User:Mike Marchmont

Hello and thank you for visiting my user page.

I started out as a Wikipedia editor in April 2020. It took me a long time to learn my way round this vast system. Now, after four years I have just about got the hang of it although I still don't always do things correctly. As at April 2024, I have made around a thousand edits to some 360 main namespace articles.

As a former journalist and editor, I tend to notice text that needs copy-editing in some way: spelling errors, bad grammar, tautologies or language that simply needs tidying up. I try to correct these when I can. I have also been able to add substantial new material to several articles, and have written a number of articles from scratch.

My interests

 * History, especially Scottish.


 * Edinburgh, its history, politics and culture.


 * Science and technology.


 * Modern languages.

Some recent contributions

 * Henry Littlejohn: A 19th Century pioneer in public health who made enormous improvements to the health and well-being of the inhabitants of Edinburgh.


 * Marchmont: A residential district which was named in my honour.


 * Morningside: Another residential district in my part of the world.


 * Sciennes: Yet another residential district.


 * Stuart Harris: An Edinburgh historian whose works have proved very useful to me (and to many others).


 * Corstorphine Hill: A local nature reserve where there are lots of trees, some interesting wildlife and a Cold War nuclear bunker.


 * Swanston: A delightful village at the foot of the Pentland Hills; of interest to fans of Robert Louis Stevenson.


 * Duncan Napier: A Victorian botanist who did much to establish herbalism as a recognised branch of medicine.


 * Assassination of Nikolay Bobrikov, which took place in Helsinki when Finland was a grand duchy within the Russian Empire.


 * John Hope: another interesting person from 19th Century Edinburgh.


 * London's last tram week, which I published on the 70th anniversary of the event in question.


 * Cannonball House. An interesting 17th-century town house on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.


 * George Washington Browne. A prolific architect who worked on nearly 300 projects around Scotland.


 * Mayfield Salisbury Church. A 19th century building in my part of the world with a varied history.


 * James Thin. A 19th century Edinburgh bookseller who built a business that survived for five generations of his family.


 * Roger Croucher. A man of the theatre. He was involved at various times with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court Theatre and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.


 * Waverley Steps. A short documentary film about Edinburgh. If you know the city — and especially if you remember it from the mid 20th century — you'll almost certainly recognise most or all of the places where it was filmed.