We were in Edinburgh on Saturday and walked along Comely Bank Road, near Stockbridge but going west.

I’d always thought the houses there were in thirties style but since I usually drive along there hadn’t noticed the corner shop fronts.

This is a close up on the frontage of the shop which corners on Comely Bank Road and Learmonth Grove. Its deco features are obvious.

Below is the corner of Comely Bank Road and Learmonth Avenue. The shop in Learmonth Avenue (Shaw’s Fine Meats) still has thirties style windows.

Next is part of Learmonth Avenue in a view from the opposite side from the above.

Clearly thirties. Note the long vertical windows on the stairwells. (Though the shops shown here have been “modernised”.)

This is one of the vertical windows on Comely Bank Road itself. I photographed this one because it’s been painted green.

A couple more photos from Saturday are in my Edinburgh Art Deco flickr set.

Who’d have thought this:-

(which I have featured before) would be on a postcard?

Since the weather was good (for once) we took a boat trip out on the Forth estuary last week. We’d been meaning to for years.

This is a seal on a navigation buoy. In the background you can see the Edinburgh skyline.

Does the structure in this next one look like a battleship?

Apparently to the Germans in World War 2 it did – especially from the air. They are said to have claimed several times to have sunk it.

It’s Inchmickery Island and was I believe deliberately made to look like a warship. From a distance it’s very convincing.

Our destination was Inchcolm Island.

This is the view on the approach.

This one shows some of the fortifications placed there during both World Wars.

On our stroll to Leith docks on Saturday I noticed this building from the pathway by the Water of Leith. So we climbed up to Great Junction Street and I took a few photos. (Yes I know this is in Leith really but we’ll stretch a point.)

The State Cinema was opened in 1938, turned into a bingo hall in 1972 and later became the Babylon night club. It was B-listed in 1995.

This first picture was taken from the bridge over the Water of Leith.

Here we have typical deco styling: horizontals,verticals and also trianguloid bits. Note the painting on the bridge parapet. It’s a bit deco too.

It’s a pity the building has fallen into disuse. On the Scottish cinemas website it looks a bit less dilapidated.

There is a plan to refurbish it though. (The cinema parts at the back will go but the entrance building will stay.)

The pyramidal roof on the square tower looks a bit odd but judging by the old photo in the Scottish cinemas link above it seems to be original.

On Saturday we walked the Water of Leith from Arboretum Avenue all the way to the Port of Leith.

On the way there we saw this heron which may be one of the ones we have seen in the Water of Leith before. We were puzzling what it got to eat as we could see no sign of fish in the river whenever we had a suitable view.

On the way back…

We saw the heron looking intently at the bank, then stalking slowly and deliberately towards the river’s side. When close in its neck started to sway sinuously the way I suppose a snake’s does. It stopped, then started the neck sway thing again.

Then it pounced. Quickly.

There was now a small mammal in its mouth, a vole or mouse probably. I scrabbled to get a picture. I hope you can make out the mammal.

This is a few seconds later.

Not much later the mammal had been completely swallowed.

Now we know what it eats….

Nature red in tooth and claw.

Not to mention beak.

These photos were taken about a month or so ago.

This is a panorama of Edinburgh from the Botanic Gardens with Arthur’s Seat prominent towards the left and the Castle to the right.

This heron was in the Water of Leith as we walked back from the Botanics. It may or may not be the same one we have seen before.

This is one of Antony Gormley‘s sculptures. It is embedded into the tarmac in the middle of the pedestrian entrance from Belford Road into the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

A while back I was in Edinburgh again and stopped off in Princes Street Gardens.

The bandstand there is Deco, having some aspects in common with the stage at the rear of the Glen Pavilion in Dunfermline.

The bandstand’s Deco-ness shows especially in the side view.

These Deco pavilions/huts are built into the bank which backs onto Princes Street itself.

There are two more photos on my Flickr site in my Edinburgh Art Deco set of pictures.

I’ve not done one of these Art Deco posts for a while, so it’s about time.

This is the Capital Building, on the corner of St Andrew’s Square and George Street, Edinburgh.

I wasn’t sure it is true Art Deco. It certainly has elements – horizontals and verticals – but looks more modern. The picture is a stitch of two to show both street facades. Below is a close up of the top of the entrance.

Statues above the door on Capital building, on corner of St Andrew’s Square and George Street, Edinburgh.

These have a bit of Art Deco look about them but could have been 1950s.

The building had a for sale/to let sign on it when I took the photo. This link (the property consultants) shows a view from further back than mine.

This site suggests the original was built in the 1930s and the window replacements were carried out to be as close to the originals as possible by Critall!

Here’s a closer view of the frontage of St Andrew’s House. (See six posts ago.) Floating right is a side view of the column behind the flagpole with its very Deco light fitting:-

Below is a detail from the right hand roof line, showing nice trianguloid embellishments. Right is one of the tall side windows (the easterly one) complete with pigeons:-

This is the view from the East:-

The East gateway. The circular motif echoes the porthole window in the building:-

Another angle of the East gateway:-

East doorway. The repeated circular motif would be more apparent if the outer door were closed:-

Coat of arms, front doorway and pillars:-

Close up of main doorway showing historical scenes/figures:-

This ought really to have been one of the first of these posts but I didn’t get round to photographing the building till last Sunday. It belongs in Scotland’s Art Deco Heritage rather than merely Edinburgh’s because it is such a significant building (both architecturally and governmentally) housing as it does a fairly large proportion of the Scottish Civil Service.

Below is a view of the rear looking from North Bridge.

I took the photo from just beside the War Memorial which I featured yesterday. You can just see part of the roofs of Waverley railway station in the foreground. The tower at the top of the picture is actually on Calton Hill, the round structure to the left is in the cemetery adjacent to St Andrew’s House.

Here is the building in all its monolithic Stalinist glory.

From right:-

From left:-

The central frontage is a bit overbearing:-

Each of the pillars is surmounted by a statue:-

If you click on the above to enlarge it you can probably see the words carved into the stone just above the pillars. They depict six of the functions of the Scottish Office; architecture, statecraft, health, agriculture, fisheries, education.