The Terror Tour

It’s after midnight and I just got back to the hotel after a one and a half walking tour, underground! Edinburgh was originally the land spanning out from the castle for about half a mile. Around it were six other hills. As the old town grew, and they ran short on space, five bridges were build to create flat surfaces on which to build the city.

The spaces between the bridge supports are called vaults and at one time housed many of the cities poorest inhabitants, mainly Irish during the potato famine. There was a lot of speculations about the conditions and number of people who lived under Edinburgh.

We started The Terrror Tour at Tron Kirk in Hunters Square.

Our Tour guide’s name was Carrie and she dressed in period costume. Before we went into the vaults she gave us a tour of devices used for torture in the middle ages.

When we entered the vaults the air was cool but it was hard to get a breath. The air is damp and musty and every so often a drop of water lands on your head. My first thought was to get the hell out of here. You can’t see them in this shop but there are stalagmites forming on the ceiling. We walked through the vaults careful of the frequent puddles. I had a pain in my solar plexus that was there until we stepped back outside.

A Wiccan coven set up this temple in one of the vaults. These gargoyles guard the entrance:

The inside of the temple:

At the end of this hallway I saw a shadow move from the right to the left and then start coming toward me up the stairs. When it got to the stairs it disappeared and I saw black smudge move across the floor.

Read more about the vaults:

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/life-style/edinburgh-s-most-haunted-blair-street-vaults-1-3588880