We celebrated last night with a meal at David Bann‘s vegetarian restaurant, then watched Edinburgh’s Hogmanay fireworks from our street.

To blow away the cobwebs and start 2012 in the way we mean to go on, we climbed Arthur’s Seat – along with hundreds of other people. Despite the drizzle it was obviously a popular thing to do!

We took our first breather at St. Anthony’s Chapel, overlooking St. Margaret’s Loch.

Then it was onwards and upwards! In the end we didn’t go all the way to the top, stopping at the shoulder just before the summit as the rain got heavier.

The views over Edinburgh really are spectacular, even on such a dreich day.

Despite the grey clouds, this being Scotland there were inevitably blue skies at the same time, and the half moon was clearly visible.

As we reached the foot of the hill, the sun was well and truly setting over the cityscape.

Nestled away in a bend of the Water of Leith to the west of Craiglockhart, it is one of the many, but lesser known, castles in Edinburgh. Or at least it used to be, the last remains of the castle having been used to build Redhall House nearby.

Redhall House was built in 1758 for George Inglis of Auchendinny, and used the red sandstone from Redhall Castle behind a harled exterior.

It was later acquired by the Edinburgh Corporation and became a children’s home, then schools were built in the grounds. In 2007 Redhall House and the surrounding land were sold to a developer, and a new housing estate was built, although plans to convert Redhall House into flats didn’t come to fruition, and it now stands empty and neglected. The windows are boarded up with plywood, although bathed in the golden light from the low winter sun they gave a welcome soft edge to the grey harling.

Despite looking contemporary with the rest of the house, the grand Classical porch was actually added around 1900, when the west wing was also added.

Around the back, out of the sun and into the shadows, the house gives off a more depressed air, with broken windows adding to the feeling of neglect.

It seems such a shame that Redhall House stands seemingly in a generally good condition, with so many period details intact, but with its potential unrealised.

The site of Redhall Castle itself is a roughly round promontory approximately 90m to the north-west of Redhall House. Now just covered with overgrown grass, the edge of the site is ringed by trees, beyond which are steep drops down to the Water of Leith.

This perfect defensive position meant that it was a strategically important castle in days gone by, and in 1650 it was attacked by Oliver Cromwell. An attack from which it never recovered.

We made our way down off the promontory and through the trees, taking a rough path down to the river below. A riverside walk here follows the Water of Leith all the way from the village of Balerno outside Edinburgh, through the city to Leith itself. However we just used it for a brief glimpse of the river, before climbing back up the hill.

A couple of hundred metres to the north-east of Redhall House is a mid-18th century doocot, accessed by a path along the edge of the housing estate.

Taking an unusual hexagonal form, it has niches on its south-east side which presumably would originally have been windows out of which the doves could fly. Unlike Redhall House itself, this is something that has actually been restored by the developers.

The north-west side of the doocot is of far more interest, to me at least, as built into that side is a 16th century armorial panel from Redhall Castle.

The arms are those of Sir Adam Otterburn, a lawyer and diplomat who inherited Redhall Castle in 1533, and was the King’s Advocate from 1524 until 1538, as well as being Lord Provost of Edinburgh several times between 1522 and 1547.

With the light fading, and increasingly lumpy rain falling (which overnight would turn to the first snow of the winter in Edinburgh), we made our way back to the warmth of the car.

Situated between Meadowbank Stadium and Hibernian’s ground, this green and tranquil park is an oasis of calm, at the centre of which is Lochend Loch.

There are no burns or rivers flowing into or out of Lochend Loch, instead it is fed by underground springs. It was once reputed to be bottomless!

The silence is broken only by the squawking of birds, of which there are many, nestling in the undergrowth around the edge of the loch, and within the trees that grow out of the water in the middle.

Along the east side of the loch is a steep cliff, on top of which are the remains of Lochend Castle, now built into the later Lochend House.

