Tuesday 3 May 2022

Skulferatu #69 - Wild West Morningside, Springvalley Gardens, Edinburgh


While wandering through the refined and upmarket streets of Morningside in Edinburgh, I decided to pay a visit to a place I’d come across once, a decade or so ago.  A place hidden away in a courtyard that is reached through a narrow lane under a rather non-descript block of flats in Springvalley Gardens. A place I assumed must have fallen to the developers wrecking ball, but surprise, surprise, it was still there.

 

A photo showing the rather uninspiring lane that leads from Springvalley Gardens to the Wild West Morningside.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Lane from Springvalley Gardens to the Wild West

 

Once in the courtyard you could easily think that you had walked into the remains of an old film set from some dodgy spaghetti western, or should that be haggis western?  But no, this mock western façade was actually built in the 1990s to advertise a store called The Great American Indoors.  The business specialised in Santa Fe style furniture.  Something for which there was obviously little demand in Edinburgh, given that it closed down years ago.

 

A photo showing a wooden building with the name Ed Newbey’s Grain, Horses, Livery painted onto it.  One of the façades of the Wild West in Morningside.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Ed Newbey’s Grain, Horses, Livery

 

A photo showing a Wild West style building - The Cantina…also the fire exit for Morningside Library.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
The Cantina…also the fire exit for Morningside Library

 

Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
The Wild West Jail House

 

A photo of a wooden door with a faded sign on it that reads Blacksmith $1 Trail Shod Cutters.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Faded blacksmith sign on one of the doors

 

A photo of one of the outside lights on the wooden façade of one of the buildings.  Its shadow stretches off to the left in the bright sunlight.   Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Outside light on one of the façades

 

A faded sign on one of the buildings that reads - Pueblo Pine Company Traditional Santa Fe Style Furniture of the American Mid West.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Faded sign for the Pueblo Pine Company

 

Now mainly derelict, which the exception of a few workshops and garages, the place has taken on the dilapidated look of a ghost town. Well, sort of, if you ignore the cars parked around the courtyard, the blocks of flats towering over you and the roar of the traffic from nearby Morningside Road.

 

A photo of a view down the Wild West buildings to a block of flats.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View down the Wild West to a block of flats

 

A photo of one of the Wild West buildings which looks rather derelict.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
One of the Wild West buildings…looking rather derelict

 

A photo of a faded sign most of which is unreadable with the exception of a notice at the bottom that reads - Knock and Wait.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
A faded sign – Knock and Wait

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on my walk in a gap in the wooden posts on one of the façades. 

 

A photo of a hand holding up a small, ceramic skull (Skulferatu 69).  In the background is oner of the buildings of the Wild West in Morningside.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #69

 

A photo of a small, ceramic skull (Skulferatu 69) in a gap in the wooden posts of one of the Wild West buildings.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #69 in a gap in the wooden posts

 

A photo of a small, ceramic skull (Skulferatu 69) in a gap in the wooden posts of one of the Wild West buildings.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #69 in a gap in the wooden posts

 

Google Map showing location of Skulferatu #69
Map showing location of Skulferatu #69

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.92890

Longitude -3.210490