Actual Education Interactive Guided Tours

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-Sit back and relax with our historical image videos!-
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Each of these videos is a slideshow of historic images set to music. These are hosted on YouTube so that they can run easily on your computer. Each video can be 'enlarged' by pressing on the four little arrows button on the bottom right hand side of each video.

Some of these video slideshows have been created from the archive images in our ever-increasing image library.

There's something quite cool about seeing how an area or building has changed over time and we're especially keen on collecting photographs, postcards and pictures of places which have been demolished or altered over the years. Seeing who used to walk there, and whose footsteps you are walking in, is a real fascination of ours here at Actual Education!

We hope to keep adding to the archive and are always looking for rare images of historic Edinburgh, York and Chester.

Earlier this year we added a number of wonderful 19th century books on Edinburgh to the collection. The edition of Picturesque 'bits' from Old Edinburgh isn't even held in the British Library! We're going to try our best to get some of these amazing opportunities available in a variety of different forms. If you are interested in the collection, especially if you are looking for archive images for commercial use please don't hesitate to contact us, even if it just for some advice on where to look.

The screenshot above shows how you can make these YouTube fill your screen so you can see the information more clearly.

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-Edinburgh Castle -
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This video shows some archive photographs which were taken in and around Edinburgh Castle in the later half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. Obviously Edinburgh Castle has changed considerably less than other areas of Edinburgh's historic Old Town but these photographs show life in a different age, an age where the tourist industry was not yet a major force in Edinburgh.

These photographs were taken at Edinburgh Castle in late summer 2011. The Castle is Scotland's most famous and most visited tourist attraction. Whilst in the Castle you can visit the Scottish National War Memorial, the National War Museum, St Margaret's Chapel, the Crown Room and the Great Hall of the Royal Palace.
No images were taken inside the National War Memorial or the Crown Room.

This video will show some of the views you can get of the Castle from the streets which surround it. Possibly the most impressive way to see the Castle is not from the inside, but from the outside!

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-The West Bow and the Lawnmarket -
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The original western entry into the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town was via the West Bow. This little z shaped street no longer exists in its original form. During the period of the 'Improvements' being made to parts of the Old Town, the original West Bow was changed and it became the West Bow, Victoria Street and Victoria Terrace and the Upper Bow.

Here you can see some photographs of the West Bow as it looks today.

The Lawnmarket is the widest street of the five which make up the Royal Mile. It was once used as a market place and a butter tron used to sit where a little roundabout lies now. Robert Burns, James Bothwell, King James VI and his mother, Mary Queen of Scots all had links to this part of Edinburgh's Old Town.

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-The Grassmarket and the Cowgate -
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The Grassmarket is one of the most popular places in the Old Town. Nowadays many people come to drink in its atmospheric pubs, some of which are historically significant places in their own right. The Grassmarket pubs are some of the most popular drinking dens in Edinburgh...but the Grassmarket was not always such a jolly place... Part of the Flodden Wall came across the western side of the Grassmarket and at the eastern side lay one of the Old Town's busiest execution places.

The Cowgate is another popular drinking area in Edinburgh with many nightclubs and pubs along its route. It was once one of the finest areas in Edinburgh but by the late middle ages it began to lose its appeal. Its nadir was when it became a slum area towards the end of the 19th century. Sadly little of its historic past remain but, like many other areas in Edinburgh, there are traces if you know where to look.

Here we can see some archive images and photographs showing the Grassmarket and Cowgate as they looked from the 18th century onwards.

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-Mary, Queen of Scots-
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Here we see some photographs taken in and around Linlithgow Palace, one of the most fabulous royal buildings in Scotland. Sadly it has suffered over the years but is now being looked after by Historic Scotland. The Palace is well worth a visit!

Here we can see some portraits of Mary, Queen of Scots...well some anyway! As such a famous lady she inevitably caught the imagination of artists and some of these paintings were incorrectly named, so some of these portraits are of her, some are artists impressions of events in her life...and some are so inaccurate that they have obviously little to do with her life. There is also an image of Mary of Guise in this presentation.

