Eskmills, Musselburgh

Location - Eskmills, Musselburgh

Weather - Sunny intervals

Optional theme - Industry 

Refreshments - The Company Bakery - Excellent sweet treats; we sat outside in the sun 

Kate photographed this abstract of the fish pond in the glasshouse 

Johnnie Walker in the window of Crolla's Italian Kitchen 

Bus stop on the approach to Eskmills, photographed by Alex 

Eileen took the industrial theme very seriously 

Ian explored the history of the site

Dorothy found this woodland scene behind Eskmills 

Further afield 

Sandra shared a memory of a sunset at Port Seton 

Aberdour

Location - starting from Aberdour railway station 

Weather - Initially excellent, but it got too hot as soon as the haar burnt off 

Optional theme - Seaside 

Refreshments - A bistro on the high street; not sure what it's called but they let us order breakfast rolls even though breakfast service was over 

Vincent captured this dreamlike photo 

A lone yacht moored just offshore, with the Edinburgh skyline in the background; photo by Ada 

Alex found a high vantage point to take this photograph looking back towards the harbour 

Mandy caught a view of  the island of Incholm 

Sandra captured rock textures

Great Junction Street

August 2025 - Great Junction Street, just where it crosses the Water of Leith  

Weather -Warm, dry, sunshine and clouds

Optional theme - Character - quite a divisive theme, some people enjoyed the freedom it gave; others found it too vague

Coffee - Medo Mediterranean Café, Ferry Road - The Red Velvet Cake was especially well received 

Alex wandered up the Water of Leith to photograph the windows of this old building 

Arthur found another beautiful brick building

Beryl found a characterful interplay between this decaying stonework, and a distant high-rise

Colin interpreted the theme to include "characters" - and he found a very colourful line-up of characters in a window overlooking the street 

Eileen found this very surreal scene 

Several of us decided to photograph these barrels - Sandra's image captures them all in a row, in varying stages of dilapidation 

... and several of us photographed this magnificent police box. Ada's shot captures the colours contrasting with the greenery in the background

Foot of the Walk

July 2025 - Foot of the Walk, Leith 

Weather - A lovely summer day 

Optional theme - Colour 

Coffee - Costa, Kirkgate Centre. There's not a lot to say about a Costa. 

A few of us admired some of the very talented graffiti art on show. Kate captured this striking portrait, positioned next to an equally striking blue door.  

Ada ventured to the wild flower garden at the Links. This photo captures a bee hovering by a flower. 

Colin photographed a colourful hanging basket. 

Alex captured a street scene - the caption on the graffiti reads "I hope you never fit in".

Ian C found colour in a display of fruit and veg. 

Further afield 

Ian E enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of Musselburgh Racecourse. This image of a horse nosing ahead won our Photo of the Week 

Maggie shared her photos from our last outing, when the theme was "grass and leaves". 

Dr Neil's Garden

June 2025 - Dr Neil's Garden, Duddingston 

Weather - Very hot; we were glad to be out in the morning before the intensity of the early-afternoon sun 

Optional theme - Leaves and grass

Coffee - Café at Dr Neil's Garden - The pot of tea for one was massive! 

Pheasants are regular visitors to the garden. This photo by Colin won him Photo of the Week. 

Eileen used ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) to capture this abstract image of a Hosta. 

Another image of a Hosta. Kate waited until the gardener sprayed this plant to capture the water drops on the leaves, 

Sandra captured some beautiful green leaves.

Alex captured this scene of grasses providing a vertical point of interest in the garden. 

Further afield 

Ada visited Eilean Donan on a typically dreich Scottish day. 

Alison photographed this image of a pole-climbing competition at the Royal Highland Show. 

Heriot Watt Campus, Riccarton

March 2025 - Heriot Watt Campus, Riccarton 

Weather - Cold but bright 

Optional theme - Chaos 

Coffees - One of the student cafés on campus 

Easy to see why Heriot Watt moved to this campus when you see magnificent trees like this one captured by Ian. 

Maggie found chaos in this collection of parked bicycles. 

Ada looked up, to see chaos in the fractal branches of a bare tree. 

Alex's version of chaos came from another tree - a victim of a recent storm. 

Arthur photographed the same tree - but he found a wider angle that shows the gardeners' attempts to re-impose order on the chaotic scene. 

Beryl found chaos in nature. 

Eileen created her own version of chaos - zooming during exposure to create this scene from a science fiction movie.  

Sandra found a face in this tree trunk.

Musselburgh

March 2025 - Musselburgh 

Optional theme - Simplicity 

Weather - Bright and sunny

Refreshments - Hollies Community Hub - Great scones, but only UHT milk for the coffee :( 

We saw all sorts in Eileen's photo of this driftwood - rabbits, jelly monsters, ghosts! 

Alex's close-up of the eroding paint on a boat's rudder looks like a drone shot of a sunny beach. 

Arthur found simplicity in a bare shrub on the seafront. 

Ada photographed this redshank in the harbour.

Beryl photographed the boats by the side of the harbour - waiting for better weather to be lowered into the water. 

Maggie's photo captures the simple pleasures of a shared cup of tea. 

Colin shared some photos from a recent trip to Spain. This image of a terrapin fitted the "simplicity" brief perfectly. 

Ian shared some photos from a recent trip to Newcastle. 

Edinburgh Tram

November 2024 - The view from the tram 

Weather - Cold, frosty 

Optional theme - Motion, though most of us ignored the theme this week

Refreshments - Food court at the Gyle Shopping Centre 

We boarded the tram at Princes Street and made our way to Gyle Shopping centre - stopping off from time to time for the odd photo. 

Eileen enjoyed experimenting with double exposures and unusual camera angles. But her highlight photo was of frosty leaves lying on the ground. 

Maggie's first photo is the result of some careful work in Photoshop Elements. Her other photos, however, are just very carefully chosen camera angles. 

Ada found nature even in this very urban environment. We all saw a dancer in that last photo of the dying thistle. 

Alex also found nature surrounding the tram tracks. 

Colin was unable to join us on the day, so he shared this idyllic image of a book-lover sitting under a group of palm trees in Malaga.