampered with and Class 17 D8606 was sent out in front as a pilot engine . A large crowd jammed the platform and a procession headed by a piper carried a coffin, labelled "British Rail", to the guard's van . The train was delayed for half an hour as
1746-405: A giant new marshalling yard alongside the line at Millerhill. The yard was in full operation by April 1963 and by November was handling an average of 21,000 wagons per week. However, although the yard flourished during its early years, changes in the national rail freight scene and the decline in the traditional Scottish industries resulted in it falling largely empty by the mid-1960s. A severe blow
1940-531: A grant of about £250,000 per year would be required, representing 11d per passenger mile. In the Minister's opinion, grants on such a scale, even for a drastically modified and rationalised service, could not be justified on a value-for-money basis. In the meantime, British Rail's Network for Development plans published in May 1967 confirmed that the line was considered neither as a trunk route to be developed, nor as
2134-713: A high price from the NBR in the form of running rights from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Edinburgh. These were fully exercised by the NER, thereby greatly reducing the influence of the Scottish company on the East Coast line. The Waverley Route spawned a series of branches serving the towns and villages in the Scottish Borders : a branch line from Kelso Junction near St Boswells reached Kelso where it met an NER branch from Tweedmouth . The NBR Chairman, Richard Hodgson, sought to link
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#17327802058862328-607: A modest traffic in coal, wool and livestock. Goods traffic took on a new importance during the Second World War when the Waverley played a key role in moving personnel and supplies to the naval and military bases in Scotland. The amount of freight carried continued to rise after the war as passenger traffic tailed off with the route's downgrading, leaving ample capacity for the line to become a freight artery. This new role
2522-599: A more regular service. The last timetable for the Waverley Route from 6 May 1968 showed one train each way to and from St Pancras, one to and from Carlisle with through coaches for St Pancras, three to and from Carlisle and two to and from Hawick, with two extra services on Saturday. The fastest service was the 4:44 am from Carlisle which arrived in Edinburgh at 7:12 am with stops at Newcastleton, Hawick, St Boswells, Melrose and Galashiels. The slowest service
2716-641: A net saving of £232,000 would be made from closure. 508 objections to closure were lodged with the Transport Users' Consultative Committee (TUCC) in Edinburgh within the allotted six-week period, and a public hearing was held in Hawick on 16 and 17 November 1966. Representatives from the County councils of Berwickshire , Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire and the town councils of Galashiels, Jedburgh, Innerleithen , Hawick, Kelso, Selkirk and Peebles attended
2910-553: A number of years were to pass before improvements were made. The timetable in June 1957 showed six through services between Edinburgh and Carlisle; by this time, six of the line's 31 intermediate stations had been closed and the Border Counties line had closed to be replaced by a bus service provided by Norman Fox. There was only one express service to London: the 10:05 am restaurant and trailer composite from Edinburgh-St Pancras which took 160 minutes to reach Carlisle. There
3104-523: A population in 2014 of 1,339,380. Like most of Scotland, Edinburgh has a cool temperate maritime climate ( Cfb ) which, despite its northerly latitude, is milder than places which lie at similar latitudes such as Moscow and Labrador . The city's proximity to the sea mitigates any large variations in temperature or extremes of climate. Winter daytime temperatures rarely fall below freezing while summer temperatures are moderate, rarely exceeding 22 °C (72 °F). The highest temperature recorded in
3298-577: A rural branch line led the Midland in 1866 to apply for Parliamentary authorisation to construct its own line to Carlisle. However, in the wake of the Overend Gurney crisis and an offer by the L&;NWR to grant running powers between Ingleton and Carlisle on reasonable conditions, the Midland began to have second thoughts, and requested the abandonment of its proposed scheme in 1869. Both the NBR and
3492-587: A rural branch line qualifying for subsidy on social grounds. Barbara Castle's intention to discontinue passenger services on the Waverley Route was opposed by Willie Ross and Anthony Crosland , President of the Board of Trade , who considered that it would call into question the Government's intention to support the economic development of the Borders region and make a mockery of the consultative arrangements for
3686-634: A series of small summits to the south of the city centre that command expansive views looking northwards over the urban area to the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh is drained by the river named the Water of Leith , which rises at the Colzium Springs in the Pentland Hills and runs for 18 miles (29 km) through the south and west of the city, emptying into the Firth of Forth at Leith. The nearest
3880-470: A service to Ireland from Silloth, even though the port had assumed greater importance for the NBR as a result of the difficulties at Carlisle. As a result, although it had not been the NBR's intention to own ships, it became necessary to acquire the paddle steamers Ariel in 1862, followed by Queen and Silloth in 1864, in order to operate a passenger and goods service between Silloth and Liverpool, Dublin and Belfast . The financial picture changed with
4074-531: A shareholders' meeting on 19 December 1844 where it drew criticism for being nearly as long as the NBR's Berwick line. Learmonth described the line as a "protective" one to guard against incursions by the NBR's Glasgow-based rival, the Caledonian Railway , and stated that there was no intention of extending it further to Carlisle. The proposal having been carried by a substantial majority, the Act authorising
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#17327802058864268-585: A shire covering the central part of Lothian, which was called Edinburghshire or Midlothian (the latter name being an informal, but commonly used, alternative until the county's name was legally changed in 1947). Edinburgh was largely under English control from 1291 to 1314 and from 1333 to 1341, during the Wars of Scottish Independence . When the English invaded Scotland in 1298 , Edward I of England chose not to enter Edinburgh but passed by it with his army. In
4462-516: A sit-in with protestors on the permanent way, and instead she distributed leaflets edged with the words "It's quicker by hearse". Meanwhile, the last freight trains to traverse the line came through: the 8:30 am Carlisle-Millerhill (4S42) and the 9:55 am Bathgate-Kings Norton empty car flats (3M45), which were respectively hauled by Type 3 and 4 diesels . The day also saw a second special – an 11-coach train from Newcastle worked by Deltic D9002 The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry , and
4656-490: A succession of landslips which required the directors to proceed in a ballast wagon , and a stark lack of progress at Stobs. On two of the construction contracts, the NBR's chief engineer had to take over from the contractors, whose equipment was sequestrated and sold. By September 1861, the southern section of the line was ready for traffic; but none could be carried, as the Caledonian Railway had failed to lay
4850-421: A variety of classes including Clayton Class 17s . The Waverley Route had a small number of minor engine sheds and two major sheds at its northern and southern extremities. The smaller sheds were at Galashiels, St Boswells, Riccarton Junction and Hardengreen Junction; Hawick had a larger facility which was important for the operation of the Waverley Route and its branch lines. St Margarets and Carlisle Canal were
5044-655: A war band from across the Brittonic world who gathered in Eidyn before a fateful raid; this may describe a historical event around AD 600. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria , and around this time control of Lothian passed to the Angles . Their influence continued for the next three centuries until around 950, when, during the reign of Indulf , son of Constantine II ,
5238-463: Is almost entirely within the City of Edinburgh Council boundary, merging with Musselburgh in East Lothian. Towns within easy reach of the city boundary include Inverkeithing , Haddington , Tranent , Prestonpans , Dalkeith , Bonnyrigg , Loanhead , Penicuik , Broxburn , Livingston and Dunfermline . Edinburgh lies at the heart of the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City region with
5432-464: Is believed to have been located at Castle Rock , now the site of Edinburgh Castle . A siege of Din Eidyn by Oswald , king of the Angles of Northumbria in 638 marked the beginning of three centuries of Germanic influence in south east Scotland that laid the foundations for the development of Scots , before the town was ultimately subsumed in 954 by the kingdom known to the English as Scotland. As
5626-468: Is cloudier and somewhat wetter, but differences are minor. Temperature and rainfall records have been kept at the Royal Observatory since 1764. The most recent official population estimates (2020) are 506,520 for the locality (includes Currie ), 530,990 for the Edinburgh settlement (includes Musselburgh ). John Miller (engineer) Too Many Requests If you report this error to
5820-426: Is encircled by a green belt , designated in 1957, which stretches from Dalmeny in the west to Prestongrange in the east. With an average width of 3.2 km (2 mi) the principal objectives of the green belt were to contain the outward expansion of the city and to prevent the agglomeration of urban areas. Expansion affecting the green belt is strictly controlled but developments such as Edinburgh Airport and
6014-599: Is in the Lothian region and was historically part of the shire of Midlothian (also called Edinburghshire). "Edin", the root of the city's name, derives from Eidyn , the name for the region in Cumbric , the Brittonic Celtic language formerly spoken there. The name's meaning is unknown. The district of Eidyn was centred on the stronghold of Din Eidyn, the dun or hillfort of Eidyn. This stronghold
