From “Prehistoric Edinburgh” by James Grant in “Edinburgh Old and New” Cassell’s 1880’s. The reservoir referred to marked the very end of the massive waterworks (and miracle of Victorian Engineering and Vision) which still runs from Lochs Talla and Fruid in Tweedsmuir near Moffat. The Edinburgh Freshwater Reservoir stood (still stands but unused for reservoir purposes) at the corner of Ramsay Lane (by the Camera Obscura) and is now home to the Tartan Weaving Mill and Exhibition. I stood at the bottom of the (empty reservoir) about twenty years ago before the “Tartanisation” took place. It was very deep indeed and the gravity feed all the way from Tweedsmuir fed fresh water to the Old and New Town from this high spot on Castle Hill.
Image credit: Howburn Digger/ James Grant/ Cassell’s
