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.

The September Sigh of Relief!

So we're into September, the Royal Mile is back to normal and there is more than an Autumnal feel in the air.

RMKC Team celebrate record numbers in the style of Olympic champion Usain Bolt

For most tourism businesses and restaurants in Edinburgh, a collective sigh of relief is taken in the first week of September as the many festivals of August have finished and the tourists and performers have long gone home.  For us here at the Close, we're back to normal opening hours - 10am to 9pm (last tour) rather than 9am to 11pm (last tour) and we're reflecting on the August whirlwind! 

We welcomed a record number of people, exceeding our previous records for amount of tickets sold in a day and the amount of visitors on the tour in a day.  We've had some great feedback with 95% of our visitors saying they would recommend a visit to their friends or family, which is a testament to our fantastic team of tour guides, retail staff and managers.

One of our tour guides, Marc McKinnon who plays Walter King, the Foul Clenger, put it well -

"So the Fringe Festival has been and gone, and what a busy time it has been. Luckily for us Foul Clengers, we are used to treading through thousands of bodies each day, so it was just another day at work!

Although a completely hectic time of year, both for tourists and attractions alike, it has been so much fun to see all the staff come together and work long hours and deliver some brilliant results on tour - to the masses - daily.

Extending our opening hours as usual allowed more people to come on tours and allows more people to experience our amazing attraction. So, when all is said and done, it has definitely been a win/win, for our tourists and for our attraction, and I feel privileged to be part of our guiding team at the Close"

The 'Hoff' and the team!

One of the highlights of August at the Close was welcoming a special guest to the Close.  Of course all of our visitors are extremely special but we welcomed the legendary David Hasselhoff and his team to the Close for a tour.  The Hoff was a treat, spent time having his photo taken with staff and was a welcome morale boost at a frantic time of year!  

More Than Meets the Eye to our Tour Guides

Our tour guides quite rightly receive fantastic praise from our visitors, with 89% of our visitors in June 2012 rating them as 'very good' in our visitor research, but there's more than meets the eye to a lot of our brilliant team.

They come from all walks of life with some guides being students working with us on a part-time basis, a few are Mums returning to work after their little ones have started full-time education, quite a few are training to be actors and some have a background in history and archeology.  What they all have in common however is a passion for our unique attraction and a passion to tell the fascinating truth of Mary King's Close.

Don't be fooled into thinking they just follow a script.  Yes, they all start out with the same script of facts and stories but our guides put their own spin on the part of a full researched one-time resident of Mary King's Close.  

Agnes Chambers The Maid

Each tour guide character has its own distinct theme: Walter King is a Plague Cleaner, or Foul Clenger - a gritty soul who has one of the toughest jobs in Edinburgh's history.  Jonet Nimmo is the youngest daughter of Mary King and has had a comparatively easy upbringing on the Close (as easy as life could be in the 17th Century!).  Jonet is joined by Agnes Chambers, a maid in the Cant family home and witness to all the inside information on one of Edinburgh's most prestigious of families. Stephen Boyd is a wine merchant - who dresses in the finest cloth and will probably sell you some of his finest claret - and Robert Fergusson the Poet will give you the inside scoop on his greatest admirer, Rabbie Burns.

Research is always ongoing - if you have a question about the Close or 17th century Edinburgh you can just ask.  If we can't answer your question straight away, we'll find out the answer and let you know.

Jonet Nimmo, Mary King's Daughter

Anyway back to our tour guiding team, with August and the Festival Fringe in the offing, our team are heading into our busiest time of year (pre-booking strongly recommended at this time of year!).  But if that wasn't enough, some of them are starring in productions as part of the worlds biggest arts festival.  These productions are in no way connected to The Real Mary King's Close but if you're in town in August and looking for something a little bit different why not give these productions a try - 

Marc McKinnon (a Foul Clenger) in Smile-In Production's 'I Got It - An Actors Tale' at Stockbridge Parish Church from August 9th to August 11th 2012 at 7.30pm

Paul Vickers (another Foul Clenger!) in his own absurdist comedy show 'Twonkey's Kingdom' at the Alternative Fringe at the Hive from August 2nd to August 26th 2012 at 3pm (disclaimer: not for the easily offended!)

Connor Jones (Stephen Boyd) stars in Two Squared Production's  'Wind in the Willows' at Paradise in Augustines on George IV Bridge from August 14th to 19th 2012 at 18.50

For more information on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe click here (other productions are available!)