Lochend Castle is thought to have been built in the 16th century, possibly on the site of an even earlier castle. Most of it was knocked down in the early 19th century, but a section of wall was incorporated into the new house, and an old castle fireplace can still be seen on the outside of Lochend House.

At the north end of Lochend Loch a wooden platform has been built, projecting out into the water to give a better view of the birds. Next to it is the stump of an old tree, which acts as a convenient viewing platform for the birds to get a better view of the people.

A mallard and his mate were swimming around, being followed by a younger male. This went on for several minutes before the older duck’s patience came to an end, and he chased off the young pretender in a cacophony of quacking.

There were also plenty of Tufted Ducks, diving repeatedly in search of tasty morsels on the bottom of the loch.

The park slopes upwards at the north end, providing a good view back over the loch, and beyond to Arthur’s Seat.

At this end of the loch is a large beehive doocot, also dating back to the 16th century and now doubt built to provide food for the occupants of Lochend Castle.

Before setting off for home we nipped around into a neighbouring cul-de-sac to see what could be seen from there of Lochend Castle. Not much was the answer, just the top of the section with the fireplace.

Walking past the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the soldiers guarding the entrance and the Royal Standard flying overhead signified that the Queen was in residence.

We walked around into Holyrood Park, and found a good vantage point on the lower slopes of Arthur’s Seat. We weren’t alone, with hundreds of people sitting in the grass, and as well as overlooking the parade area in front of us, we also had a good view west to the corner of Holyroodhouse and the Edinburgh skyline beyond.

The event was to mark the presentation of new regimental colours by the Queen to The Royal Regiment of Scotland, and began with the parading of the old colours of six battalions of the regiment.

Clicking on the image below will open a panorama of the parade ground in a new window.

After the parading of the old colours, the Queen arrived to inspect the troops in a rather cool custom-built Range Rover.

The Queen then returned to her covered platform, the sun blazing overhead, for a short service to introduce the new colours.

The new colours were then paraded around Holyrood Park.

After the parade had finished the Queen and Prince Phillip left in another Range Rover, while we met up with my brother, a Captain in The Royal Regiment of Scotland, who had been watching the parade from the stands behind the Queen.

The parade would start from Edinburgh Castle and move down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. So we found ourselves a spot opposite the Scottish Parliament at the bottom of the Royal Mile, just outside the Palace gates on Abbey Strand.

While we all waited for Prince Charles to arrive, the marchers were being held further up the Royal Mile.

Also waiting were the First Minister Alex Salmond, the Prime Minister David Cameron, the Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox and the Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore.

Eventually Charles and Camilla emerged from the Palace and made their way across the road to the Parliament building, where Prince Charles would receive the parade.

There was a flypast from the Red Arrows, trailing their customary red, white and blue smoke.

Then Prince Charles assumed his position on the platform, and the parade continued down the hill.

There was another flypast, this time at a considerably slower speed, with a Lancaster bomber flanked by a pair of Spitfires.

I didn’t notice at the time and only spotted her when looking back through the photos, but Lorraine Kelly was standing a few metres to Prince Charles’ left.

The rear of the parade was brought up by police officers on horseback.

We decided to walk back through Holyrood Park, and noticed that the fountain was running (it is usually off). Commissioned by Queen Victoria, the fountain was inspired by a 16th century fountain at Linlithgow Palace.

Walking past St Margaret’s Loch we spotted some ducklings swimming backwards and forwards excitedly, offering quite a contrast to the slow pomp and circumstance of the military parades.

We went up onto Calton Hill, the nearest good vantage point to our house, just in time to see the planes fly over towards the River Forth. They then proceeded to do what they do best, a series of complicated manoeuvres, red, white and blue smoke pouring from their tails against the backdrop of a stormy evening sky.

We didn’t go too far today, partly because it was pouring with rain, and partly because we had tickets for the European premiere of Perfect Sense at the Edinburgh International Film Festival tonight. So we decided upon visiting Craigentinny House which we’d been reserving for just such an occasion.

