‘Edinburgh Skyline, the Old and the New’

Got out this afternoon and took this photograph from Inverleith Park, over the rooftops and chimneys in the valley in which the Water of Leith runs. 

It’s not of the Castle and Arthur Seat but of an area in between the two.

Calton Hill, on the left, has a number of historic monuments. One of the most striking is the National Monument, visible from Princes’ Street and intended to commemorate the Scottish servicemen who died in the Napoleonic Wars. Inspired by the Parthenon in Athens, and designed by Cockerell and Playfair, it was never completed, as funding ran out in 1829, with just 12 columns built!

The City Observatory (1818), in front of it, is another classical building, also by Playfair.

The Nelson Monument, shaped like an up-turned telescope, was completed in 1816 and commemorates the death of Admiral Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Also by Playfair, and completed in 1828, St Stephen’s Church has now been converted into an arts centre.  Its 162 feet (49 m) high tower has the longest clock pendulum in Europe.

And the New St James Quarter, still being developed, but dominated by a new hotel, the shape of which has drawn some considerable local comment - and derision!