STARTING LOCATION
Patina Bakery, 1 New Park Square, 3 Airborne Place, Edinburgh Park EH12 9GR
BY TRAM
Edinburgh Park CENTRAL Tram Stop (1 minute walk)
BY CAR
Paid parking in the multi-storey car park in Airborne Place (off Lochside Avenue)
BY TRAIN
Edinburgh Park Station (10 minute walk)
FOOTWEAR
The surfaces are firm and of good quality. There are a few stairs along the way and elevation changes in the civic square. Sensible shoes are recommended.
The walk starts at Patina Bakery. Located in the civic square you will find Dancer After Degas II by William Tucker. ‘Dancer After Degas’ is a theme which Tucker has frequently revisited throughout his career in both his sculpture and drawings. This monumental bronze has been cast for Edinburgh Park by Pangolin and has evolved from a smaller work which he produced in silver in 2002.
This piece captures abstract figurative elements of dancers in motion and is inspired by Edgar Degas’ famous studies of ballet. For Edinburgh Park, this dynamic sculpture was enlarged to a monumental 4 metres tall and cast in bronze, encouraging viewers to respond physically to its mass and volume.
If you visit during Spring and Summer you can try out the colourful red Thomas Heatherwick chairs, ‘Spun’ which swivel around in the civic square.
Alongside the tram corridor and civic square you will find the flowery sculpture, Amarylla Guerilla, by Louise Plant. This sculpture is the artists response to the growing numbers of guerrilla gardeners who seize the moment to plant on public ground in defiance of town planners’ cost cutting neglect of the aesthetic beauty of flowers and shrubs. The sculpture also takes inspiration from the amaryllis myth and was the theme for poetry in the third edition of Edinburgh Park’s Zine ‘Polaris'. You can read more HERE.
Moving west towards the sunken, green, landscaped square is Advocate by Bruce Beasley. Beasley uses digital three-dimensional design software and virtual reality to investigate the sculptural form and aesthetic which he has developed over 60 years as one of the most innovative sculptors on the American West Coast. Beasley’s work typically utilises sumptuous patinas, with sculpture that combines notions of beauty, mass and geometry.
Head north towards Loch Ross, walking past the covered padel courts. Towering above you will see Vulcan by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. This 7m tall commission, a fusion of man and machine, has been exhibited across the UK before coming to Edinburgh Park. Sir Eduardo Paolozzi was born in Leith in 1924 and studied in Edinburgh, London and Paris. A number of major works by Paolozzi are sited across his home town of Edinburgh. There is a poem written about this sculpture on the glass window next to the entrance of 1 New Park Square’s reception. You can also read Janette Ayachi’s poem ‘Vulcano’ HERE.
With Loch Ross in front of you and 1 New Park Square to your right, head through the revolving door into the reception. Appearing like a large painting backdrop on the wall you will see the expertly made tapestry based on Leon Kossoff’s painting Minerva Protects Pax from Mars. With permission from the Kossoff family, this commission was crafted by Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh, the first public commission in a decade. Also within the reception area are four sculptures by Nico Widerberg.
Now, as you exit the building, turn right towards Edinburgh Park Central tram stop. Immediately you will see King of Kings by Anthony Abrahams. This sculpture is inspired by Percy Shelley’s poem, Ozymandias. The poem explores the conflict between man, time, and memory through the inevitable decline of rulers and their pretensions to greatness. King of Kings was originally commissioned for Kings Place in London.
At the corner of the building you’ll see Square Line by Ann Christopher. This 3.2m bronze sculpture was originally commissioned to be placed in a rectangular trough of water to explore reflections and pump water up through the sculpture. Sadly the water was later turned off and the sculpture left unmaintained. It was restored by Pangolin Editions in London and purchased for Edinburgh Park.
Take a moment and look up at the eastern elevation of the building and you’ll see the neon sign based on words from Alexander McCall Smith’s poem, “This is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again”.
Opposite the Edinburgh Park Central Tram stop are the Orangery Urns by Andrew Burton. This collection takes inspiration from the 12 Georgian urns that once graced Mary Eleanor’s beloved orangery. The collection features numerous large scale ceramic, vessel like, sculptures that weave a visual narrative around the story of Mary Eleanor Bowes, the Countess of Strathmore, and Gibside. Each urn aims to be a creative response to different aspects of Mary Eleanor’s experiences at Gibside.
Walk the footpath across the bridge, taking in the water cascade, then take the stairs down to Loch Ross. This lovely walk along the lochan is a U-shaped walk heading north. As you walk, you will find the following poets busts:
Hamish Henderson
Born in 1919 he was commissioned as an intelligence officer and served in North Africa, Italy and Austria. Politics, poetry and folksong were inseparable in his life and the focus of his pioneering work in the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh. He envisaged a Scotland that was free, fraternal and joyful.
Douglas Dunn
Born in 1942. Trained as a librarian and has won many awards for his poetry. His strong sense of social justice has always been apparent. He has produced his generation’s most impressive body of poetry.
Sorley MacLea
Born in 1911, Sorley grew up with a rich Gaelic culture, especially of song. He was instrumental in preserving the teaching of Gaelic in Scottish schools but his work was little known outside of Gaelic circles until the 1970s. Sorley received the Queen’s Gold Medal for poetry in 1990 and is remembered as the greatest Gaelic poet of the century.
Tom Leonard
Born in 1944 Tom made the city’s voices heard through Scotland and beyond. His poetry contrasts different voices, social classes, emotional registers and philosophies.
Hugh MacDiarmid
Born in 1892 he worked as a journalist in Scotland and Wales. Hugh’s poetry was always controversial and he galvanised the Scottish Renaissance movement. He was a member of the Communist Party and a founding member of the National Party of Scotland.
Liz Lochhead
Born in 1947 Liz trained at the Glasgow School of Art and published her first collection of poetry in 1971. It gained immediate success as her poetry was the voice of a woman speaking to women and on behalf of women.
Edwin Morgan
Born in 1920 Edwin lived in Glasgow all his life and was Glasgow’s first Poet Laureate. In 2004 he was announced as Scotland’s poet laureate – the first to hold this post which was created to recognise the achievement of Scottish poets throughout the centuries.
Ian Chrichton Smith
Born in 1928 he spent most of his life as a schoolteacher in Oban. His poetry was written in both English and Gaelic. A deeply troubled man, he was a self-deprecating writer but moved audiences to tears of laughter and is remembered as a much loved man and poet.
Norman MacCaig
Born in 1910 Norman studies classics at Edinburgh University and was a schoolteacher for much of his life. His poetry was marked by elegance, wit and sharp insight. He is remembered as one of Scotland’s finest twentieth century writers.
Naomi Mitchison
Born in 1897 Naomi married a Labour politician and became heavily involved in local political life. Scottish themes dominated her writing until the 1960s whereafter she wrote about a tribe in Botswana who had adopted her as their advisor and mother. She occupies a unique place in twentieth century Scottish literature.
Jackie Kay
Born in 1961 of Scottish and Nigerian decent, Jackie explored her own situation as the adopted child of white Scottish parents in her first collection of poems. Her award winning work brought a new and hugely attractive voice to a wide audience.
William Graham
Born in 1918. He lived near water for most of his life and scraped a living from his writing despite having done an apprenticeship in engineering. His poetry is described as both radical and oddly charming. Considered one of the most valuable twentieth century poets.
