Edinburgh New Town Pins and Buttons

It is a clear day, perfect for exploring the outer reaches of Edinburgh's New Town. A warm feeling of belonging, of familiarity bred over decades of visits, since childhood. The incline is steep, and the way meanders, passing opulent and classical buildings. In summer the air is rich with pollen, in winter a tang of wood smoke and a chill that invigorates. I admire the intricate and uniform construction of the buildings, golden and classical.

Looking down over Princes Street Gardens and the shops along Princess Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. The Royal Scots Greys Statue (soldier on horseback) can be seen opposite the bottom of Frederick Street. Continuing up Frederick Street, we come to the Statue of William Pitt the younger, at the junction of George Street and Frederick Street. In the distance can be seen the River Forth and beyond it the Kingdom of Fife. Three bracketed JPGs converted to HDR in Photomatix Pro. BEST VIEWED LARGER

Edinburgh New Town

Edinburgh, Pub on the Corner

A sweeping view from the top of Dean Bridge, Edinburgh, Scotland. Over the centuries, the city of Edinburgh has been built up in several phases. The Old town, mostly to the South is a hotchpotch of twisting streets, closes and alleyways. The New Town was built much more to a plan and contains elegant Town Houses, many four, five or even six stories high, lining grand sweeping crescents and wide straight roads. This view encompasses part of the New Town. On the right is the quarter circle of the North West side of Randolf Crescent. On the left, is the half oval of the North West side of Ainslie Place. In between is the North West side of Great Stuart Street. The buildings sit high above the densely wooded Dean Gorge.

This square work depicts architecture in Edinburgh’s New Town, a place I have grown up with, dipping in and out, visits, periods of residence, and in daydreams and memories. Hot, Scottish summers of childhood, tea and buttery scones in venues long gone, errands run, books bought, and buses caught. There is an Athenian timelessness about it, a sense of history and high culture that permeates the sandstone and rock, that whispers from patches of shadow and coolth. Snippets of life, from decades past, and yet Edinburgh remains constant, timeless and beautiful. A great souvenir of Scotland, a perfect gift.

My walk took me further away from the heart of the New Town, past Scotland Street, and Broughton Street, down to an area of secret parks and gardens and streets that seem to have fallen off the grand design, ending suddenly in a wall of railings and trees. A certain austerity creeps in, a Scottish solidity, pure and simple and strong. I admire this block of flats, built of large chunks of stone, with high windows and high ceilings. I marvel at the softness of the colours on the interior walls, little triangles seen from the street. The sky too is pure, blue, deep, cool. I wanted to capture that light, and the golden colours. This work is rich in detail and realism. It is an ideal gift, and a perfect addition to any collection of Scottish...

The iconic red London bus black cab and a vintage aircraft thrown in !

Many years ago, in childhood, my granny lived near here. In a brief flash of freedom I was allowed to explore the quiet, sleepy crescents that formed a block. The sun soaked into the sand coloured stone, turning it to gold. Railings marked the border of a magical, and alas, forbidden world of private gardens, an enchanted place of immaculate lawns and slopes. I felt the late afternoon sun on my skin, and the cooing of pigeons and fleeting music that murmured around me.

Where the New Town starts to end and Stockbridge approaches, where the hills are steep and the shadows long, I noticed the beautiful play of light and colour on this golden building. It was a perfect design of symmetry, Georgian, solid, with fan windows over the doors, and built of large blocks of stone. It was a perfect Edinburgh morning, a day of Scottish summer promised and delivered, the air tinged with pine and heather and brine. I wanted to capture that light. The work is rich in colour and in detail, laced with a strong realism and solidity that make it a perfect souvenir of Scotland, an ideal gift.

A walk in Scotland’s capital brings me to the edge of the New Town, where the hills are steep and the light glimmers like a magic, playful spell on the golden stone. A row of shops in various colours catch my eye, a contrast to the Georgian symmetry. There is a mathematical precision to the architecture, lines that converge, in beautiful harmony. This work is rich in detail and in colour and would make a perfect gift, and a fantastic addition to any collection of Scottish works.

This one is for fans of seriously good fiction. The Oxford Bar on the corner of Young Street and Young Street South Lane in the New Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The name of the bar will be familiar to fans of the Scottish fiction writer Ian Rankin as it is the favoured pub of his Inspector Rebus character in the long running Rebus series of books and and also in the TV series. In reality of course, the Oxford Bar has long been one of a handful of Edinburgh watering holes favoured by Scottish writers and artists since the 19th century including Ian Rankin himself. Camera: Canon EOS 450D (Digital Rebel XSi in the USA)

This monument to Sir Walter Scott is located on Princes Street, New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built during 1836-46. The architect was George Meikle Kemp (1795-1844), a joiner who entered the competition under a pseudonym to avoid prejudice; the joiner/architect sadly fell into the Union Canal in the fog and drowned before the work was completed. Three bracketed JPGs converted to HDR in Photomatix Pro. BEST VIEWED LARGER