http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Tag: castle - Recent Posts en Mon, 18 May 2026 09:47:25 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657&page=2#post-235816 Mon, 07 Nov 2016 19:41:13 +0000 chdot 235816@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Ho ho!</p> <p>Correct location though... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657&page=2#post-235815 Mon, 07 Nov 2016 19:15:29 +0000 I were right about that saddle 235815@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Did you get those installed, @chdot? Stirling work! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657&page=2#post-235802 Mon, 07 Nov 2016 18:12:08 +0000 chdot 235802@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Don't get excited...</p> <p><img src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5781/30495834520_9539c70b11.jpg"> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657&page=2#post-187587 Mon, 04 May 2015 04:58:30 +0000 Tulyar 187587@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@559 You might want to read the wiki entries. There is no real threat from a parked cycle, as in the past 76 years there has never been a bicycle bomb in the UK BUT there have been 4 bombs placed on bicycles, only one of which killed people using a liquid explosive placed in a cut out book in the basket. Schrapnel reportedly injured a woman over 2 miles away. The bike was purchased from Halfords in Coventry and the remains can be viewed in the black museum at Coventry Police Station. </p> <p>To this end I pressed and occasionally have to remind railway folk obsessed by security issues, that the only bicycle which has been confirmed as being detonated as a bomb was in Sarajevo, I think in 1948. The seatpost was ejected and travelled several hundred feet, but for all other purposes the bike remained intact and rideable.</p> <p>The detail must therefore be that bikes parked in sensitive areas must have luggage removed, or any permanently fitted baskets or bags left open and visibly empty. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657&page=2#post-185887 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:37:31 +0000 twq 185887@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I'd forgotten about this as I went up to the Esplanade as part of a lunchtime bimble. It was pretty busy on the approach, so I was taking it very slowly. Still managed to get past the guard booth no problem, but got shouted at (politely) as I u-turned to leave. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657&page=2#post-176324 Sat, 20 Dec 2014 20:21:30 +0000 Fountainbridge 176324@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Esplanade is part of an active military base. We tried to take a group photo holding a non-controversial banner a few years ago and were escorted out. This might also have something to do with using the castle image on something controversial </p> <p>Last year they had half the Esplanade roped off as a car park and I "accidentally" walked up the car park side. I was wearing headphones and didn't hear the security shouting at me. In the end they got the castle duty manager out. He explained that they'd had a large number of near misses on the esplanade and they'd had many complaints. Unfortunately the car park was a compromise with the MOD - keep the cars out of the castle but still "on the base".</p> <p>I'm guessing the general policy now is authorised transport only beyond this point. So Cycles are out. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657&page=2#post-176199 Thu, 18 Dec 2014 20:31:38 +0000 Dave 176199@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I couldn't care less myself, in the sense that we basically never go up there, and if we did, it's very unlikely we'd be travelling by bike (I commute by bike but don't use it for pleasure inside the city - when it's not busy, driving is not so agonisingly slow and it's much more sociable.</p> <p>It is a bit of a laugh that there's a 20% of journeys target (or whatever) and it's impossible to visit the city's headline attraction by bike though, unless you go miles away to compete for parking spaces. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657&page=2#post-176197 Thu, 18 Dec 2014 20:20:56 +0000 gkgk 176197@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>RE "what is the big hassle?" - for me, it isn't a big deal in so far as I hadn't taken any umbrage until I read about it here, but I am reminded of the pleasure, the sense of civic approval, of being able to cycle right up to the walls of Mont St Michel and to find a bike rack there. "This is how we do things in France", I imagine them saying, "we want to encourage cycling". Contrast with can't-be-bothered Scotland, where you're left to argue with the squaddie on the gate about why a lack-of-space car ban must mean a bike ban too, and with irrational security justifications. So, no big hassle but somewhere above odd but meh, imho. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176141 Thu, 18 Dec 2014 10:18:28 +0000 chdot 176141@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"CycleStreets has parking at Makars' Court"</p> <p>Ah, I thought that bit was also called James Court. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176136 Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:37:44 +0000 Roibeard 176136@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I did indeed, and I should know better...</p> <p>CycleStreets has parking at Makars' Court, but I don't even know how one enters there.</p> <p>The Castlehill railings all look:</p> <p>a) Cast iron, therefore not to be trusted</p> <p>b) Owned by someone likely to take sufficient offence to have bicycles removed.</p> <p>I didn't want the hassle being with family and having been "moved on" already.</p> <p>Incidentally, and more positively, I've now suggested Castlehill to the council as a location for new stands...</p> <p>Robert </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176123 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 23:31:26 +0000 chdot 176123@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Think you mean New College...</p> <p>Are there not some in James Court?</p> <p>Railings at The Hub would do. </p> <p>(Not excusing The Castle situation!) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176122 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 23:23:21 +0000 Roibeard 176122@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>You are allowed to arrive by bike, but you can't push the last 50 metres, or park the bicycle there, indeed you have to find somewhere else to park, and the nearest stands are 0.3 miles away at Victoria Street (or Old College, which is locked at the weekend)...</p> <p>Robert </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176104 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 20:04:15 +0000 Kenny 176104@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I think you are allowed to arrive by bike. You just need to get off and push the last 50 metres, apparently in the name of safety. Odd, but meh. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176096 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 17:48:17 +0000 kaputnik 176096@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>What is the big hastle with not being able to cycle on there?</em></p> <p>Probably because Historic Scotland seem to claim it's unsafe to do so, but ramming it full of tourist coaches and using it as a car park isn't.</p> <p>Plus it's nice to cycle places that offer exceptional views. You may even want to visit the castle. But not by bike as it currently stands. What if access to other historic national monuments prohibited you / actively discouraged you arriving by bike? Arthur's Seat for instance. It's managed by the same authority after all. