Where is it? Edinburgh Old Town Close or Court

Where is it?

Thank you to Al Lorentzen, now living in Inverness, Illinois, USA for sending me this photo. Al, who served at RAF Kirknewton, near Edinburgh, wrote:

Question

"This photo was taken in the 1970s. I thought it was interesting, with the clothes hanging out to dry in the mist and fog.

Is it a photograph of Riddle's Court or of Fisher's Close?"

Al Lorentzen, Inverness, Illinois, USA

Replies
Thank you for all the replies that I've received to this question. See below:
Q.	Al Lorentzen Inverness, Illinois, USA	- Riddle's Court? - Fisher's Close? ©
1.	Richard Torrance Edinburgh	- Lady Stair's House
2.	Tony Ivanov Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland	- None of the above
3.	Jim Cairns Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland	- James' Court
4.	Benzyl	- North Side of the Lawnmarket
5.	Richard Torrance Edinburgh	- James Court © - Lady Stair's Close ©
6.	Graham Ferguson Saudi Arabia	- James' Court
7.	Tony Ivanov Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland	- Not Lady Stair's House?
8.	Graham Ferguson Saudi Arabia	- James' Court
9.	Benzyl and Richard Torrance Edinburgh and Peter Stubbs Edinburgh	- James' Court
10.	Bob Henderson Burdiehouse, Edinburgh	- James' Court
11.	Neil Lawrence Fountainbridge, Edinburgh	- :Looking SE across James Court
12.	Peter Stubbs Edinburgh	- 477B Lawnmarket
* NOTE: James Court and Lady Stair's Close and Lady Stair's House are all close together. See map.

Reply

Richard Torrance

Edinburgh

Thank you to Richard Torrance who replied:

Lady Stair's House

"Isn’t the house on the extreme left Lady Stair’s House? You can see the stairs coming up from the Mound and the narrow right turn at the top to access the back of the other closes."

Richard Torrance, Edinburgh: August 24, 2010

Yes. The building on the extreme left of this photo is the SW corner of Lady Stair's House, now the Writers' Museum.

Reply

Tony Ivanov

Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland

Thank you to Tony Ivanov who replied:

None of the Above

"Al Lorentzen posted a question regarding his photograph which he thought might be Riddle's Court or Fisher's Close but I don't think it's either of these.

Richard Torrance suggested that the photo was of Lady Stair's House, but it's not that either. ***

I don't have an answer for you, but just thought I'd eliminate the suggestions above, to try and help."

Tony Ivanov, Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland: September 3, 2010

*** In fact, it is not the building in the centre of this picture that Richard suggested was Lady Stair's House. It's the building, the edge of which is just visible on the extreme-left of this picture:

Peter Stubbs: September 4, 2010

Reply

Jim Cairns

Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland

Thank you to Jim Cairns who replied:

James Court?

"I don't think the picture is of Fisher's Close.

I'm reasonably sure that it is James Court."

Jim Cairns, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland: August 30, 2010

Agreed. See the map in 'Reply 11' below. - Peter Stubbs

Reply

Benzyl

Thank you to Benzyl for sending me a link to a Flickr web site, photo.

Benzyl wrote:

North Side of the Lawnmarket

"The Flickr photo was taken from the north side of the Lawnmarket, facing east towards Lady Stair's Close."

Benzyl: August 30, 2010

I found Benzyl's Flickr photo to be a very good match for this one:

I've now added the 'Flickr' photo to the web site. See Reply 9 below.

Peter Stubbs: September 4, 2010

Reply

Richard Torrance

Edinburgh

Thank you to Richard Torrance who also identified the old photo as being James' Court, near Lady Stair's Close.

Richard wrote:

James Court

"I was in town today and passing Lady Stair's Close and took two photos.

1. Looking across James' Court

This is a view similar to the old photo below. The tenement to the left of the building with the blue door has undergone renovation.

Richard's photo is the one on the right above. I add it to the web site on September 8, 2010. Please see 'Reply 9' below.

2. The Door

"Here is a close-up photo of the door."

When I added this photo to the web site, I assumed it to be the blue door in the old photo. But it's not that door. Please see my 'Reply 11' below.

Richard Torrance, Edinburgh: September 4, 2010

Reply

Graham Ferguson

Edinburgh

Thank you to Graham Ferguson who also identified this photo as being James' Court., near the Jolly Judge Pub.

James Court

"This is James Court, where the Jolly Judge pub is. The door is not blue any more!

Graham Ferguson, Saudi Arabia: September 4, 2010

Graham subsequently sent me a link to this 'Flickr' photo, posted by H.e.l.e.n.