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6208-514: Is the most interesting and attractive, and is the only Route which enables the Tourist to visit Melrose (for Melrose Abbey and Abbotsford ) and St Boswells (for Dryburgh Abbey ) North British Railway advertisement, Black's Where Shall We Go (1877) The name "Waverley Route" first appeared in NBR minute books towards the end of 1862, and headed the first timetable of Hawick-Carlisle services. Although we have no idea how or by whom it
6402-440: Is typical of the old quarters of many Northern European cities. The New Town was an 18th-century solution to the problem of an increasingly crowded city which had been confined to the ridge sloping down from the castle. In 1766 a competition to design a "New Town" was won by James Craig , a 27-year-old architect. The plan was a rigid, ordered grid, which fitted in well with Enlightenment ideas of rationality. The principal street
6596-571: The 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (2.4 km) approach, and refused to accept NBR telegraph wires on its branch, or NBR passholders , who were dropped off at Port Carlisle Junction. The Border Union Railway was opened in sections: freight services were introduced between Carlisle and Scotch Dyke on 12 October 1861 followed by the passenger service on 28 October; this service was extended to Newcastleton on 1 March 1862 and to Riccarton Junction on 2 June. Opening throughout came on 1 July 1862. The Waverley Route between England and Scotland, The Waverley
6790-546: The 98 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles (158.1 km), with 16 minutes spent waiting at Galashiels, St Boswells and Hawick. The first arrival of the day in Carlisle via the Waverley Route was however a 6:00 am service from Hawick which arrived at 8:18 am after a 15-minute stand at Riccarton Junction to connect with the 6:40 am service to Newcastle. Three daily corridor restaurant car expresses ran to St Pancras, of which one had through coaches for Bristol . Carlisle
6984-492: The 4-4-2 Atlantics designed by William Reid and built by the North British Locomotive Company . The Atlantics were intended to put an end to costly double-heading on the Waverley Route but suffered from teething problems which endured nearly two years, after which the class proved to be excellent performers, particularly after they were superheated in 1915. The Atlantics are considered as
7178-654: The Athenian Acropolis , as did aspects of the neoclassical architecture and layout of New Town . Both cities had flatter, fertile agricultural land sloping down to a port several miles away (respectively, Leith and Piraeus ). Intellectually, the Scottish Enlightenment , with its humanist and rationalist outlook, was influenced by Ancient Greek philosophy . In 1822, artist Hugh William Williams organized an exhibition that showed his paintings of Athens alongside views of Edinburgh, and
7372-586: The British Railways Board was interested and generally supportive, the Scottish Region was uninterested, unhelpful and obstructive. Access for BUR officers to the line was made difficult and Scottish Region staff were dismantling equipment even as negotiations progressed. An amount of £75,000 per year was demanded to connect with the main line at Portobello. A lower price was asked of the section between Riddings and Carlisle – £100,000 for
7566-485: The Forth Bridge in 1890 led to an increase in traffic carried over the Midland's line to stations north of Carlisle. Receipts in June, July, August and September of that year were £6,809 higher than in the corresponding months of the previous year. Throughout its lifetime, the Waverley Route only achieved moderate success. Even during its best years, returns from the line's intermediate stations were meagre. In 1920,
7760-661: The George Square and Potterrow areas proved highly controversial. Since the 1990s a new "financial district", including the Edinburgh International Conference Centre , has grown mainly on demolished railway property to the west of the castle, stretching into Fountainbridge , a run-down 19th-century industrial suburb which has undergone radical change since the 1980s with the demise of industrial and brewery premises. This ongoing development has enabled Edinburgh to maintain its place as
7954-477: The Glasgow and South Western Railway petitioned against the abandonment on the basis that it would leave them dependent on the L&NWR's monopoly at Carlisle; they also resented the fact that they had been used by the Midland as a means to negotiate terms with the L&NWR. The House of Commons Committee hearing the case for the bill took the same view, and the Midland was obliged to proceed with construction of
Waverley Route - Misplaced Pages Continue
8148-606: The Lothian Coalfield. The E&DR, which had been authorised on 26 May 1826 as a tramway to carry coal to the Firth of Forth at Fisherrow and, later, Leith , ran for a distance of 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (13.7 km) with branches eastwards to Leith and Fisherrow from Wanton Walls. The proprietors of the E&;DR viewed the NBR's overtures with some alarm as they feared the loss of their valuable coal traffic; thought
8342-803: The Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, they found a Brittonic Celtic tribe whose name they recorded as the Votadini . The Votadini transitioned into the Gododdin kingdom in the Early Middle Ages , with Eidyn serving as one of the kingdom's districts. During this period, the Castle Rock site, thought to have been the stronghold of Din Eidyn, emerged as the kingdom's major centre. The medieval poem Y Gododdin describes
8536-668: The Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston lie within the zone. Similarly, suburbs such as Juniper Green and Balerno are situated on green belt land. One feature of the Edinburgh green belt is the inclusion of parcels of land within the city which are designated green belt, even though they do not connect with the peripheral ring. Examples of these independent wedges of green belt include Holyrood Park and Corstorphine Hill. Edinburgh includes former towns and villages that retain much of their original character as settlements in existence before they were absorbed into
8730-753: The Scotland Act , which came into force the following year, established a devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive (renamed the Scottish Government since September 2007 ). Both based in Edinburgh, they are responsible for governing Scotland while reserved matters such as defence, foreign affairs and some elements of income tax remain the responsibility of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in London. In 2022, Edinburgh
8924-795: The Scottish National Gallery . The city is also known for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe , the latter being the world's largest annual international arts festival. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle , the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the churches of St. Giles , Greyfriars and the Canongate , and the extensive Georgian New Town built in the 18th/19th centuries. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as
9118-699: The Scottish Parliament , the highest courts in Scotland , and the Palace of Holyroodhouse , the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. It is also the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland . The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scottish law , literature, philosophy, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh , founded in 1582 and now one of three in
9312-525: The Secretary of State for Scotland , Willie Ross , who was acutely aware of the sensitivity of the closure proposal for the Borders region and for wider Scottish economic development. The proposal for the closure of the entire line and its 24 stations was finally issued on 17 August 1966; it said closure would happen on 2 January 1967 if no objections were received; replacement bus services were to be provided by Eastern Scottish . British Rail estimated that
9506-739: The South Bridge in the 1780s. The Southside is particularly popular with families (many state and private schools are here), young professionals and students (the central University of Edinburgh campus is based around George Square just north of Marchmont and the Meadows ), and Napier University (with major campuses around Merchiston and Morningside). The area is also well provided with hotel and "bed and breakfast" accommodation for visiting festival-goers. These districts often feature in works of fiction. For example, Church Hill in Morningside,
9700-410: The communication cord was pulled repeatedly. Reaching Newcastleton, the train stopped short of the platform as the signals were at red; D8606 had continued to the far end of the platform where the level crossing gates were closed across the line. These had been padlocked by some of the 200 villagers who crowded on to the line. Although the chains were removed by police, the crowd stood fast and prevented
9894-652: The "Abbotsford Class"; No. 479 bore the name, so closely associated with Scott. On the same day that the Carlisle extension was opened, services also began on the Border Counties Railway . It branched off the Waverley Route at Riccarton Junction and ran south to join the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway at Hexham . This provided the NBR with a connection to Newcastle and the East Coast line over North Eastern Railway (NER) metals. The NER extracted
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#173278020588610088-503: The "burh" (fortress), named in the 10th-century Pictish Chronicle as oppidum Eden , was abandoned to the Scots. It thenceforth remained, for the most part, under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, though the date of its charter is unknown. The first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is
10282-499: The 1860s began the transformation of the area into the predominantly Victorian Old Town seen today. More improvements followed in the early 20th century as a result of the work of Patrick Geddes , but relative economic stagnation during the two world wars and beyond saw the Old Town deteriorate further before major slum clearance in the 1960s and 1970s began to reverse the process. University building developments which transformed
