This year wasn’t my first first Fringe, of course – as a lifelong Edinburgher, I’ve been going to things in the festival since before I can remember – but it was my first as a participant. After a rough couple of years in tourism, joining in the return of the festival with my LGBTQ+ history tour was the perfect way to get back out guiding again and remind myself why I love this job so much.

With little to do except explore my own city, I’ve been able to dedicate time to wandering down new closes, digging up new stories for tours and discovering figures from Scottish history whom I’d never heard of before. Now that things are finally starting to open up again, I’m incredibly excited to be launching a new series of walking tours throughout the month of May: Edinburgh’s Untold Stories.

I’ve always loved a good walk. Walking immerses you in a place, and Edinburgh has no shortage of beauty to explore on foot. I always recommend walking aimlessly as a way to discover the city. When you wander down the closes of the Royal Mile or feel the pull of Edinburgh’s green spaces, without a destination or a deadline, you find the most magical spots and notice the little things.

Back in the heady days of summer 2020, when lockdown was a novelty rather than a way of life, I decided to use a couple of big walks to visit all the closes of the Royal Mile. A “close” (with a hard S) is a narrow alleyway running between buildings, and the historic heart of Edinburgh is packed with them.