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176095 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 17:00:49 +0000 DaveC 176095@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Do you need to cycle through the Esplanade to get anywhere other than the castle? Its not exactly a through route. Its a magnet for tourists and they are most probably too busy looking at the views and stepping back away from the group of tourist friends to get them in the shot, to notice anyone cycling past, to avoid you. What is the big hastle with not being able to cycle on there? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176094 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:01:11 +0000 fimm 176094@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Actually, now I think about it, a group of us got told off for (apparently) wanting to <em>run</em> onto the Esplanade. Actually all we wanted to do was go onto the Esplanade and take some photos, so they let us do that, so long as we walked... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176090 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 15:27:44 +0000 kaputnik 176090@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Or do people only see bikes we they're ridden by famous people?</em></p> <p>I think there was a bit of a stooshie when a help for heroes (or similar military-related charity) sponsored cycle was denied entry to the esplanade. Think they were doing a Tower of London to Edinburgh Castle ride. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176085 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:28:42 +0000 threefromleith 176085@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>They must have overlooked their own rules when various celebs have cycled onto - or set off from - the esplanade on their charity rides, then?</p> <p>Or do people only see bikes we they're ridden by famous people? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176084 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:28:09 +0000 AKen 176084@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em> A bit odd considering motorcycling is very much allowed, and indeed applauded on the castle esplanade.</em></p> <p>Problem solved. If you do need to cycle on to the esplanade, make sure you do it in a parallel formation of three bikes with several friends forming a human pyramid on your shoulders. You won't get challenged. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176083 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:26:06 +0000 threefromleith 176083@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Hmmm... if "People can see cars, they can't see bikes" is true, how come they were able to see the one you were on?</p> <p>Perhaps the sight of a man gliding through the air with his legs going up and down but whose feet were not touching the ground was enough to indicate you were on an invisible steed? ;-) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176082 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:20:08 +0000 Edinburgh Cycle Training 176082@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>A bit odd considering motorcycling is very much allowed, and indeed applauded on the castle esplanade. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176076 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:00:03 +0000 559 176076@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Not defending the lack of bike parking at the castle, but security can be a valid concern, see<br /> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_bomb" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_bomb</a></p> <p>However would also recognise that every other form of human transport can also be used malicously. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176067 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 12:49:30 +0000 Roibeard 176067@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Blackness Castle isn't currently used by the army, and Historic Scotland are blaming the MoD.</p> <p>Robert </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176061 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 12:30:27 +0000 kaputnik 176061@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I seem to recall Blackness Castle (also Historic Scotland) had a single Sheffield stand at the last visit. Bicycles pose a different security risk there? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176060 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 12:22:38 +0000 Roibeard 176060@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Why they've deemed cycles to be of greater security risk than rucksacks.</p> <p>Tourists are free to enter the castle carrying as much as they like, without being searched or scanned. Which is presumably not deemed to be a security risk, but chaining a bicycle outside metre thick walls is a security risk to the soldiers on duty.</p> <p>Compare with Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, which is inside the Palais de Justice, and where visitors are searched and scanned and bags run through an x-ray machine...</p> <p>Robert </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176051 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:30:24 +0000 gkgk 176051@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@roibeard, just out of interest, what sort of thing would you ask in a FOI request for this.</p> <p>Seems to me that Historic Scotland don't offer general visitor parking on the Esp so we can't get a bike rack to match that parking, but that if they maybe do allow esplande parking for private hire events, we could request equitable bike parking provision. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176050 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:23:19 +0000 dougal 176050@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Probably the same security risk they pose at Waverley. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-176036 Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:36:00 +0000 Roibeard 176036@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>It's now moved on a bit, and there's now no cycle parking either on the esplanade, although I did cycle in a loop for my last visit...</p> <p>Apparently bicycles are a security risk, so off to FoI I go...</p> <p>Robert </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-16284 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 23:17:05 +0000 wee folding bike 16284@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I got the "no cycling on the esplanade" a few years ago. I pushed it up to the gate, flashed my Historic Scotland card, folded the bike and took it in with me. Nobody seemed to mind as long as I didn't ride it.</p> <p>Staff at Osborne House were a little surprised to see me push it in the grounds but were fine once they understood that I intended to fold and stash it with the buggies. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1657#post-16283 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:47:15 +0000 Greenroofer 16283@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Took my daughter there on the back of my bike a couple of weekends ago. Due to the state of the cobbles up Lawnmarket (worst in Edinburgh??), I pushed the bike up to the Esplanade and so avoided a challenge from the people in red jackets at the Esplanade entrance.</p> <p>I approached the 'guards' on the drawbridge (they too had red jackets and no guns) about where the cycle parking was and they said there wasn't any, but that I could lock my bike to the railings.</p> <p>These were actually remarkably unsatisfactory, as they start on a stone plinth some way off the ground and aren't ideal if you have a young passenger on board in a child seat.</p> <p>I felt that the response to any challenge to this was likely to be the time-honoured "<em>we keeping getting asked for bike parking, and we keep telling people 'there's no demand for it'</em>"... </p>