Anthony Gormley's '6 Times' Water of Leith Sculpture Trail & Modern One Gallery
By Elma
Image credits: Emily Stevenson
The day started at Starbucks Cafe in Stockbridge on a cold dull Wednesday morning in February. Starbucks started in 1971 in Pike Place Market Seattle USA and the logo is a twin tailed mermaid, or siren.
We then walked down to Saunders Street to view one of the 6 Anthony Gormley statues. Gormley's much loved series of 6 times standing figures watch over the river as it winds its way through the Dean Village and down to the sea. The life-sized statues are made from cast iron and intended to act as gauges for the height of the river.
We meandered along Saunders Street (loved the painted street sign) leading us to St Bernard Well. The well is housed within an 18th century Greco - Roman structure, once believed to have healing powers. Designed by Scottish painter Alexander Naysmith in 1789, the statue inside is Hygieia the Greek and Roman god of health. The well takes its name from a saintly monk; Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
For this journey we used the Water of Leith walkway; a public footpath and cycleway beginning in Balerno at the foot of the Pentland hills, ending at the shore in Leith. The Water of Leith is the main river flowing through Edinburgh to the Port of Leith where it flows to the sea via the Firth of Forth.
We had now arrived at Dean Village, meaning deep valley. The village was a successful grain milling area for more than 800 years, which there is still evidence of today. It is a very picturesque spot, and many photos were taken.
We ended our walk at the Scottish National Gallery of modern Art 1. The Gormley figure you see here at the entrance is head and shoulders only. It is a full figure but the rest of the body is buried underground. We spent sometime looking round the exhibitions . You could spend a couple of hours here, there is also a cafe and shop.
We finished the day with a picnic in the galleries garden. This was kindly supplied by the Edinburgh Art Group. We were also joined by a friendly robin.
On the way home we passed another Gormley sculpture at the back of the gallery entrance and were then lucky to see a heron sunning himself in the river.
A lovely day enjoyed by everyone, thank you Holly and Gemma.
PS we got home before it started to pour with rain.
Image Credits: Emily Stevenson