The 16th century was one of the most turbulent times in Scottish history. This collection of images shows things which happened in Edinburgh, or which affected the lives of those in Scotland's capital city.

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- Greyfriars Kirkyard -
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Here we can see some photographs taken in Greyfriars Kirkyard and in Candlemaker Row. Each photograph is linked to the story of Greyfriars Bobby. This faithful little dog stayed by his master's graveside for years. He was fed by a number of different people but Greyfriars Bobby's Bar can lay claim to helping the pooch the most in its guise as Traill's Coffee House.

The statue of Greyfriars Bobby is the most photographed statue in Scotland!

Greyfriars Kirkyard has many monuments and is a great place to come and have a wander around. Aside from Greyfriars Bobby and his owner there are many interesting tombs to see. James Douglas, Earl of Morton (and one time Regent for King James VI) is buried here...although his head and body were seperated at his execution...the head was apparently reburied with the body some time later...

Memento Mori features on some of the tombs in Greyfriars. Latin for 'remember you are mortal', it was used to remind people looking at the tomb that they too would one day be dead and, if they wanted to get into heaven, they would have to lead a moral life. They are not, as some guides have claimed in the past, tombs for people who died with the plague or for pirates!

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-Old Edinburgh in Old Images -
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These etchings were made by Thomas Shepherd and were published in 1830. They mainly feature the New Town although some images of Edinburgh's Old Town are included.

These images were drawn by J. Bruce Home and were published in 1907. These are really high quality images and really capture some of the atmosphere of the Old Town before and immediately after the Improvement Act of 1867.

These images show the period following the building of Edinburgh's fabulous New Town. Stevenson's images, largely devoid of human beings, focus on the topography and architecture of the Old and New Towns.

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-Edinburgh's History -
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The historic Royal Mile runs from Edinburgh Castle down to Holyrood Palace. It is actually formed from five distinct streets and the name 'Royal Mile' was only used from the early twentieth century. The Castlehill forms the highest of the five streets, next comes the Lawnmarket, then the High Street, the Canongate and finally Abbey Strand.

This video uses some old postcards from the Victorian and Edwardian periods (including the later Georgian period)!

Castlehill is one of the smallest streets which make up the Royal Mile. This place, which is incredibly busy during the main tourist seasons, has many attractions to make it worth a visit in its own right. The Whisky Heritage Centre and the Camera Obscura are both high up Edinburgh's list of 'things to do'. The pink and white houses of Ramsay Garden, the secluded and often missed Sempil's Close and Canonball House are all well worth taking photographs of if you come.

The world-famous Witchery restaurant is located next to the Whiskey Heritage Centre.

Edinburgh has a rich history which has seen the comings and goings of many famous and infamous, celebrated and despised people. Prince Charles Edward Stewart (also remembered as Bonnie Prince Charlie), Margaret Tudor, Mary Queen of Scots, King James VI, Deacon William Brodie, the murderers Burke and Hare and Robert Burns are just a few of the historic characters who would have known Edinburgh intimately...how many can you recognise?

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-Arthur's Seat -
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-The Old Edinburgh Street -
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-Edinburgh's Old Buildings -
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Here are a few images showing the natural beauty and amazing views of, and from, Arthur's Seat. New images will be coming soon!

This amazing street wasn't actually part of the Old Town! This 'set' was a focal point of the Edinburgh Exhibition which took place on the Meadows. It featured mock-ups of a number of different prominent old buildings which had been removed over the years. Sadly plans to keep the 'Old Edinburgh Street' as a permanent exhibition failed.

These images show some of Edinburgh's famous (and infamous) Old Town buildings. Many of these images come from James Grant's 'Old and New Edinburgh'.

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-York's History -
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Here are a few images showing the historic city of York as shown in Victorian and Edwardian era picture postcards.

Here are some photographs taken along the historic York City Walls. This medieval defence is one of the best preserved city fortifications in Europe.

These images continue your photographic exploration of the famous York City Walls.

These images of historic York come from the early 20th century publication 'Picturesque York'.