Winter Tales of Edinburgh
Space to look up
Alana, Health in Mind
Edinburgh in winter is a special place. I love walking around the City – smiling and saying hello to strangers- some of whom become friends. It might be cold in temperature but there is a warmth in the connections you can make.
When the City is so busy in the summer with the festival you can get lost in navigating your way from A to B through the crowds. But in the winter things are slower and you have the space to look up and around and take in the spectacular architecture, smells, and tastes from the food stalls and markets that pop up and sing along to the festive music coming from the shops on Princes Street.
Edinburgh in Winter
Lynne Stanford, Edinburgh
Edinburgh is a city of magic.
Home of Harry Potter,
we have Markets made of Grass
and Streets for Princes.
Our buses take you to The Jewel,
Or to Trysts with Hunters.
Edinburgh is a city of nature.
Where others have centres
built of commerce and worship,
we have a castle on volcanic rock.
We’re surrounded by water in river, canal, and firth,
with 7 Peaks rising from the earth.
But most of all Edinburgh is a city of winter,
where magic and nature collide.
Forests are brought inside,
Food and drink go out.
Carollers sing red-cheeked on Walks of Multrees,
And Tram bells ding like sleigh bells jingle.
Yes, our nights are long and dark,
but it gives us time to appreciate
twinkling fairy lights and moonlit walks.
We all see the sunsets and sunrises
Glowing pink and orange,
in our expansive skies.
Edinburgh,
Our magically natural winter city.
Do you remember winter in Edinburgh?
J, Edinburgh
Being the last to leave the office and having snowball fights on the street
Wrapped up in heavy woollen coats, long stripy scarves, and already sopping mittens
The way the wind howled around the windows edge, the single glazed panes keeping only the rain away from the chill tenement flat
Those woollen coats and dried out mittens now useful at home too
Soft soled slippers and 80s leg warmers keeping feet snug in front of the orange glow of an electric heater
Blankets wrapped around our knees keeping our bodies warm
Friends around the table playing games and being merry, warming our hearts
Do you remember?
If you write your own winter tale of Edinburgh, we’d love to hear it!
Send it to ithriveedinburgh@health-in-mind.org.uk.