You'll need to click on this 'Flickr' link, or else on this thumbnail image, to understand the point that Graham malkes in his first paragraph below

. ©

Graham wrote:

James Court

"The roughly triangular indent in the wall to the right of the door is the clincher for me.

The square panel, mentions a tailor's business if I remember rightly. Above the door is also the same.

I visit the Jolly Judge every 6 months when I'm in Edinburgh to have a drink with my ex-colleagues. I usually sit outside facing this door. I quietly seethe at the person who installed the light fitting slap bang in the middle of the plaque!

Graham Ferguson, Saudi Arabia: September 7, 2010

Reply

Tony Ivanov

Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland

Thank you to Tony Ivanov who wrote again.

Tony wrote:

Not Lady Stair's House?

"I may end up being wrong, but I'm not convinced that the original photo by Al Lorentzen (left, below) and the photo taken by Richard Torrance (right, below) are of the same doorway.

After enlarging and enhancing both pictures, I found a noticeable difference between them

If you look closely at the stonework around the doorway you will see there is a difference. In Al's photo the corners at the lintel are square, but in Richard's photo these corners are rounded. Also, the stonework at either side of the doorway differs in these photos.

I'm going on the assumption that given this is most likely a listed building the stonework wouldn't have been modified."

Tony Ivanov, Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland: September 3, 2010

Hi Tony:

You were right to question whether or not it is the same door in the two photos above. I visited James' Curt this evening and discovered that:

- The door in the photo on the left is at 477B, Lawnmarket.

- The door in the photo on the right is Lady Stairs Close.

I took a photograph of what the 'blue door looks like now. Here it is:

Peter Stubbs: September 5, 2010

Reply

Simon Capaldi

Sheriffhall, Midlothian, Scotland

Thank you to Simon Capaldi who wrote:

"I am certain that this photo is of James Court.

Strangely enough, I read in the News recently that in the 1930's the tenements at the front of the photo were demolished to allow a better aspect of the house."

Simon Capaldi: Sheriffhall, Midlothian, Scotland: September 5, 2010

Reply

Photos From

Benzyl

and

Richard Torrance

Edinburgh

and

Peter Stubbs

Edinburgh

Where was Al's Photo Taken?

To help clarify where Al's photo might have been taken, I've now added two more photos to the EdinPhoto web site. Here they are:

Please click on the thumbnail images below to enlarge these photos:

1. The original photo by Al Lorentzen

2. Richard Torrance's photo taken in James' Court sent to me on September 4:

3. Benzyl's 'Flickr' photo taken in James' Court sent to me on August 30

In photos 2 and 3, the building with the light brown door is the back of Gladstone's Land.

Zoom in to the Door

In the two thumbnail images below, we zoom in on the blue door in the first photograph above, and on the same door photographed in September 2010:

Map

Please also see the map in 'Reply 11' below

Was Photo 1 taken at James Court?

I'll leave Tony Ivanov and others to consider whether or not 1 above would have been taken from James Court.

Note the railings and buildings, in the background of photos 1, 2 and 3.

Peter Stubbs: September 8, 2010

Reply

10.

Bob Henderson

Burdiehouse, Edinburgh

Yes: James' Court

Bob Henderson agreed. Please also see the map in 'Reply 11' below:

Bob wrote:

"Being able to scroll up and down through the three photos makes it so much easier. I think the answer is a resounding 'yes'."

Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh: September 8, 2010

Reply

11.

Map From

Neil Lawrence

Fountainbridge, Edinburgh

Looking SE across James' Court

Thank you to Neil Lawrence for sending the annotated map below. The red arrow on the map shows where this photo by Al Lorentzen was taken. i.e. Looking to the SE across James' Court towards the door of 477B Lawnmarket, at the back of Gladstone's Land.

With the help of Neil's map and a visit to James' Court this evening, I was able to discover that in the photo below:

- The blue door in the centre of the photo, is No 477B on the map.

- The green door in the background on the left is No 2 on the map.

- The building on the extreme-left is the SW corner of Lady Stair's House Museum, now The Writers' Museum.

- The railings in the lower-left corner of this photo are shown as a curved line in the centre of the map, to the right of the arrow.

James' Court and 477B Lawnmarket

Reply

Peter Stubbs

Edinburgh

477B Lawnmarket

The replies and map above confirm that this photo looks to the SE across James' Court towards the door of 477B Lawnmarket, on the back of the Gladstone's Land building in Lawnmarket:

Zoom-in to the Door

Here we zoom-in to see a photograph of this door in 2010:

Zoom-in to the sign above the Door

If we zoom-in again we can begin to read the old writing on the sign above the door:

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh: September 8, 2010