Visitors experienced an abundance of free weather on Calton Hill today.
Southerly 0º breezes wafting to hurricane force lent the air a healthful astringency, focusing minds and stripping the complexions of all those attending the latest 24 Doors of Advent event in the city.
Billy Connolly once said there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong sort of clothes. We beg to differ. Today, on Calton Hill, there were no clothes on earth adequate to the task.
Collective’s fundraising for the scheme continues, but they hope to open in 2016 with a space in which ‘artists, producers and audiences can meet, think, debate, reflect upon the past, consider the future and most importantly, take action’. That space will also include a newly built gallery and restaurant.
Some idea of the site’s size can be gathered from this photo, taken at its north-western corner. This is not even half of it.
The interior of William Playfair’s 1818–22 scientific temple is inaccessible at the moment, but the area around it affords unusual views over the rest of the hill and the city.
Here, for example, the Nelson Monument rises beside a row of pillars strongly reminiscent of Broughton St Mary’s Parish Church, built at the same time.
This slightly elevated view allows the clockface of the Balmoral Hotel to show through the monument to Dugald Stewart.
but it's been even more unkind here. We're not sure exactly what this is. Erm, it's broken.
And finally, here is a wider than usual view of the classic capital skyline. How many landmarks can you spot?