10476-409: The 18th-century novel The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett one character describes Edinburgh as a "hotbed of genius". Edinburgh was also a major centre for the Scottish book trade. The highly successful London bookseller Andrew Millar was apprenticed there to James McEuen. From the 1770s onwards, the professional and business classes gradually deserted the Old Town in favour of
10670-520: The 19th century and joined by new industries such as rubber works , engineering works and others. By 1821, Edinburgh had been overtaken by Glasgow as Scotland's largest city. The city centre between Princes Street and George Street became a major commercial and shopping district, a development partly stimulated by the arrival of railways in the 1840s. The Old Town became an increasingly dilapidated, overcrowded slum with high mortality rates. Improvements carried out under Lord Provost William Chambers in
10864-470: The Border Union (North British) Railway Act provided for the construction of a 43-mile (69 km) long line to Carlisle. The main line opened throughout to passengers on 1 July 1862. A celebration was held on 1 August when a special train ran from Edinburgh and a dinner was held in the carriage shed at Carlisle for around 700 guests. The Waverley Route was not however complete until the final section on
11058-639: The Border Union Railway was an unwelcome development for the West Coast partnership set up by the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR), the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and the Caledonian Railway, which had dominated the joint station at Carlisle Citadel and the profitable Anglo-Scottish traffic which passed through it. By 1860, the traffic was generating more than £1,500,000 for
11252-399: The Border Union Railway was backed by the town councils of Edinburgh , Leith , Dunbar , Haddington , Berwick and Hawick, whilst the Leith Dock Commissioners, the Merchant Company of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce also supported the scheme. The Border towns saw the Glasgow-based Caledonian Railway as an interloper, whereas the NBR was an Edinburgh company and their chairman
11446-565: The Border Union Railway was turned at Hawick on 22 July 1859, a day after the line had received Parliamentary approval. Construction works were to last two years and ten months; the task was made all the more difficult by the Caledonian Railway's delaying tactics in Parliament, which meant that the main works could only begin as winter was approaching. The heavy construction work took place in difficult weather – three frightful winters and two wet summers – in desolate country miles from public roads, which required teams of horses to bring materials across
11640-411: The Castle Rock, giving rise to allusions to the seven hills of Rome . Occupying a narrow gap between the Firth of Forth to the north and the Pentland Hills and their outrunners to the south, the city sprawls over a landscape which is the product of early volcanic activity and later periods of intensive glaciation. Igneous activity between 350 and 400 million years ago, coupled with faulting , led to
11834-449: The Edinburgh and Hawick company. At the same time, Learmonth revealed that it was in fact intended to continue to Carlisle. The line would first be extended to Galashiels by paying £1,200 to buy out the independent Galashiels Railway project. The line to Hawick was to be the greatest and most costly of the NBR's lines. From Dalhousie it climbed up the valleys of the South Esk and the Gore Water for 8 miles (13 km) at 1 in 70 to reach
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#173278020588612028-554: The English in 1544, Edinburgh continued to develop and grow, and was at the centre of events in the 16th-century Scottish Reformation and 17th-century Wars of the Covenant . In 1582, Edinburgh's town council was given a royal charter by King James VI permitting the establishment of a university; founded as Tounis College (Town's College), the institution developed into the University of Edinburgh , which contributed to Edinburgh's central intellectual role in subsequent centuries. In 1603, King James VI of Scotland succeeded to
12222-452: The English throne, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England in a personal union known as the Union of the Crowns , though Scotland remained, in all other respects, a separate kingdom. In 1638, King Charles I's attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms . Subsequent Scottish support for Charles Stuart 's restoration to
12416-419: The Galashiels site which went for housing. The BUR sought to obtain a more accommodating approach from the Minister but he refused. At the end of 1970, the BUR reluctantly abandoned the project and was wound up. Tracklifting was complete by late 1972. Negotiations for the sale of parts of the railway solum had already begun, despite a request by Lord Melgund for it to be safeguarded. Lothian Regional Council
12610-432: The Hawick line. The line opened on 1 November 1849. Despite the manifest lack of traffic potential over the barren moorlands separating Hawick and Carlisle, reaching the Cumbrian county town was to be a hotly disputed affair with the NBR and the Caledonian Railway vying for control. The Caledonian was keen to hinder the progress of the NBR and planned an incursion into NBR territory with the Caledonian Extension Railway –
12804-446: The Jacobite "Highland Army" before its march into England. After its eventual defeat at Culloden , there followed a period of reprisals and pacification, largely directed at the rebellious clans . In Edinburgh, the Town Council, keen to emulate London by initiating city improvements and expansion to the north of the castle, reaffirmed its belief in the Union and loyalty to the Hanoverian monarch George III by its choice of names for
12998-494: The Lothian Coalfields, and, perhaps most importantly, the E&DR pointed in the direction of Carlisle. Parliamentary authorisation for the line's acquisition was obtained on 21 July 1845 with the passing of the North British Railway (Edinburgh & Dalkeith Purchase) Act, which allowed the NBR to lay a spur from its Edinburgh-Berwick line near Portobello to the E&DR at Niddrie , thereby allowing NBR services to run directly from North Bridge station to Dalhousie. Even before
13192-404: The Midland's expresses via the Waverley Route covered the 406 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles (654.6 km) in eight hours and forty minutes. Those who travelled on the line often did so because of the pleasant journey and spectacular scenery north of Leeds, and holiday workings were timed to allow passengers to take in the landscape during daylight hours. In terms of passenger numbers, a reasonable load
13386-547: The NBR from the Midlands reached the company's St Margarets works in Edinburgh via the Caledonian. Nevertheless, the NBR did make some inroads into the partnership's traffic, and the Edinburgh-London goods traffic carried over the East Coast line declined from 4,045 tonnes in 1861 to 624 tonnes in 1863. In the face of these difficulties, the initial results of the Waverley Route were disappointing; this led to heated discussions at NBR board meetings. A lobby developed, featuring in particular shareholders from Glasgow, which called for
13580-406: The NBR had obtained its Act authorising the acquisition of the E&DR, John Learmonth had instructed John Miller to carry out a flying survey of the territory to the south of Dalkeith for a potential line to Kelso which would connect with a branch from Berwick. The scheme, which would see a 52-mile (84 km) line from the E&DR's terminus at Dalhousie Mains to Hawick , was discussed at
13774-423: The NBR lines north and west of Hawick and on the lines south and west of the Caledonian main line. The proposal gained no traction with the Caledonian, leading the NBR to publish details of its proposed scheme, to be known as the Border Union Railway , on 17 December 1858. The line would cost £450,000, of which £337,500 would be raised by shares and the remainder by a loan. Authorisation was given on 21 July 1859 when
13968-514: The NBR out of Carlisle. The NBR put forward a rival scheme: the 43-mile (69 km) long double-track Border Union Railway which would run from Hawick down Liddesdale and through Newcastleton to the Solway Plain and Carlisle. The extension being a matter of life and death for the NBR, its chairman, Richard Hodgson , who had replaced Learmonth in 1855, set about appealing to local councils and traders for their support. Through his efforts,
14162-440: The NBR requested compensatory payments; between 1903 and 1907 the Midland's board approved payments totalling more than £5,000 in respect of the Edinburgh portion of the 1:30 pm St Pancras train. By July 1914, the first departure from Edinburgh was a through service to Carlisle at 6:15 am. The service called at all of the line's 31 stations, including Abbeyhill , Piershill and Portobello, and took 275 minutes to traverse
14356-535: The NBR to close the line; it was considered a millstone by its successive operators. Too far east of the Scottish industrial heartland in the Clyde Valley , and traversing thinly-populated countryside for much of the way, the Waverley Route lived off cross-border passenger services and traffic generated by the wool textile industries in Galashiels, Selkirk and Hawick. As a passenger artery, the effectiveness of
14550-584: The NBR, and Selkirk via the Selkirk and Galashiels Railway , also opened in 1856 and operated by the NBR, while Langholm received a branch from Riddings Junction , and Gretna one from Longtown . One of the last branches to be constructed was the Lauder Light Railway in 1901; this replaced an omnibus subsidised by the NBR providing access from the town of Lauder , famed for its trout , and connecting with trains at Stow . The completion of
14744-539: The North". Robert Louis Stevenson, also a son of the city, wrote that Edinburgh "is what Paris ought to be". The earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond , where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c. 8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have been found on Castle Rock, Arthur's Seat , Craiglockhart Hill and the Pentland Hills . When
