Edinburgh's Doors Open Day is a chance to rediscover our love for this 'most beautiful' city – Stephen Jardine
Familiarity can sometimes lead residents of Scotland’s capital to forget that they live in a place designed by ‘enlightened angels’
You don’t have to look far to find grumbles about Edinburgh. From parking charges to over-tourism to the housing crisis, there are plenty of things to complain about. But instead of looking far, look up.
On a crisp autumn day with skies the colour of the bluest sea, Scotland’s capital city looks like a fairy tale brought to life. Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman called it “the most beautiful of all the capitals of Europe”, cultural critic Jonathan Meades deemed it a city designed by “enlightened angels”, and they were right.
This weekend Doors Open Day gives people an annual reminder to recognise that with buildings throwing open their doors to the public. The challenge from co-ordinators, the Cockburn Association, is “to fall in love with Edinburgh again”.
It’s easy to forget that initial glimpse or memory, like a first love spotted across a crowded room. I arrived in the city as a student and wandered around boggle-eyed for days. Was it really possible to live somewhere so perfect?
Rekindling that sense of wonder
Over time, things change. Like any long-term relationship, familiarity dulls our gaze. It may not be the way the dishwasher is stacked or failure to put down the toilet seat, but something shifts. As Harold Macmillan once said, “events, dear boy, events”.
Doors Open Day gives us another chance to rekindle that initial wonder. Unlike many of Edinburgh’s cultural offerings, this is aimed squarely at residents, encouraging people to see their city with fresh eyes and, crucially, it’s free.
This year over 100 venues will be participating with one common theme: exploring how Edinburgh’s built heritage is being protected, adapted for new uses, and reimagined for the future. For the first time, every primary school child is being invited to take part to help establish a lifelong relationship with the city’s heritage from an early age.
A Gothic gem
The only problem is choosing what to see. The programme this year features some places taking part for the first time. Canonmills Church, once a penny school attended by Robert Louis Stevenson, and the Old Assembly Hall in Leith, where merchants used to gather and trade, are among the venues making their debut.
They will be on my list but I’m also drawn back to old favourites from previous years. Places like Trinity House in Leith with its penguin eggs, narwhal tusks and assorted maritime memorabilia from around the world.
The Gothic gem that is St Vincent’s Chapel in the New Town, once home to the fabulously named Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem. And the Drill Hall in Dalmeny Street where the coffins of100 Leith soldiers were laid out following the 1915 Gretna Rail Disaster before a procession to Rosebank Cemetery where they were buried together in a communal grave.
This is our history, this is our heritage. It’s all around us every day of the year but how many of us make time to look for it and acknowledge it? Many of the buildings are churches. With falling congregations, the story the buildings tell is gradually fading from sight.
This weekend is a great, free chance to put that right and look at Edinburgh anew. And if that rekindles a love for the city that had perhaps become jaded or tired, then that can only be a good thing.
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