The Dark Truth, Can You Handle It?

Death and decay is coming to Edinburgh and you better be ready for it. After some amazing reviews last year, The Dark Truth Tour is returning to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a nice little twist for 2014. It looks into some of the darker tales but using a wicked comedic tone. 

When does it happen?

The Dark Truth Tour starts on the 1^st of August 2014 and will continue Thursday through Sunday until the 24^th August 2014. The Dark Truth Tour lasts for 1 hour and starts at 10.30pm each night. The Dark Truth Tour uses a mixture of frivolity and terror to interact with the audience and entertain them in such a sinister fashion as to enthrall them.  It tells tales of murder, witch trials, unexplained deaths and follows the lives of those who lived on the Mary King’s Close and other closes.

What’s it like?

You should certainly be expecting the unexpected and be prepared to be caught off guard as the Dark Truth Tour delves very deeply and murkily into Edinburgh’s gross past. You will experience the lights down low and cast wide to create the most unnerving of shadows while you learn about the darkest of truths and the deathly tales that haunt the city of Edinburgh. Will you be the brave one and see the whole thing through?

You may find that the stories are more unsettling than you thought so we recommend this tour for those 16 and over. Do you have the stomach for it? The weird and wonderful tales are linked closely to the disturbing facts about the city and its gruesome underbelly.

You could have been living in bliss to think that Edinburgh was a city with no murky past, but how wrong you were and how gruesome a way to find out. Join us for The Dark Truth Tour and find out for yourself just how dark the true story is.

Modern Apprenticeship News

Back in the day, an apprenticeship was the key to gaining a rewarding career, as well as a skilled trade. Early apprenticeships included roof thatching, carpentry, farming and land skills. These developed into apprenticeships focusing on plumbing, electrics and other more modern career skills. However, in recent years there has been a scarcity of quality apprenticeships and the upcoming generation of workers are not having the same level of teaching that apprentices used to be given. Therefore there is a gap in the market for skilled work.

What We Do

At The Real Mary King’s Close we are very proud of our apprenticeship programme.  Our apprentices are given the chance to enter the ‘earn as you learn’ programme and actually acquire the right skills to do the job. We understand that whilst college and university is a great step towards the background of a job, in reality it doesn't always offer the practical information and knowledge needed on so many jobs.

Apprenticeship Success and Follow Through

We have had such success with the previous intake that we are actually investing money into another programme to give the new recruits insight how businesses are run, how the tourist industry works and give them the qualifications while they are on the job. The recruits are lucky enough to receive invaluable information and skills that you just can’t get in a classroom. Scotland’s Modern Apprenticeship programme sees some 25,000 new employees get access to such jobs each year and we hope that we continue to be a shining example of the benefits to the Scottish economy, while bringing new jobs to young people.

The Modern Apprenticeship programme covers more than 80 business sectors and this encompasses nursing, ICT, engineering, the food & drink industry and so many more. We value what it brings to the people who are recruited and we appreciate the practical skills that people glean from it. 

Rain On The Close!

For the first time in over 100 years, visitors to Edinburgh tourist attraction Real Mary King’s Close were able to feel rain on the underground streets!

This unusual experience happened at the start of the month, when Edinburgh was hit by a large downpour that made the quadrangle above remarkably wet. The water then leaked down into the underground street, creating a rain like effect that only added to the experience of what life was like for residents before the street was closed in the early 20th century.

General Manager, Craig Miller said: “We took the opportunity to make the most of Edinburgh’s wet weather and the leak onto our Close by having some fun with our visitors. Posing for a photograph with an umbrella while it rains in an underground street is a not a daily occurrence and was a unique experience for our visitors. Seeing it rain on the Close was available for one day only while repairs took place and our visitors really embraced it.”

Whilst this was a unique experience, there are lots of other strange going ons coming up on the Close. Join us during the world renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival for our Dark Truth Tour which promises to shed some light on the sinister past of the residents of one of the 16th century’s most famous streets. Taking a winter break? We stay open all year round and have lots of special events planned for our 2014 Close Fest!

To see more fun pictures from the day, head over to our Facebook page. Got your own souvenir picture? We’d love to share it with our visitors, just post your picture on our Facebook page.