I grew up in Colinton. I delivered milk and papers to the residents. This was long ago. However, the geography of Colinton, as I once experienced it, remains vivid in my mind. This post is about Heather cottage [298 Colinton Road]. When I was a boy this cottage was occupied by two elderly brothers who were the caretakers for St Cuthbert’s Scottish Episcopal Church. Through my friends, Robert and Richard [their mother was an Episcopalian] our lives, most briefly, crossed. I cannot recall what the brothers looked like, or indeed their names, but I do recall the cottage where we chatted by a coal fire. This was Heather cottage.
Ordnance Survey map, Colinton Road, 1893 [with Heather cottage highlighted]:
Heather Cottage, Colinton Gala Day [early 20c]:
13 February 1940, Edinburgh Evening News:
10 May 1940, Edinburgh Evening News:
11 May 1940, Edinburgh Evening News:
The above photograph [date unknown] includes Mrs Dickson standing outside Heather cottage.
[Above quote: Susan Sontag – On Photography]