> Booking required: please email info@drneilsgarden.co.uk

The workshop will be led by our Gardener, Alan Mitchell. You will learn how to make a broom from locally grown birch and other woods. It can be used for sweeping up – and, of course, at Halloween. (Flying lessons NOT included!)

Meet at the Garden gate. The workshop will take place in the Event Space, in the middle of the Garden.

We’re looking for two new enthusiastic Trustees to join our hands-on Board of Trustees! 

Experience in horticulture, fundraising, or finance is a plus, but a sense of humour and a willingness to muck in matter most. 

This is a voluntary role – no pay, but plenty of fun, teamwork, and the joy of helping Dr Neil's Garden thrive. Meetings are every 6–8 weeks at Duddingston Kirk, and we all get stuck into events and fundraising.

FIND OUT MORE

> Booking essential: please contact Dorothy Blacklock
e: dorothy.blacklock@btinternet.com  m: 07811 561372

This  is a chance to slow down, get creative, and make something beautiful and unique while celebrating the season with friends old and new. Guided by our gardener Alan and Anne McCrossan, you’ll learn how to craft your very own Christmas wreath. All the materials provided are natural and grown here in the Garden - bringing a little piece of our Garden to your home.

• £50 per person (all materials included)

• Natural decorations and trimmings provided

• Festive refreshments to enjoy while you create

• Spaces are limited - booking essential!

260 years of development of Northfield, Southfield and other farms of Duddingston, from runrigs to bungalows.

Ian was brought up in Northfield and Meadowbank. After University in Dundee he returned to Edinburgh and spent some time up Gorgie way, before moving back east to Jock's Lodge and then Brunstane. He is fascinated by the evolution of the lands of Duddingston since 1745.

The architect behind many of Edinburgh’s finest Greek Revival buildings, William H. Playfair (1790-1857) is often held as the man responsible for shaping the city’s physical identity as the ‘Athens of the North’. However, Playfair was no mere copyist or one-trick pony; he brought originality to his designs, he handled other architectural styles with ease, and he was a skilled urban planner. This talk will look at selected examples of Playfair’s work and give an insight into his character.

An Edinburgh resident for over 30 years, Hetty Lancaster is a local historian with a special interest in the city’s social and urban history. Actively involved in Edinburgh’s heritage sector, she offers walks and talks to individuals and groups curious about the city’s past through her business www.hettyshistorywalks.co.uk

This talk will cover the fascinating life story of the medieval church, and include the heated 19th century debates regarding its demolition in the name of progress by the North British Railway in 1848. It will touch on Jill's current project to find the lost Trinity stones, now dispersed all over Edinburgh.

Jill is a social art historian with a particular interest in 15th century cultural exchange between Scotland and Burgundy. She is a Research Associate at the Open University and recently gave up her lecturing post to spend more time on writing and research. She leads the Trinity Network and the Adornes Network.

She is an FSA Scot and is funded by the Old Edinburgh Club for the 'Reviving the Trinity Stones' project and is curating a forthcoming exhibition on this at the Museum of Edinburgh next year. She very much enjoys spreading the word about the importance of preserving Edinburgh's medieval past.

The boy from Cromarty, Hugh Miller, who became a world-famous geologist admired by Darwin. But he was also a poet, author and editor, and a fierce supporter of the Disruption of 1843. Hugh Miller was a key figure in Edinburgh society.

Kath Hay has worked within the publishing industry for more than 45 years, with book, periodical and newspaper publishers in London, Melbourne and Edinburgh. She was also appointed Head of PPA Scotland - the Professional Publishers Association, a post she held for 12 years. Currently, she is the Managing Editor of a local community magazine.