Edinburgh’s Wild West

I finally got around to downloading the Geocaching app on my phone, which means I can do a bit of urban geocaching now. It also means that I get to learn about quirky little places I might otherwise never know about. This is exactly what happened today when I found myself on what could be mistaken as a low-budget movie set.

The cache in question is called the Wild West of Edinburgh and is located only about five minutes from my office. And get this – it’s a wee alleyway all done up to look like a street from the days of America’s “Wild West”.

A quick Google search told me that the street was first done up as Edinburgh’s Wild West by a businessman dealing in south-western style furnishings in the mid-1990s. At the time, the other shops were occupied by various artist galleries and other create-type people.

Today, the area is predominately used by auto mechanics and other tradespeople. Oh! And it plays home to the business offices of Scotweb, a major Scottish tartan supplier. It is also home to a wee geocache, which is probably where most of the looky-loos come from. And the cantina? Well, that’s actually the fire escape door for the Morningside Library.

To be honest, it just looked like a run-down, run-of-the-mill alleyway from my home county. But as I am from the Wild West (or rather, the wild Pacific Northwest) of America, that shouldn’t be a surprise. The novelty of this place, however, is that it’s so very unexpected in the heart of Edinburgh’s Morningside neighbourhood.

Anyhow, I can’t share a story like this without photos so … here you go!