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Edinburgh is blessed with many magnificent green, open spaces, and none better than Holyrood Park – or Queen's Park – a 650-acre wilderness of mountains, crags, lochs, moorland, marshes, fields and glens – all within walking distance of the city centre. This is one of the city's greatest assets, and it's easy to wander around till you're lost from the eyes and ears of civilization. The park's main feature, and the city's main landmark, is the 823 ft-high (237m) Arthur's Seat, the igneous core of another extinct volcano, and the highest of Edinburgh's hills. It is a genuine bit of wilderness right in the centre of Scotland's capital, and one climbed regularly by the city's residents. Another dominating feature of the Edinburgh skyline is the precip- itous Salisbury Crags, lying directly opposite the south gates of Holyrood Palace.
Sights
Walking up Arthur's Seat
For a, which is one display at the National Gallery. On the shores of Duddingston Loch is Thomson’s Tower, an octagonal building designed in 1823 by William Playfair for the Duddingston Loch Curling Society. When the loch froze over curling was played here and in 1715 the society was formed. It was to curling what the Royal and Ancient is to golf: it standardized the rules of the game. The society still exists, though it hasn’t played for many years. Its motto reads, in true Scottish modesty: “This is the way the Scots play: the rest of the world isn’t half so lucky.” Which obviously inspired Britain’s Olympic curlers in Salt Lake City in 2002. Directly opposite the gates to the church is The Causeway, which leads you to the venerable old Sheep Heid Inn.
You can follow the path round to the south shore of the loch, to the entrance of the Bawsinch Nature Reserve and Duddingston Loch Bird Sanctuary, which is home to many bird species, including mute and whooper swans, short-eared owl and great spotted woodpecker. Note, though, that the path is intermittent and very muddy in places. Running along the southern boundary of the Bird Sanctuary is the Innocent Railway line, now a walkway and cycle path. The railway (which gets its name from the fact that carriages were first pulled by horses, a reference to the “innocent” means of transport) was built in 1831 to carry coal from the pits around Dalkeith to the goods yard at St Leonards and closed in 1968. You can return to Holyrood Palace car park via the Innocent Railway by following Duddingston Road west from the foot of Jacob’s Ladder. The road runs along the side of the loch, giving a great view of Samson’s Ribs rising steeply to the right.
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