April 06, 2006

The New Town


Today we have a picture of one of the planned streets of Edinburgh's New Town. As I mentioned yesterday, it wasn't until after Union with England in the 18th century that Edinburgh began to expand and take its present day shape. A competition to design the New Town was held and was won by a young architect called James Craig. His vision of main streets criss-crossed by narrow streets and small lanes, with lots of green space, shaped Edinburgh's cityscape. The wealthy moved from the cramped, unsanitary conditions in the Old Town down to this new part of the city and today it continues to be a well-off neighbourhood, largely residential, with strict planning restrictions to limit the number of bars, restaurants and the types of shops that can open there. This street, Drummond Place, like many in the New Town also has private gardens for the residents (and only the residents!) to enjoy!

10 comments:

Bob said...

Nice shot. It looks like summer!

Kris said...

impressive ! so clean and tidy :)

Anonymous said...

Cmon, gies a shot of a dead mutant Fife swan!

G Fraser said...

there's a 3km exclusion zone around the dead swan...and in any case, it's in Fife! you'll need to get someone to set up a fife daily photo!

Sam said...

Sounds too organized, lol.
I like the open feel of the big space there though.

G Fraser said...

that's the joy of edinburgh sam...organic growth of the old town against the neat, planned streets of the new town.

Nicola said...

Private gardens for residents only... Do they have a bige fence/wall around it around it and keys? Sounds sad - I'd prefer open parks!

G Fraser said...

yes nicola! fences and locked gates...the keys to the gardens come when you buy a flat or house one one of the streets the garden serves. i quite agree that park space should be open for all, although a friend of mine has keys to a private garden and it is a lovely tranquil place to relax with a bottle of wine on a nice, long summer night!

Anne said...

Nice greenery...and I assume since you took the shot you are one of the residenst ? ;)

p.s. don't you just love the new webring...going from one DP to the other is now such a breeze!!

G Fraser said...

I used to live nearby, but never had keys to a garden! Couldn't afford to buy in that area.