An annotated skyline of Edinburgh

[andrewducker]

Further to my photo post from earlier today, I mentioned that you couldn't really see the details I liked unless you took a wide strip across the skyline in high-resolution. After all, the original photo I took was 6,448 pixels wide, and the version you got via Instagram a measly 1,440.

So I grabbed the original, stripped out just the skyline, and uploaded two copies. The first has annotations on it, the second doesn't. Click through and then zoom in to see them in all of their glory.





The annotations are to my favourite bits of the skyline:
1) Fettes school. Not that I'm a fan of private schools, but it's a magnificent piece of architecture. Best seen from close up, where it's glorious.
2) Fife. The Kingdom of Fife, to be exact. Which is actually on the other side of the Forth from us.
3) The Firth of Forth. Big wet thing. Has some bridges over it that you might have heard of.
4) Leith. Although that might be Newhaven, to be honest, and the white buildings a bit further round might be Leith. I can only actually tell when a large ship is docked there, visible from the office. Either way around, a nice bit of shoreline, well worth a wander along.
5) Inchkeith Island. Which I've meant to visit for ages and ages. You can do a boat tour out to it. Maybe next summer.
6) North Berwick Law. An almost perfect triangle when seen from Edinburgh, this is a nice chunk of volcanic hill with a (now replica) whale jawbone on top. Somewhere there is a photo of me holding Sophia aloft beneath it.
7) Edinburgh's famous hotel. Newspaper articles will insist that the locals compare it to an ice cream swirl. They do not. (Alas, the domain "jobbie.scot" is now lapsed)
8) The Nelson Monument, atop Calton Hill. From which a ball falls every day at 1pm so that any ships in the docks can set their clocks. Should they be crewed by time travellers, of course.
9) The Balmoral Hotel clock. Famously set to run 3 minutes fast, to make sure you catch your train from the adjacent Waverley station.
10) The tip of the Scott Monument. Looks a lot like a gothic spaceship. Currently surrounded by a Christmas market, including a spinny ride which is taller than it. I assume so that the vomit spreads over a very wide radius,
11) Arthur's Seat. Edinburgh's own extinct volcano. Nice views from the top. In front of it can be seen Salisbury Crags, where Jane and I had our first date.
12) Edinburgh Castle. The most beseiged castle in Great Britain, and one of the most attacked in the world. The large buildings to the back of it are a military garrison, nowadays mostly used for ceremonial purposes and recruitment.

Comments

[asher553]

Amazing!

[rhythmaning]

To add a bit more ...

Just to the right of Fettes and just beyond (2) are the small peaks of the Lomond Hills - West and East, which are near Falkland in Fife. Between them (but actually much nearer l the Craigkelly broadcast mast can be seen.

I reckon (4) is actually Granton or Wardie - though this might be being picky: I think the two of three towers to the right are the development around Newhaven harbour.

The large white block to the right of (5) is Chancelot Mills.

The two residential towers at the foot of Leith Walk can be seen some way to the right. (Interestingly the banana flats on Henderson St aren't clearly visible, presumably because they're not tall enough.)

Actually, I'm also surprised there is no certain evidence of the Botanics, though presumably some of the trees mark spot!

To the right of Berwick Law (6) two church spires can be seen. The first is Bellevue St Mary's and the second is St Stephen's in Stockbridge. The tall chimney to the left of (6) must be the poppy factory by the Water of Leith in Bonnington, and the pointy-square spire just to its right the clock tower on the bridge at Stockbridge (where Pizza Express used to be).

To the right of (8) is the Dundas monument in St Andrew Sq, and to its right the spire of St Andrew's / St George's. The spires to the right of Arthur's Seat are a confluence of the Hub in the Mile (the pointy one) and New College on the Mound (the square towers). And the green dome in front of the castle in the Registry House in Charlotte Sq.

Here endeth the lecture. There is so much in that picture! But what isn't visible is also interesting.

[rhythmaning]

In case anyone was curious about the banana flats.

[andrewducker]

Thank you for the extra information!

[andrewducker]

Oh, and if I had to guess, I'd say that the Botanics is probably directly under the "5". But the hill in the centre of it isn't tall enough to be visible. Which is slightly surprising!

[rhythmaning]

Yes, that makes sense.

I think the very first line of trees below (4) mark Inverleith Pond. And the extended line of trees right that - the first trees visible over the roofs - must be along the Water of Leith from Canonmills.

That really is some view!

[andrewducker]

Some day I'll get up to the *5th* floor :-)

[wenchpixie]

I thought the same about (4).

The Banana flats are strangely small, for something so imposing when you're nearby (at the SMWS Vaults, for example), I wonder if they were height restricted at the time to fit better with the tenements nearby (which are mostly the taller ones)

[dreamaastrid]

2. My family is originally from Broughty Ferry and Fife and one of our best vacations was visiting there and visiting Edinburgh and meeting relatives.

[andrewducker]

It's a lovely bit of the world. I'm glad you enjoyed visiting!