High Street Edinburgh

9.50 pm or thereabouts, and the day after the summer solstice, so it is still quite light.

We had left St Giles Cathedral, having enjoyed a concert there this evening. I had a walk around the cathedral in the concert interval. It has a different feel to an English cathedral, which is no surprise. Although it has “cathedral” in its name, it isn’t actually a cathedral. The Presbyterian Church (or Kirk) of Scotland allows no bishops, thus there can be no cathedral. There also isn’t an altar, but a plain communion table at the centre of the building. I have been reminding myself of the Scottish reformation, which took a very different course to that south of the border.

The church is celebrating its 900th anniversary this year, although there is no visible evidence of the original building. The present building was constructed from the 14th century onwards.