Fathers United as Braidwood set to join 'Father of Economics' on Royal Mile

The man lauded as the founder of the world's first Municipal firefighting force, James Braidwood, is set to be honoured with a statue in Parliament Square, just off the High Street close to St Giles Cathedral on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The 7ft bronze statue of the 'Father of Firefighting' will be unveiled at 12:15pm on Friday, September 5.

The principal of Edinburgh University, Sir Timothy O'Shea, is charged with the unveiling duties. Descendants of Braidwood, the City's Lord Provost, George Grubb, and people connected with the city's fire service past and present will be among those in attendance. Period horse-drawn fire engines will also be on show.

Dr Frank Rushbrook, a former firefighter of over thirty years standing and fire master of the city for nine years, led the campaign to have a statue of Braidwood installed on the High Street. Rushbrook told the BBC that: "I'm a great admirer of James Braidwood, because he was the first fire chief to approach firefighting from a scientific point of view. Much of what he wrote still applies today, he was way before his time."

The statue of Braidwood will join a recently unveiled statue of another man who made his mark on the Scottish capital and the wider world. Adam Smith is remembered as the 'Father of Political Economy,' often shortened to the 'Father of Economics'. Vernon Smith, a Nobel laureate economist, unveiled the 10ft bronze statue of the author of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations on July 4 this year. Smith died in 1790 and is buried in Canongate Kirkyard in Edinburgh.

Visitors to Edinburgh can hear more about Adam Smith by listening to the Royal Mile & More, Edinburgh travel guide. To hear an audio extract from the Royal Mile & More, Edinburgh city walking tour please click here.

There are two Walk Talk Tour Edinburgh audio walking tours. Both the Royal Mile & More mp3 guided tour and the Old & New Towns podcast guided tour costs just £5.95 each. Customers purchasing both tours simultaneously will get twenty per cent off. Both Edinburgh audio city walking tours can be completed in two hours.

Listeners simply download their tour(s), synchronize it to their device. And away you go. No pesky start time to contend with. Relax, take a break, you've earned it.

Both Walk Talk Tour Edinburgh city guides begin outside the Castle. Listeners to the Royal Mile & More, Edinburgh audio walking tour will hear about the personalities - human and four legged - that have made their mark on the city's Old Town. St Giles (pictured above) is one of the commentary points on the tour, which concludes in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the foot of the Royal Mile.

However, unlike with a conventional guided tours, listeners to a Walk Talk Tour city guide are free to stop, start and listen again as they wish - or as the weather dictates.

Each professionally researched, produced and recorded Walk Talk Tour travel guide comes complete with easy to follow instructions and a free downloadable map - for you to print off - so you won't miss a thing!