This week’s challenge was ‘Red’. Edinburgh used to be called Auld Reekie because of the dense clouds of smoke from coal fires. (Reek is a Scots work for smoke). The Clean Air Act in 1956 started the process of creating ‘smoke control areas’ although it was 1995 before the entire city was smoke free. When I first lived in Edinburgh in 1968, most of the old buildings were dark grey. Since then some of the buildings have been cleaned, but most have been allowed to lighten naturally. Most were made from grey or honey coloured stone from local quarries – but there was a fashion in the late 19th century for red sandstone from the South of Scotland. The picture is a typical red sandstone tenement block at the end of Great Junction Street in Leith.
