The Mound's Electric Blanket
On Gingerguide's self-guided Edinburgh audio tour, The Mound's Electric Blanket is a stop worth about ~20 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type historic
- Suggested visit ~20 min
- Edinburgh Edinburgh guide
About The Mound's Electric Blanket
The Mound, Edinburgh's artificial hill built from New Town rubble, was home to the UK's first underground road-heating system, nicknamed "the Electric Blanket," installed in 1959 to keep buses running in winter.
The Mound is the artificial hill connecting Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town, formed over several decades from the earth and rubble excavated when the New Town foundations were laid from the 1760s onwards. It carries one of the city's most important art galleries, the Scottish National Gallery and Royal Scottish Academy, and offers sweeping views in both directions. But the Mound has a remarkable hidden story: in December 1959 it became home to the United Kingdom's first operational sub-surface road-heating system, buried 1.5 inches below the tarmac. Edinburgh's papers called it "the Electric Blanket," and the name stuck. The system, 47 miles of electrical wire beneath 5,500 square yards of road, was designed to keep the dangerously icy slope safe for buses in winter, and it triumphantly passed its first great test during the severe freeze of January 1960.
Did you know? The Mound was built from approximately 1.5 million cartloads of earth and rubble excavated to build the New Town, dumped here from the 1760s, it took nearly 40 years to solidify enough for a proper road.
How much time do you need at The Mound's Electric Blanket?
Around ~20 min works well for The Mound's Electric Blanket — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at The Mound's Electric Blanket?
Yes — The Mound's Electric Blanket made the cut as one of 26 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Edinburgh. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Edinburgh
Hear the story of The Mound's Electric Blanket
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