14938-669: The Prime Minister in December 1968 by a Hawick housewife, Madge Elliot, accompanied by David Steel and the Earl of Dalkeith , MP for Edinburgh North , was to no avail. The line closed on Monday 6 January 1969, one of 37 lines closed by Marsh during his 18-month term of office. It was the largest railway closure in the United Kingdom until the closure of the Great Central Main Line a few months later. The demise of
15132-548: The Provost for the time as Sheriff, and by the Bailies for the time as Sheriffsdepute conjunctly and severally; with full power to hold Courts, to punish transgressors not only by banishment but by death, to appoint officers of Court, and to do everything else appertaining to the office of Sheriff; as also to apply to their own proper use the fines and escheats arising out of the exercise of the said office." Despite being burnt by
15326-675: The Settle-Carlisle line opened. A more capable locomotive was introduced in 1875 by Wheatley's successor Dugald Drummond whose 4-4-0 476 class was the largest and most powerful locomotive in Great Britain at the time, as well as one of the very few satisfactory four-coupled bogie express engines on the network on the 1870s. The new locomotives were known as the Abbotsford Class after no. 479 which bore that name. From 1907, most principal services were worked by
15520-424: The Settle-Carlisle line. A through service between St Pancras and Edinburgh began on 1 May 1876 after new rails had been fitted to the Waverley Route at a cost of £23,957 in order to equip the line for Midland trains. The block telegraph was still being installed when the first through services traversed the line. Upon completion of the Midland's line, the Waverley Route attained main line status. The opening of
15714-545: The Silloth line from 1 August 1862. This brought two advantages: firstly, the NBR had access to Carlisle and Silloth harbour with access to Ireland and Liverpool and, secondly, it allowed freight to be sent by sea without having to work through Carlisle and thus not be subject to the Anglo-Scottish traffic agreement which set the rates for goods workings via Carlisle. At 98 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles (158.1 km),
15908-545: The Tarras and Byreburn viaducts on the Langholm branch were demolished. Cut off from Edinburgh to the north and Carlisle to the south, those without a car had no option but to travel by bus. The additional bus services laid on by Eastern Scottish as a condition of closure were more frequent than the Waverley Route's trains, but the journey time was 50% longer. The Galashiels-Edinburgh X95 service took 75 minutes in 2006 to travel
16102-461: The Tweed by Galashiels. Edinburgh Edinburgh ( / ˈ ɛ d ɪ n b ər ə / ED -in-bər-ə , Scots: [ˈɛdɪnbʌrə] ; Scottish Gaelic : Dùn Èideann [t̪un ˈeːtʲən̪ˠ] ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas . The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth estuary and to
16296-505: The United Kingdom's second largest financial and administrative centre after London. Financial services now account for a third of all commercial office space in the city. The development of Edinburgh Park , a new business and technology park covering 38 acres (15 ha), 4 mi (6 km) west of the city centre, has also contributed to the District Council's strategy for the city's major economic regeneration. In 1998,
16490-688: The Waverley Route contrasts with the outcome of the proposal to close the Llanelli-Craven Arms line which was considered in Summer 1969. In both cases, patronage had declined and closure would result in a large area left without rail transport. However, the decisive difference which ensured the survival of the Welsh line was the number of marginal Labour constituencies through which it ran, a fact exploited to great effect by George Thomas , Secretary of State for Wales , in his successful defence of
16684-573: The Waverley Route with the Edinburgh-Berwick line between Ravenswood Junction, north of St Boswells, and Reston ; the branch between Reston and Duns had been completed in 1849 and a western section to St Boswells was promoted as the Berwickshire Railway . It opened throughout on 2 October 1865. Other towns to be connected were Jedburgh by the independent Jedburgh Railway which was inaugurated on 17 July 1856 and worked by
16878-468: The Waverley Route, many of which were not designed for the line. Among the earliest locomotives to be used on the line were Hawthorn double-framed 0-6-0 mineral engines ordered on 28 October 1845 whose principal task was to haul coal on the E&DR. Known as Dalkeith Coal engines, these were spartan machines without weather boards or sideboards to protect the crew against inclement conditions, although whistles were provided, one of which stood against
17072-544: The adjectival forms Edinburgensis and Edinensis are used in educational and scientific contexts. Edina is a late 18th-century poetical form used by the Scots poets Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns . "Embra" or "Embro" are colloquialisms from the same time, as in Robert Garioch 's Embro to the Ploy . Ben Jonson described it as "Britaine's other eye", and Sir Walter Scott referred to it as "yon Empress of
17266-509: The alignment chosen for the Waverley Route was considerably longer than the direct route as the crow flies between Edinburgh and Carlisle, around 74 miles (119 km). However, the course was chosen to navigate a careful path around the formidable natural barriers south of Edinburgh in the form of the Southern Uplands and the summits at Whitrope (1,006 feet or 307 metres) and Falahill (880 feet or 270 metres). Although advantage
17460-489: The appointment of a new Minister of Transport, John Peyton , who was unable or unwilling to understand the BUR's plans. British Rail subsequently demanded a retainer rent on the land whilst the discussions continued, but the BUR declined on the basis that it would be cheaper to buy the land later and relay rather than pay the purchase price plus rent. British Rail thus began track-lifting and selling parcels of land, including much of
17654-628: The architectural style of the New Town into the early 19th century. Bute House , the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland , is on the north side of Charlotte Square. The hollow between the Old and New Towns was formerly the Nor Loch , which was created for the town's defence but came to be used by the inhabitants for dumping their sewage . It was drained by the 1820s as part of
17848-479: The area. The TUCC's 15-page report was submitted to Barbara Castle in December 1966, but it was only in April 1968 that she concluded that the annual subsidy required for the line's retention – £700,000 for the whole route or £390,000 for Hawick-Edinburgh – could not be justified. Even to run a reduced service between Edinburgh and Hawick, on a single track with most stations closed and with the most stringent economies,
18042-543: The area. With the redevelopment, Edinburgh has gained the business of cruise liner companies which now provide cruises to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. The coastal suburb of Portobello is characterised by Georgian villas, Victorian tenements, a beach and promenade and cafés, bars, restaurants and independent shops. There are rowing and sailing clubs, a restored Victorian swimming pool, and Victorian Turkish baths . The urban area of Edinburgh
18236-552: The branch from Canonbie to Langholm opened on 18 April 1864 after completion of a 12-arch viaduct over Tarras Water. Comprised within the Border Union Railway Act were powers allowing the NBR to cross the Caledonian Railway's main line and join the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway at Rattlingate, as well as the granting of facilities at Carlisle Citadel railway station . The NBR would take a 999-year lease of
18430-565: The city between October and April. Located slightly north of the city centre, the weather station at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) has been an official weather station for the Met Office since 1956. The Met Office operates its own weather station at Gogarbank on the city's western outskirts, near Edinburgh Airport . This slightly inland station has a slightly wider temperature span between seasons,
18624-423: The city was 31.6 °C (88.9 °F) on 25 July 2019 at Gogarbank, beating the previous record of 31 °C (88 °F) on 4 August 1975 at Edinburgh Airport. The lowest temperature recorded in recent years was −14.6 °C (5.7 °F) during December 2010 at Gogarbank. Given Edinburgh's position between the coast and hills, it is renowned as "the windy city", with the prevailing wind direction coming from
18818-539: The city's northward expansion. Craig's original plan included an ornamental canal on the site of the loch, but this idea was abandoned. Soil excavated while laying the foundations of buildings in the New Town was dumped on the site of the loch to create the slope connecting the Old and New Towns known as The Mound . In the middle of the 19th century the National Gallery of Scotland and Royal Scottish Academy Building were built on The Mound, and tunnels for
19012-590: The city, is considered one of the best research institutions in the world. The financial centre of Scotland, Edinburgh is the second-largest financial centre in the United Kingdom, the fourth largest in Europe, and the thirteenth largest internationally. The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland , the National Library of Scotland and
19206-549: The closure of railway lines by ignoring the findings of the TUCC and rejecting the recommendations of the Scottish Economic Planning Council. Castle was replaced by Richard Marsh in April 1968 after a Cabinet reshuffle . The new minister was unhappy to be moved from his previous position of Minister of Power to a ministry about which he "knew nothing and cared less". On 8 April 1968, two days after
19400-453: The connection with its newly constructed Port Carlisle branch at Port Carlisle Junction . This was grudgingly done after a request by the NBR, but the single line laid was rejected by the Board of Trade , which insisted on a double-track connection. When the connection was finally laid and access obtained to Carlisle Citadel station, the Caledonian charged the rate for 4 miles (6.4 km) for
