Nativity

I read in the press that this is the last year that the beautiful Nativity by sculptor Tim Chalk will be displayed in the city centre. The reason given for this is that it was never designed to be on display for longer that 15 years - and as this will be year 18, it is beginning to deteriorate. 

According to Tim Chalk himself, speaking to Edinburgh Churches Together:  “Now, seventeen years later the world is still in a state of upheaval, people are still homeless and displaced as a result of war or personal misfortune, at home and abroad. But on a positive note, there are still people who care and engage with the issue and I hope my Nativity scene bears witness to this concern.
Looking to the future I hope the gap left by the departure of this Nativity is filled by another interpretation of the Christmas Story, and, more importantly, the central message of the story is not drowned out by the flashing lights and Special Seasonal Promotions.”

 I try to visit it each year, 2019 being the exception, when it was displayed out of the way on the Mound and removed before Hogmanay to make way for a row of Johnny Walker images, to the great chagrin of Edinburgh residents. Usually I have the opportunity when attending a rehearsal for the Clic Sargent Hospitals Choir but, of course, because concerts have been cancelled due to the Covid outbreak, this year we have not been into town at all. The recent rain and snow being a distant memory, today seemed the ideal time to fulfil that aim.

 It now stands next to the Scott Monument and, also due to the Covid restrictions, it no longer competes with the tawdry funfair to which Chalk refers but remains a quiet moment of peace and tranquility for the Princes Street pedestrians.