We have been distributing newsletters in Craiglockhart and Morningside today. Quotes that sum up the day are “Awful what they’re doing. Just awful.” And from one Craiglockhart resident: “Who IS supporting this development?” A good question, as I haven’t met a single person, when leafletting, who does.

If you missed it here is the article from the Evening News today about Craighouse as the hot topic in Craiglockhart and Fountainbridge Ward. And here is Andrew Burns blog today on the same issue.

The rolling semi-natural parkland has a touch of the sublime as it leads down to trees and fabulous views beyond (click to view)

But let’s take a break from all the political hoo-ha. I couldn’t resist showing you these gorgeous pictures that were posted to our Facebook page by our supporters.

Craighouse is a beautiful place. But what I’ve been thinking a lot about recently is the sense of the vista – the sweep of parkland down to the trees and the fabulous views beyond. It is a deliberately uninterrupted sweep and reminds me of ideas of the “sublime” which is the feeling I think it was deliberately designed to engender in people sitting or walking there. The grounds are obviously designed to be unlifting for the residents and public in the past and continues to lift the spirits of those who enjoy the site now.

In this you can see the distinctive rig n furrow (the whirly effect over the sweeping lawns) Click to view

As someone said to me very eloquently at the exhibitions. “The thing you have to get across is that all this new-build would reduce it to simply a green field surrounded by housing. The developers fail to recognise what is special about the place. The sweeping lawns to those views. What’s special about the place is the panorama.”

Just part of the fabulous panorama and views that extends from the Forth, with the Castle and Arthur's Seat to the cone of North Berwick Law off shot on the right. Click to view

I think these shots manages to capture something of that feeling that makes this site so special.

And an old favourite