19594-415: The creation of tough basalt volcanic plugs , which predominate over much of the area. One such example is the Castle Rock which forced the advancing ice sheet to divide, sheltering the softer rock and forming a 1 mi-long (1.6 km) tail of material to the east, thus creating a distinctive crag and tail formation. Glacial erosion on the north side of the crag gouged a deep valley later filled by
19788-567: The crest of a ridge from it terminating at Holyrood Palace. Minor streets (called closes or wynds ) lie on either side of the main spine forming a herringbone pattern. Due to space restrictions imposed by the narrowness of this landform, the Old Town became home to some of the earliest "high rise" residential buildings. Multi-storey dwellings known as lands were the norm from the 16th century onwards with ten and eleven storeys being typical and one even reaching fourteen or fifteen storeys. Numerous vaults below street level were inhabited to accommodate
19982-452: The curves necessitated by the rugged countryside around Arnton Fell towards Riccarton Junction and Steele Road. Then came easier terrain in the form of Liddel Water , where the line turned west to follow Liddesdale and the Esk valley to reach the border at Kershope Burn . The final stretch from Riddings struck out across the coastal plain to Longtown and then Carlisle. The first sod on
20176-594: The decision of the Midland Railway to construct the Settle-Carlisle Line . Intent on establishing an Anglo-Scottish main line to rival the East Coast and West Coast lines, the Midland's ambitions had been stymied by the L&NWR, upon which the Midland depended for access to Carlisle via the Ingleton branch . The L&NWR's insistence on operating the service between Ingleton and Low Gill as
20370-442: The distance, this journey time increasing to 86 minutes northbound in 2010 and May 2011 as a result of timetable changes. This compares unfavourably with the last Waverley Route timetable in 1968–1969, according to which the slowest train took 65 minutes over the same distance, whereas the fastest managed the journey in 42 minutes. The initial service between Edinburgh and Carlisle consisted of four trains each way daily: an express ,
20564-430: The driver's ear. These were supplemented by eight Hawthorn passenger 2-4-0s in 1847 upon the opening of the Hawick extension. In 1873, Thomas Wheatley , the NBR's Locomotive Superintendent , introduced the 420 class . Four engines were built at Cowlairs railway works which were capable for handling light trains but inadequate for the heavier rolling stock used by the Midland Railway on its Anglo-Scottish expresses once
20758-426: The eleven stations between Stobs and Harker on the sparsely populated area between Hawick and Carlisle raised only £28,152 in receipts, with Longtown contributing the bulk of this amount. The line was challenging to work due to its severe gradients requiring costly double-heading , and difficult to maintain particularly in winter. As a result, right from the first year of its existence, there were calls from within
20952-434: The expanding city of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many areas, such as Dalry , contain residences that are multi-occupancy buildings known as tenements , although the more southern and western parts of the city have traditionally been less built-up with a greater number of detached and semi-detached villas. The historic centre of Edinburgh is divided in two by the broad green swathe of Princes Street Gardens . To
21146-477: The fact that the social classes shared the same urban space, even inhabiting the same tenement buildings; although here a form of social segregation did prevail, whereby shopkeepers and tradesmen tended to occupy the cheaper-to-rent cellars and garrets, while the more well-to-do professional classes occupied the more expensive middle storeys. During the Jacobite rising of 1745 , Edinburgh was briefly occupied by
21340-570: The finest performing engines associated with the Waverley Route until the introduction in the late 1920s of Sir Nigel Gresley 's A3 Pacifics . The first A3 to visit the line was No. 2580 Shotover on 26 February 1928. The Pacifics were at times supplemented by A4s and it was No. 4490 Empire of India which hauled the Royal Train in the early 1940s when George VI inspected the troops at Stobs Camp . In later years, B1s , V2s and Britannia Class locomotives worked Waverley Route trains, with
21534-552: The gates from being opened. The police were hopelessly outnumbered and called for reinforcements from Hawick. The local parish minister, the Reverend Brydon Mabon, was arrested and taken to Newcastleton police station. The intervention of David Steel MP, who had joined the train at Galashiels, was required and he addressed the crowd which agreed to move if the Reverend Mabon was released. This was agreed to and
21728-401: The high summer season, an additional sleeper ran non-stop to Carlisle. A very similar service was provided in the opposite direction from Carlisle, with the fastest service being the 12:45 pm express from Carlisle which had departed St Pancras at 4:50 am and took 135 minutes for its non-stop run to Edinburgh. The sleepers ran on Sundays, a day on which there were otherwise no services on
21922-632: The idea of a direct parallel between both cities quickly caught the popular imagination. When plans were drawn up in the early 19th century to architecturally develop Calton Hill , the design of the National Monument directly copied Athens' Parthenon . Tom Stoppard 's character Archie of Jumpers said, perhaps playing on Reykjavík meaning "smoky bay", that the "Reykjavík of the South" would be more appropriate. The city has also been known by several Latin names , such as Edinburgum , while
22116-620: The influx of incomers, particularly Irish immigrants , during the Industrial Revolution . The street has several fine public buildings such as St Giles' Cathedral, the City Chambers and the Law Courts . Other places of historical interest nearby are Greyfriars Kirkyard and Mary King's Close . The Grassmarket , running deep below the castle is connected by the steep double terraced Victoria Street. The street layout
22310-463: The language shifted from Cumbric to Northumbrian Old English and then Scots , the Brittonic din in Din Eidyn was replaced by burh , producing Edinburgh . In Scottish Gaelic din becomes dùn , producing modern Dùn Èideann . The city is affectionately nicknamed Auld Reekie , Scots for Old Smoky , for the views from the country of the smoke-covered Old Town. A note in a collection of
22504-451: The last steam-hauled service being Britannia No. 70022 Tornado on the 7:44 pm Carlisle-Edinburgh train on 14 November 1967. Diesels became important on the line from c. 1960 , with the expresses worked by Class 45 and Class 46 Peaks and Class 47s and Deltics appearing on the farewell specials. Local trains were mainly worked by Class 26s supplemented by Class 25s and Class 37s , while freight services were hauled by
22698-634: The last through goods services. The last southbound stopping service from Hawick left at 11:58 pm for Newcastleton. Sunday morning saw the last northbound train to traverse the Carlisle-Hawick section, a service from Leeds chartered by the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society and hauled by Deltic D9007 Pinza The train called at Riccarton Junction for a photographic stop but passengers in search of souvenirs came away disappointed as buildings had been entirely stripped as
22892-434: The line at a time when government policy was to encourage industry to move to the Borders area would send the wrong message and asked the Minister not to reach a final decision until publication of a report by a group of University of Edinburgh consultants, James Wreford Watson , Percy Johnson-Marshall and James Nathan Wolfe, on the development of the Borders region. The report – The Central Borders: A Plan for Expansion –
23086-564: The line for a few miles eastwards to Melrose and St Boswells, descending at typically 1 in 150. The route swung to the south-west at St Boswells towards the River Teviot and on to Hawick, where the valley of Slitrig Water provided easy going before the 10-mile (16 km) climb at 1 in 70 over the massed hills to Whitrope Summit. The gradient subsequently eased to 1 in 96 through Whitrope Tunnel to Whitrope Siding box and descended at an unbroken 1 in 75 for over 8 miles (13 km) through
23280-697: The line proceeded south via Portobello East Junction towards the Moorfoots and the Lammermuirs , following the valleys of the South Esk , Gore Water and the Tyne . From Hardengreen Junction near Dalkeith there began a 10-mile (16 km) climb at a gradient of 1 in 70 to reach Falahill, before meandering along the course of the Gala Water down to its confluence with the River Tweed , which accompanied
23474-455: The line save for a morning and afternoon trains in both directions between Hawick and Edinburgh. In 1927, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) conferred the name "Thames-Forth Express" on the 9:05 am express from St Pancras and the 10:03 am train from Edinburgh; the journey time was around eight hours and forty minutes. The LMS did not provide a headboard but the London and North Eastern Railway , which jointly operated
23668-533: The line to be abandoned or sold to the Midland Railway . The campaign was led by Archibald Orr-Ewing , an NBR director who described the line as "the most serious burden on the North British". By 1872, expenditure on the Border Union Railway had reached £847,000, £199,000 more than the capital hitherto raised, and a further £300,000 was required. In addition, no shipping company was prepared to start
23862-430: The line was obtained on 21 July 1845 with the incorporation of the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway. Although nominally independent, the company had £400,000 of its capital subscribed by NBR directors and the shares, each bearing a 4% guarantee, were to be transferred to NBR shareholders after incorporation. A special shareholders' meeting on 18 August 1845 authorised a further £400,000 to be raised which would be used to buy out
