East Gate, Royal Victoria Hospital. Edinburgh

East Gate was the main entrance into the hospital. It was built in 1907 by an unknown architect.
This was my family home for many years. My father was boilerman/porter for twenty years in the 60's and 70's. The door is under the archway to the left. The right pillar is solid stone. Inside the left pillar there is a small storeroom and a flight of turnpike stairs up to a landing with a toilet and bathroom. Another flight of turnpike stairs brings you to a hallway that runs along the rear wall with three rooms. On the right a large bedroom, in the middle a smaller bedroom and on the left a sittingroom with an open fire, a cooker and a sink at the one side. The only walls without windows are the internal ones! In the sitting room was a great ship's wheel, which opened the great doors beneath, when ambulances arrived. This was disconnected when my family moved in and the doors were left open permanately. One difficulty living in this house was cleaning all the windows as they do not open widely enough to do it yourself. Window cleaners ladders were never long enough! We had to use a hose. Another hazzard was big vehicles crashing into the pillars of the arch. It was a happy home with my sister and two brothers. Large grounds all around with great trees and when it rained heavily a huge pool gathered behind the wall where ducks swam. We had fantail pigeons in a doocot and a big Christmas tree which my father decorated outside the door. Sadly since my father retired in 1974 no one else lived in it and so it has been negleted and is in great need of restoration. As it is a listed building it will have to be retained when the old hospital is demolished.