We tried Edinburgh's new history tour on 'forgotten' women trailblazers

Edinburgh Live

27-06-2025

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An Edinburgh tour company has been revitalising the capital's tourism circuit with a batch of new walking tours offering fresh perspectives on Scottish history.
Edinburgh Live recently reported on Fraser Horn's tour company, Street Historians, after he decided to replace his Harry Potter tours with LGBTQ ones this June.
Founded by Fraser just last year, the company aims to set itself apart from other tour companies through fresh offerings and brave stances.
We tried their brand new Edinburgh LGBTQ history tour and we liked it so much that we went back for more. This time, we tagged along for the Edinburgh's Forgotten Women Tour.
Tour guide Elinor said: "The idea behind the 'forgotten' women's tour is they've always been here doing cool interesting things, but we permanently forget them and make it so we don't have the same stories to remember them by."
The walking tour met on the Royal Mile and began by introducing us to a woman who I had been walking past for years without noticing. Elsie Inglis was a pioneering doctor in Edinburgh and one of the first women to practice medicine in the capital and is renowned for founding the Scottish Women's Hospitals. She even has a plaque on the Mile above Crest of Edinburgh shop.
(Image: Edinburgh Live)
I was struck by the fact that I had never noticed the plaque before, underlining the "forgotten" nature of many of the capital's most influential female figures.
Elinor pointed out how Edinburgh has remarkably few statues to commemorate women. There were plans to erect a statue in honour of Inglis, but the plans stalled and the plaque on the mile remains one of the only tangible monuments to Inglis in the city.
The tour meanders up the Mile and eventually through Grassmarket before concluding at the University of Edinburgh campus. On the way, Elinor made stops at City Chambers to discuss female recipients of the Edinburgh Award - such as J.K. Rowling and Nicola Benedetti, the first female director of Edinburgh international festival.
We learned about how Saint Giles was an odd choice for the patron saint of Edinburgh. According to Elinor, the man never set foot in Scotland in his life, let alone Edinburgh. In fact, there are several female saints with closer ties to the Scottish capital that might have made better options, such as Saint Margaret who helped establish Roman Catholicism in Scotland.
In Riddle's court off the Royal Mile, we observed a plaque dedicated to Patrick Geddes, the man credited as the pioneering town planner who shaped the layout of today's Edinburgh. However, Elinor told how his wife Anna Morton was a major influence on his work, saying: "There are a lot of plaques to him around the city but I think it should be 'Anna Morton and Patrick Geddes' on the plaque."
The tour shined a light on the prominent women who shaped Edinburgh's history, many of whom are overlooked. It was fascinating to stand before well-trodden Edinburgh landmarks and learn something completely new about a female historical figure.
The tour runs for two hours and includes many more stories than those mentioned in the article. You can find more information on booking a tour with Street Historians here.
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