24056-478: The line would definitely close, as proposed by Beeching. The Beeching report was received with dismay in the Borders, as although many were not surprised to see the Langholm branch slated for closure, the loss of the whole Waverley line came as a shock, particularly as even more rural-based routes such as the West Highland Line were not mentioned in the document. The economic and social implications of
24250-414: The line – Antony Crosland and Lord Brown of Machrihanish – were absent. After hearing arguments on both sides, Shore summarised the committee's opinion in favour of closure throughout "as quickly as possible", noting that the effect on the movement of freight traffic would be minimal and that inconvenience for some passengers was an inevitable consequence of any closure. Following the meeting, Ross escalated
24444-466: The line. Saturday 4 January 1969 was the last busy day of operations on the line; British Rail ran a special train entitled Farewell to the Waverley Route hauled by Class 47 D1974 and carrying 411 passengers in nine coaches. The train, which rail campaigners had urged supporters to boycott, was stopped at Millerhill shortly after leaving Edinburgh while four policemen and three bomb-disposal experts boarded it. An anonymous telephone call had been made to
24638-662: The line. In the 1964 general election , the Unionist Party Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles , Charles Donaldson , whose constituency covered Hawick and who had voted for the Beeching report, saw his majority cut by the Liberal candidate, David Steel , who had opposed closure of the railway line. Steel overturned the Conservative majority in a 1965 by-election ; his opposition to
24832-411: The major sheds; St Margarets had been the original NBR shed in the Edinburgh area and remained an important facility well into the 1960s. Although smaller than St Margarets, Carlisle Canal played a vital role in the operation of the Waverley Route and even with the line's decline post-nationalisation, there were still over 50 locomotives stabled there in the mid-1950s. The Waverley Route, and particularly
25026-536: The marshalling yard and diesel depot at Millerhill, as well as to give access to the freight-only Edinburgh South Suburban lines . Two days after closure, on Wednesday 8 January, British Rail symbolically lifted a section of track at Riddings Junction in the presence of reporters and photographers. An attempt to reopen part of the line by the Border Union Railway Company (BUR), a private concern in which Tomorrow's World presenter Bob Symes
25220-542: The matter to the Prime Minister , Harold Wilson , begging him "to look at the cumulative consequences of our course of action on our standing in Scotland". Marsh countered with a memorandum which stated that closure would affect "only about 200 regular travellers [...], of whom all but 30 would be adequately catered for by alternative bus services", and that the subsidy required to continue the passenger service would run into more than several million pounds per year. He
25414-426: The meeting to fight the case against closure. There were no representatives from English councils; only Northumberland had contacted the TUCC requesting to be informed of the outcome. Arguments made against closure included the inadequacies of local roads and the damage which would be caused to the fabric of Borders life, whilst British Rail pointed to the falling patronage of the line and the increased car ownership in
25608-535: The middle of the 14th century, the French chronicler Jean Froissart described it as the capital of Scotland (c. 1365), and James III (1451–88) referred to it in the 15th century as "the principal burgh of our kingdom". In 1482 James III "granted and perpetually confirmed to the said Provost, Bailies, Clerk, Council, and Community, and their successors, the office of Sheriff within the Burgh for ever, to be exercised by
25802-623: The modern-day skyscraper. Most of these old structures were replaced by the predominantly Victorian buildings seen in today's Old Town. In 1611 an act of parliament created the High Constables of Edinburgh to keep order in the city, thought to be the oldest statutory police force in the world. Following the Treaty of Union in 1706, the Parliaments of England and Scotland passed Acts of Union in 1706 and 1707 respectively, uniting
25996-540: The moors and hillsides to the remote work sites. Life on the moorland was hard for the railway navvies and it was difficult to hire and keep men in the very wet conditions which at times prevented any progress. When the NBR's directors toured the Hawick- Hermitage section in January 1862, a number of defects were found, including a collapsed wall at the north end of Teviot viaduct due to shoddy specifications,
26190-482: The more elegant "one-family" residences of the New Town, a migration that changed the city's social character. According to the foremost historian of this development, "Unity of social feeling was one of the most valuable heritages of old Edinburgh, and its disappearance was widely and properly lamented." Despite an enduring myth to the contrary, Edinburgh became an industrial centre with its traditional industries of printing, brewing and distilling continuing to grow in
26384-475: The now drained Nor Loch . These features, along with another hollow on the rock's south side, formed an ideal natural strongpoint upon which Edinburgh Castle was built. Similarly, Arthur's Seat is the remains of a volcano dating from the Carboniferous period , which was eroded by a glacier moving west to east during the ice age. Erosive action such as plucking and abrasion exposed the rocky crags to
26578-509: The overnight southbound West Coast express. Two stopping services each way were provided on Sundays. When the Midland opened its Settle-Carlisle line, a weekday service of six trains was provided; trains departed St Pancras at midnight, 5:15 am, 8:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am and 9:15 pm. Two services were expresses, two were semi-fasts and two which linked smaller intermediate stations with larger ones. However, services were beset by delays and poor timekeeping. During July 1880,
26772-413: The partnership; this represented more than two-thirds of its income. To protect their interests, the companies concluded a secret agreement to deny a share of the Carlisle traffic to the newcomer by providing that traffic from the south for Edinburgh had to be sent via the Caledonian main line unless specifically consigned to the NBR's Waverley line. This proved so effective that locomotive parts ordered by
26966-428: The people have the art, very strange to Aeneas, of burning a certain sort of black stones, and Edinburgh with its chimneys is called 'Auld Reekie' by the country people". The 19th-century historian Robert Chambers asserted that the sobriquet could not be traced before the reign of Charles II in the late 17th century. He attributed the name to a Fife laird, Durham of Largo, who regulated the bedtime of his children by
27160-438: The police that a bomb was on board, but nothing was found. Arriving late in Hawick, the train was met by hundreds of placard-bearing protestors and large numbers of policemen. The crowds were led by a group carrying a black coffin bearing a wreath and the words "Waverley Line, Born 1848, Killed 1969". Madge Elliot, a local housewife who had spearheaded the campaign to save the line, was warned by police not carry out her plan to hold
27354-427: The previous thirteen years, was built to a 4 ft 6 in gauge and was in a dilapidated state in terms of both infrastructure and rolling stock. Nevertheless, the concern brought with it a number of advantages: its proprietors had developed an efficient coal-marketing organisation which would greatly benefit its new owners, it consolidated the NBR's position in Edinburgh while also barring the rival Caledonian Railway from
27548-527: The proposed closure were of concern to a number of Government ministries , including the Scottish Office which, in April 1964, requested the Minister of Transport to ask Beeching to postpone publication of closure notices for the Waverley Route. The Scottish Economic Planning Council also asked the Minister to hold fire on any proposals, due to the nature, size and importance of the region served by
27742-522: The railway line between Haymarket and Waverley stations were driven through it. The Southside is a residential part of the city, which includes the districts of St Leonards , Marchmont , Morningside , Newington , Sciennes , the Grange and Blackford . The Southside is broadly analogous to the area covered formerly by the Burgh Muir , and was developed as a residential area after the opening of
27936-483: The railway, an impending sense of doom could be felt for the line. In March 1963, the British Railways Board published Richard Beeching 's report on the Reshaping of British Railways . The 148-page document proposed the withdrawal of passenger services from 5,000 route miles (8,000 km) considered as unremunerative, and the closure of over 2,000 stations. Among the lines whose passenger service would be affected
28130-494: The reshuffle, the Ministerial Committee on Environmental Planning (MCEP) met to hear the arguments for and against closure of the line; Marsh referred to statistics which showed that passenger numbers between Edinburgh and Hawick had dipped by 30% between 1964 and 1967, while car ownership had risen by 120% and the local population had decreased by 9.5%. In reply, those on the side of retention argued that closure of
28324-413: The river gets to the city centre is at Dean Village on the north-western edge of the New Town, where a deep gorge is spanned by Thomas Telford 's Dean Bridge , built in 1832 for the road to Queensferry . The Water of Leith Walkway is a mixed-use trail that follows the course of the river for 19.6 km (12.2 mi) from Balerno to Leith. Excepting the shoreline of the Firth of Forth, Edinburgh
28518-427: The route as a competitor to Edinburgh-London traffic was hampered by its slower journey times compared with the East Coast and West Coast lines, requiring the line's operators to compensate by laying on superior rolling stock. In 1910, the West Coast and East Coast lines achieved a journey time of eight hours and fifteen minutes over their respective distances of 400 miles (640 km) and 393 miles (632 km), whereas
