There's Treasure Everywhere! Commemorating 25 years of brilliance with an urban wild-goose-chase of questionable quality!

There's Treasure Everywhere: Part 2: Hunting for Treasure

Discovering a clue

It was with anticipation I arrived at Lilliputian's flat on Easter Sunday to celebrate her birthday by going on a treasure hunt. Where would we end up?  I knew Lilliputian was planning a barbecue at the end with a borrowed Tesco Value gazebo for shelter. There were a limited number of places I could think of that seemed suitable for purpose (and some of the possible spaces I could imagine Lilliputian would think of might be...err...not places that encourage the public to turn up and pitch a gazebo). The answer in retrospect given Lilliputian's relaxed response to my "how are you going to manage to carry everything including a gazebo to some random field by yourself" type questions was obvious.

The clues were all lovingly typed out on a typewriter and dipped in tea (or whatever method Lilliputian used to make her clues look "olden" - tea is what I would have used), and hidden by Lilliputian in various ingenious locations.

The first clue mentioned a "battle of wits" so we set off on our intrepid adventure in the direction of Bruntsfield Links, where there is a giant chessboard. There amongst a pot with tulips was a beautiful red rose which on close inspection was made out of tissue paper and had a bag of chocolate eggs and toffee instead of roots.



Godforsaken Place

 The was a bit of dithering as we headed "downhill, downhill - a street promising views of the estuary" (Viewforth), We spent sometime debating whether Boroughmuir High School might be "a wasteland of destruction" and if Bruntsfield Evangelical Church was "godforsaken".

However it turns out the godforsaken place was St Kentigern's Church. (I only learnt its name from googling it as I was writing this post.)

We then headed along the Union Canal in search of some entrapped trees in Harrison Park.



The horse in Stable Lane

 By the time we reached "somewhere you keep a horse" - Stable Lane, spirits were flagging a little as we walked up and down the lane several times not  spotting the next clue. I cheated and phoned Lilliputian who informed us we weren't looking hard enough, and to look for a yellow table.

I have discovered the final clue in my purse while writing this so can quote it verbatim. It was found in a flag placed in a field and reads as follows:

 "Admire the view and RIDE ON... this library ain't big enough for the both of us.
(tumbleweed rolls by)

Judging by the smell of this Lilliputian did in fact made her clues look old with coffee, not tea.

In case, some of you many thousands of mostly imaginary readers, want to solve this clue themselves I have hidden the rest of this post. Although it may be difficult for anyone not familiar with Edinburgh, and who hasn't discovered this spot before.

Please click on the link below to find out where our last clue took us.





Geocacher's treasure

Our final clue sent us to Morningside's very own Wild West where Lilliputian was awaiting us wearing a cowboy hat, with a few bottles of wine and some plastic cups. We even stumbled on some other treasure left by other, more hi tech, treasure hunters, as part of some mysterious practice called geocaching.



Wild West of Morningside

 However there was no sign of the barbeque in the Wild West. After two hours of walking where were the promised burgers? To get to the barbeque we had to go back to ...dum di dum...Lilliputian's flat where she had set up the gazebo outside in the garden. However I was rather more enthused by the lovely warm radiator inside the flat and cowardly sat inside occasionally looking out the kitchen window for signs that the burgers would be ready soon.

Later everyone gathered outside eating barbequed burgers and grilled sausages just as it begun bucketing with torrential rain. The gazebo kept us dry(ish), until we decamped inside.

Wild West 

As a fan of radiators and bathroom facilities I think Lilliputian made the correct choice of venue. She is also far too self deprecating as she is an excellent treasure hunting planner. Although spending hours planning to send your guests away on a two hour trek may not be the most enjoyable, stressfree way of enjoying your own birthday. I am happy to be corrected though.