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14 Aug

Edinburgh International Book Festival

Time for books and letters in the city

Literature has been an important part of the Edinburgh’s history. In fact, the capital of Scotland was designated the first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004. It was not a casuality, during its history Edinburgh has seen lots of writers and it has been scenario of several novels. Indeed, every single corner in Edinburgh has its magic and the city is full of book shops.

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As a part of this love for the literature, the Edinburgh International Book Festival began in 1983 and is one of the most important events every summer. Although it was biennal at first, the Book Festival became yearly in 1997. Nowadays, Charlotte Square, sited in the New Town, is the Festival’s home and its gardens are transformed into a tended village with a really nice atmosphere which are visited by around 200.000 people every year.

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The Festival is one of the most famous festivals of its kind in the world and includes a high profile debates and discussions series. Workshops, storytelling, panel discussions or book signings are some of the activities of the festival. Also, writers from all over the world are involved on it in forums in which readers can exchange thoughts and opinions with them.

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10 Aug

Old Tolbooth

The frightenest building in Edinburgh

Sited close to the Saint Giles Church, this building served as a booth for collecting fees and as a prision. Also, the Council of Edinburgh used to meet on Tolbooth. It was the frightenest building in the city during 400 years because it was not only a prision but also a place where public executions took place.

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Although it is not very clear when it was built, the first mention in documents dates from 1386. After several burnings of the city by the English kings during the 14th century, Robert II King of Scotland, granted Edinburgh with a charter to construct several buildings in the city, being the Tolbooth one of them. It was also used as a Parliament of Scotland during 50 years during the 15th century.

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During Mary Stuart reign, this building was used basically as Edinburgh’s main prision which was unfamous for its unhealthy conditions. The Parliament of Scotland moved out of the Old Tolbooth to the new Parliament Hall in 1639.

25 Jul

Guildhall, The City Hall of London

Guildhall is the home of the City of London Corporation and has been the centre of the City government since the Middle Ages. “Guild” is said to derive from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning payment, so “guildhall” was probably a place where citizens would pay their taxes.

Built in the site where the largest roman amphitheatre of Britannia used to stand (the outline of whose arena is marked with a black circle on Guildhall Yard) the current building was completed in 1440. Beneath it lie the largest medieval crypts in London thought to be from the 13th century, so it is likely that an earlier guildhall existed on the same place.

The stone building survived the Great Fire of London but it had to be partially restored with a new flat roof in 1670. In 1866, it was replaced by a more medieval-looking wooden roof that, in 1954 after the Second World War, had to be replaced again. The Great Hall has been the setting for famous state trials, including that of Lady Jane Grey in 1553, and has several monuments to national heroes like the Duke of Wellington, Admiral Lord Nelson or Sir Winston Churchill.

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05 Jul

Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of London

sweeney_todd 01, Timeline Trip London

The demon barber of Fleet Street

According to legend which first appeared in 1846 in a story titled The String of Pearls, Sweeney Todd was a barber believed to have murdered more than 150 of his customers at his barber shop situated at number 186 Fleet Street. Once they were sat in his barber’s chair, he cut his victims throats from ear to ear and dispatched them by pulling a lever which made them fall backward down a revolving trapdoor into the basement of his shop where he stealed all their valuables.

Helped by his lover Mrs Lovett, who ran a pie shop in nearby Bell Yard which was connected to Todd’s barber shop by a secret underground passage, she assisted him in disposing of the bodies by baking their flesh into meat pies and selling them to the unsuspecting customers of her pie shop.

A String of Pearls or The Friend of Fleet Street (1847), Britannia, Hoxton. Sweeney Toddsweeney_todd 01, Timeline Trip London sweeney_todd_fleet_street_19th_century, A String of Pearls or The Friend of Fleet Street (1847), Britannia, Hoxton. Sweeney Toddsweeney_todd 01, Timeline Trip London

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