28712-458: The route's closure was one of the three main local issues of his campaign. The election of Labour in October 1964 did not stop the programme of Beeching closures, despite the party's manifesto commitment to halt major closures. It was still intended to close the Waverley Route, although the timing of the proposal was a matter of debate between the new Minister of Transport, Barbara Castle , and
28906-403: The second half of the century, the city was at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment , when thinkers like David Hume, Adam Smith, James Hutton and Joseph Black were familiar figures in its streets. Edinburgh became a major intellectual centre, earning it the nickname "Athens of the North" because of its many neo-classical buildings and reputation for learning, recalling ancient Athens. In
29100-474: The section between Dalhousie and Hawick, required heavy construction works with numerous viaducts, cuttings and embankments . To take the line through Hawick, the five-arch Teviot Viaduct at the south end of Hawick station passed over the River Teviot at a height of 42 feet (13 m) and was followed by a 250-foot-long (76 m) embankment, while further down the line Hurdie's Hill cutting above Hawick
29294-485: The service, used destination headboards in company style. The service was reintroduced in 1957 by British Railways which renamed it " The Waverley ". The train was made up of nine coaches, all but one of which was Mark 1 stock , and took around nine hours and forty minutes to reach its destination. The service was discontinued in Summer 1964. Service levels declined substantially after the Second World War and
29488-580: The smoke rising above Edinburgh from the fires of the tenements. "It's time now bairns, to tak' the beuks, and gang to our beds, for yonder's Auld Reekie, I see, putting on her nicht -cap!". Edinburgh has been popularly called the Athens of the North since the early 19th century. References to Athens, such as Athens of Britain and Modern Athens , had been made as early as the 1760s. The similarities were seen to be topographical but also intellectual. Edinburgh's Castle Rock reminded returning grand tourists of
29682-532: The south by the Pentland Hills . Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in mid-2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom . The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government ,
29876-494: The south end of Shankend station were 60 feet (18 m) high, while on the approach to Whitrope, Ninestanerigg cutting was 1,000 yards (910 m) in length and 65 feet (20 m) deep and was followed by a 97-foot-high (30 m) embankment. The other viaducts of note were the 22-arch Newbattle Viaduct across the South Esk valley which stretches 1,200 feet (370 m) and the 278-foot-long (85 m) Redbridge Viaduct across
30070-445: The south of Hawick fared a little better as trains were extended to Riccarton Junction on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Just as in 1914, no Sunday stopping services ran south of Hawick; three trains ran from Edinburgh and two from Hawick, with journey times of between 85 and 103 minutes compared with 130–140 minutes in 1914. The improved times came however at the detriment of the smaller intermediate stations which had previously benefited from
30264-448: The south, the view is dominated by Edinburgh Castle, built high on Castle Rock, and the long sweep of the Old Town descending towards Holyrood Palace. To the north lie Princes Street and the New Town. The West End includes the financial district, with insurance and banking offices as well as the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. Edinburgh's Old and New Towns were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 in recognition of
30458-472: The south-west, which is often associated with warm, unstable air from the North Atlantic Current that can give rise to rainfall – although considerably less than cities to the west, such as Glasgow. Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Winds from an easterly direction are usually drier but considerably colder, and may be accompanied by haar , a persistent coastal fog. Vigorous Atlantic depressions, known as European windstorms , can affect
30652-497: The southern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city centre is 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 mi (4.0 km) southwest of the shoreline of Leith and 26 mi (42 km) inland, as the crow flies, from the east coast of Scotland and the North Sea at Dunbar . While the early burgh grew up near the prominent Castle Rock, the modern city is often said to be built on seven hills , namely Calton Hill , Corstorphine Hill , Craiglockhart Hill, Braid Hill , Blackford Hill , Arthur's Seat and
30846-433: The station had been reduced to an unstaffed halt. Upon departure, D9007 stalled on the rising 1 in 68 climb and it was discovered that a section of track had been thickly coated with grease. The final passenger train was the evening sleeper train which departed Edinburgh Waverley for St Pancras at 9:56 pm with Class 45 D60 Lytham St Anne's . The service, which comprised three sleeping cars, three ordinary coaches and
31040-400: The streets of the New Town: for example, Rose Street and Thistle Street; and for the royal family, George Street , Queen Street , Hanover Street, Frederick Street and Princes Street (in honour of George's two sons). The consistently geometric layout of the plan for the extension of Edinburgh was the result of a major competition in urban planning staged by the Town Council in 1766. In
31234-423: The successive closures to passenger traffic of the Waverley Route's branch lines: Lauder on 12 September 1932, Dolphinton on 1 April 1933, Duns to Earlston and Jedburgh on 12 August 1948, Duns and Selkirk on 10 September 1951, Hexham on 15 October 1956 and Peebles and Eyemouth on 5 February 1962. In terms of goods traffic, After railway nationalisation in 1948, the need for two lines between Edinburgh and Carlisle
31428-442: The three daily St Pancras-Edinburgh expresses lost between them 2,345 minutes, of which 835 were the fault of the NBR; in the opposite direction, 2,565 minutes were lost with 1,099 on the NBR. The late running of trains led to complaints from passengers and traders would not use the line as the journey time was too long. As early as 1902, the Midland's services via the Waverley Route were poorly patronised north of Leeds, so much so that
31622-438: The throne of England resulted in Edinburgh's occupation by Oliver Cromwell 's Commonwealth of England forces – the New Model Army – in 1650. In the 17th century, Edinburgh's boundaries were still defined by the city's defensive town walls . As a result, the city's growing population was accommodated by increasing the height of the houses. Buildings of 11 storeys or more were common, and have been described as forerunners of
31816-402: The track and £68,000 for the land – but the sale would come with the obligation to ensure that 200 miles (320 km) of fencing be kept sheep-proof. The BUR decided that the Melrose to Edinburgh section offered scope for regular commuter traffic and chose Melrose as its headquarters. Things began to go wrong in 1970 when a number of potential backers pulled out and the 1970 general election saw
32010-477: The train could continue; Carlisle was eventually reached some two hours later than scheduled. Freight services to Hawick continued until 25 April 1969, while the Longtown-Harker section survived until August 1970 to service the Ministry of Defence munitions depot. The last section to close was the line from Millerhill junction to the National Coal Board 's Butlerfield washery south of Newtongrange in June 1972. The line to Millerhill junction remained open to serve
32204-484: The two kingdoms in the Kingdom of Great Britain effective from 1 May 1707. As a consequence, the Parliament of Scotland merged with the Parliament of England to form the Parliament of Great Britain , which sat at Westminster in London. The Union was opposed by many Scots, resulting in riots in the city. By the first half of the 18th century, Edinburgh was described as one of Europe's most densely populated, overcrowded and unsanitary towns. Visitors were struck by
32398-415: The unique character of the Old Town with its medieval street layout and the planned Georgian New Town, including the adjoining Dean Village and Calton Hill areas. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city, a higher proportion relative to area than any other city in the United Kingdom. The castle is perched on top of a rocky crag (the remnant of an extinct volcano) and the Royal Mile runs down
32592-551: The west before leaving a tail of deposited glacial material swept to the east. This process formed the distinctive Salisbury Crags , a series of teschenite cliffs between Arthur's Seat and the location of the early burgh. The residential areas of Marchmont and Bruntsfield are built along a series of drumlin ridges south of the city centre, which were deposited as the glacier receded. Other prominent landforms such as Calton Hill and Corstorphine Hill are also products of glacial erosion. The Braid Hills and Blackford Hill are
32786-483: The works of the poet, Allan Ramsay , explains, "Auld Reeky...A name the country people give Edinburgh, from the cloud of smoke or reek that is always impending over it." In Walter Scott 's 1820 novel The Abbot , a character observes that "yonder stands Auld Reekie—you may see the smoke hover over her at twenty miles' distance". In 1898, Thomas Carlyle comments on the phenomenon: "Smoke cloud hangs over old Edinburgh, for, ever since Aeneas Silvius 's time and earlier,
32980-443: The worst in Scotland. For British Railways , the line was seen as a high-cost alternative to the West Coast Main Line, and its retention could not be justified by its dwindling freight traffic which could be diverted to the West Coast. As a result, as from the publication of the report, the Scottish Region and the London Midland Regions of British Railways , which had responsibility for the section south of Longtown, both assumed that
33174-448: Was 260-foot-long (79 m) and 56 feet (17 m) deep. Similarly, Lynnwood Viaduct, which bridged the Slitrig Water between Hawick and Stobs, had six arches 54 feet (16 m) above the water and followed by a 570-foot-long (170 m) cutting. On the same stretch of line at Acreknowe, a 220-yard-long (200 m) and 60 feet (18 m) deep cutting was blasted through rock. The fifteen 35 feet (11 m) spans of Shankend Viaduct at
33368-463: Was a matter of great resentment when the two burghs merged in 1920 into the City of Edinburgh. Even today the parliamentary seat is known as "Edinburgh North and Leith". The loss of traditional industries and commerce (the last shipyard closed in 1983) resulted in economic decline. The Edinburgh Waterfront development has transformed old dockland areas from Leith to Granton into residential areas with shopping and leisure facilities and helped rejuvenate
33562-414: Was affected by the 2022 Scotland bin strikes . In 2023, Edinburgh became the first capital city in Europe to sign the global Plant Based Treaty , which was introduced at COP26 in 2021 in Glasgow. Green Party councillor Steve Burgess introduced the treaty. The Scottish Countryside Alliance and other farming groups called the treaty "anti-farming". Situated in Scotland's Central Belt , Edinburgh lies on
33756-415: Was aided by the construction of industrial plants closer to the route and the allocation to the line of the larger class of 2-10-0 locomotives, as well as the decisions taken by the Scottish Region of British Railways , firstly, to move fitted and semi-fitted freights from Carlisle for Aberdeen , Dundee and Perth over the Waverley Route, and secondly, to replace the old Niddrie and Portobello yards with
33950-507: Was also a 9:45 pm sleeper service to St Pancras but this only carried passengers from stations south of Edinburgh and not Edinburgh itself. Hawick and Galashiels, which benefited from a good service in 1914, saw different outcomes: Hawick continued to enjoy a reasonably good service with six through services calling there as well as four trains to Edinburgh starting there. However, stations north of Hawick did not generally benefit as services to Edinburgh made few stops en route. The stations to
34144-424: Was carried from Edinburgh to Leeds and Sheffield, but beyond there, patronage was lighter. A survey conducted in July 1963 on a peak Saturday Edinburgh-London service showed that fewer than 40 passengers were carried between Kettering and St Pancras , although the train had been standing room only as far as Leeds. Local services fared little better, as motor transport made inroads from the 1920s onwards, resulting in
34338-411: Was chosen, it was inspired by the Waverley Novels of Sir Walter Scott , who lived at Abbotsford House near the route of the line and had taken an active interest in early railways. Scott's portrait often adorned posters and timetables and the Scott Monument in Edinburgh became the route's leitmotif. The first class of locomotive specially built for the line, Drummond's 4-4-0 of 1876, was known as
34532-411: Was closed in 1969, as a result of the Beeching Report . Part of the line, from Edinburgh to Tweedbank , reopened in September 2015. The reopened railway is known as the Borders Railway . The North British Railway (NBR) was established on 4 July 1844 when Parliamentary authorisation was given for the construction of a 57-mile-30-chain (92.3 km) line from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed with
34726-418: Was dealt to Millerhill with the closure of the Waverley Route and by 1986 it was a mere a secondary marshalling point. The Down yard closed in 1983 and all the tracks were lifted except for two siding lines into Monktonhall Colliery; the colliery closed in 1989 before reopening briefly between 1993 and 1997 when final closure occurred and the lines were lifted. A large number of locomotive classes were used on
34920-551: Was delivered to Willie Ross on 19 April and, while concluding that the economic well-being of the region depended on good transport links with Edinburgh, it was nevertheless equivocal on the need for the Waverley Route and its recommendations concerned road transport rather than rail. The Waverley Route's fate was decided at a meeting of the MCEP on 21 May chaired by Peter Shore , Secretary of State for Economic Affairs , and attended by Willie Ross, Marsh, Tom Urwin , Ray Gunter , Dick Taverne and Ernest Fernyhough . Two supporters of
35114-466: Was from the Borders region. Such was the support for Hodgson that a public holiday was declared in his honour at Hawick in August 1858. Notwithstanding this support, Hodgson sought to build bridges with the Caledonian by offering, on 4 September 1858, to construct a joint line between Hawick and Carlisle. The line would be built in two equal parts by the companies which would be responsible for its management; free interchange of traffic would be allowed on
35308-413: Was given to extending the E&DR to meet the Edinburgh and Glasgow or the projected Caledonian Main Line but the proprietors' concerns were assuaged by the NBR's generous offer of £113,000 for the outright purchase of the line and the sale was completed in October 1845. In the state in which it was acquired, the E&DR was of little use to the NBR as it had been operated as a horse-drawn tramway for
35502-477: Was inevitably questioned. The Caledonian's main line provided a faster connection, and could be operated as a branch off the West Coast line. With passenger receipts inconsequential, the line relied on its goods traffic: coal was brought in and out of the Tweed town mills and Cheviot wool brought from local farms. Once new road transport techniques allowed farmers to move their sheep to market in one move and merchants to shift coal from pit to boilerhouse without using
35696-406: Was involved, failed due to lack of finance. British Rail had been asking for between £745,000 and £960,000 for the freehold of the line, £125,000 annually for running powers into Edinburgh and Carlisle, £85,000 for works in Carlisle, £10,000 towards their administrative costs and £495,000 for the value of the permanent way materials. A deposit of £250,000 had to be paid by 1 December 1969. Although
35890-404: Was offered the section between Millerhill and the southern Midlothian boundary for £7,000 in May 1975 but refused on account of the limited possibilities for reuse of the trackbed and the potential maintenance liability involved. The short viaduct over the Teviot in Hawick was dismantled in September 1975, with Hawick station itself becoming the site of the Teviotdale Leisure Centre, and the A7 road
36084-436: Was reached after a non-stop 131-minute run at an average speed of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h). A fast arrival in Carlisle was essential as the corridor coaches were allowed a maximum of 8¼ hours for the next 409 miles (658 km) to St Pancras. In total, there were nine through trains to Carlisle on weekdays (ten on Saturdays) including a 10:00 pm sleeper to St Pancras and a 10:15 pm night train to Euston; during
36278-410: Was realigned on parts of the solum, notably north of Heriot , by 1977. Redevelopment of the trackbed accelerated after 1984 with the construction of a small housing estate near the site of Gorebridge station , the Melrose bypass in 1988 over much of the trackbed through Melrose station, as well as further A7 improvements including the Dalkeith western bypass and the Hardengreen bypass in 2000. In 1986,
36472-428: Was supported by Peter Shore, who sent a separate memorandum referring to the Central Borders study and its lack of support for the line. The Prime Minister replied to Ross on 5 June indicating that he saw no reason to reopen the MCEP's decision. An official statement by Richard Marsh in the House of Commons on 15 July 1968 confirmed the Waverley Route's demise. A petition against closure, with 11,678 signatures presented to
36666-419: Was taken of the easy conditions offered by the numerous river valleys, these two areas of high ground had to be tackled head-on, and gave rise to the line's reputation as the toughest main line in Britain due to its constant curves and continuous steep gradients. The climb to Whitrope was more challenging than that to the summit of the West Coast line at Beattock due to its curvature. From Edinburgh Waverley ,
36860-498: Was the Waverley Route. The document had a map which showed that the section between Hawick and Carlisle fell into the lowest category of unremunerative line, with a weekly patronage of less than 5,000 passengers. The Hawick-Edinburgh stretch fared little better, with between 5,000 and 10,000 passengers a week. At the time, the Waverley Route was running at an estimated annual loss of £113,000, with an average operating cost per train mile for diesel-hauled freights of 12.390 shillings, one of
37054-403: Was the home of Muriel Spark 's Miss Jean Brodie, and Ian Rankin 's Inspector Rebus lives in Marchmont and works in St Leonards. Leith was historically the port of Edinburgh, an arrangement of unknown date that was confirmed by the royal charter Robert the Bruce granted to the city in 1329. The port developed a separate identity from Edinburgh, which to some extent it still retains, and it
37248-410: Was the next train which departed Carlisle at 9:20 am and arrived in Edinburgh at 12:13 pm with stops at all 14 intermediate stations before Galashiels. Freight played a secondary role to passenger traffic for the majority of the Waverley Route's history. Located too far from the heavy industries of Central Scotland and the traffic in raw materials which they generated, it had to be content with
37442-576: Was to be George Street , running along the natural ridge to the north of what became known as the "Old Town". To either side of it are two other main streets: Princes Street and Queen Street. Princes Street has become Edinburgh's main shopping street and now has few of its Georgian buildings in their original state. The three main streets are connected by a series of streets running perpendicular to them. The east and west ends of George Street are terminated by St Andrew Square and Charlotte Square respectively. The latter, designed by Robert Adam , influenced
37636-439: Was to be the starting point for the route which would run diagonally across the Southern Uplands to the Solway Plain and Carlisle, a distance of some 98 miles (158 km). The first step in establishing the line was the acquisition of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway (E&DR), a local line opened in 1831 which ran from an inconveniently sited station at St Leonards on the southern extremity of Edinburgh to Dalhousie on
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