Craigentinny House, or Craigentinny Castle as it was then, is thought to have been built in the 16th century, possibly by the Nisbet family.

It probably started off as a simple square tower, which can still clearly be seen around the main entrance.

The castle was extended, probably by the Nisbets in the 17th century, with the addition of a new, larger wing extending from the tower to the east and creating an L-plan. A round turret in the re-entrant angle gave access to the upper floors.

The Nisbets sold Craigentinny to the Miller family, who would provide the castle with it’s most well-known resident. William Henry Miller was an eccentric book collector, and an MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme. He was said to be of an odd appearance, thin with a weak voice and “an absence of all beard”, and there was speculation that he was a changeling or even a woman in disguise.

When he died in 1848 he left strict instructions for his burial, and he was buried at night at a depth of 40 feet (12.2 metres) in a lead coffin topped off with a heavy slab, in a massive classically-styled tomb that was on his own lands and strictly not on consecrated ground. This even led to speculation that he was a vampire!

Miller’s heir, Samuel Christie-Miller, who would also later become an MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, commissioned the architect David Rhind to make Scots Baronial additions to Craigentinny, resulting in numerous round turrets with conical roofs.

In the 1930s the local council acquired the castle, and turned it into an early kind of community centre. The east wing was bomb-damaged during the Second World War, losing some of its circular towers. In 1978 Lothian Regional Council built a rather out of place boxy extension onto the east side.

Craigentinny House is still used as a community centre today.

We headed home for a quick bite to eat, then made our way to the Festival Theatre in time to see Ewan McGregor arriving for the premiere.

The director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival James Mullighan introduced the director David Mackenzie and producer Gillian Berrie on stage, who in turn welcomed the actors Alastair Mackenzie, Ewen Bremner, Denis Lawson and finally Ewan McGregor.

Perfect Sense follows the lives of Ewan McGregor and Eva Green as the world is hit by a pandemic which robs people of their senses one by one. Much like David Mackenzie’s previous films, it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I enjoyed it.

Consisting of a main tower built in the 16th century, and various 19th century additions, it is now run as a museum by the City of Edinburgh Council, the last owner having donated it to the city in 1926.

Over the centuries Lauriston Castle has been home to some interesting and notable characters.

The main tower was built around 1590 by Sir Archibald Napier, father of John Napier the inventor of logarithms. Following Sir Archibald’s death in 1608 it passed to his other son, Alexander, and John Napier created an astrological horoscope for him, which is carved on the front of the castle.

Another relatively famous resident was the economist John Law, whose father bought Lauriston Castle in 1683. The younger Law would rise to prominence within the Establishment, and was responsible for founding the Banque Générale in Paris in 1716, the forerunner of the Banque de France, the French central bank.

One of Law’s descendants sold the castle in 1823 to Thomas Allan, a banker by profession but better know as a mineralogist. The mineral Allanite was named after him.

Lauriston Castle is covered in interesting architectural details, partly due to its evolution over the years. Above the dormer windows on the top floor are ornate pediments carved with the initials of former owners.

To the rear of the castle part of the top of the old stair tower can be seen rising above a 19th century extension below.

The castle is set in beautiful landscaped gardens. To the front is a pond, formed from an old quarry, with a statue of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, on a small island at its centre.

Under the windows some white and purple flowers were blooming. My horticultural knowledge is limited, but I think they’re either onions, chives or garlic.

At the rear of the castle are three immaculately-trimmed croquet lawns, a rose garden, and an Edinburgh – Kyoto Friendship garden.

Edinburgh was twinned with Kyoto Prefecture in Japan in 1994, and to celebrate this relationship a garden was designed by the London-based Japanese designer Takashi Sawano and opened in August 2002.

The main feature of the garden is a traditional Japanese rock garden, above which is a small shelter which looks out over the garden towards Cramond Island in the River Forth.

Cramond Island is obscured by the trees in the garden, but walking down to the edge of Lauriston Castle‘s estate gives a much better view.

Lauriston Castle and its grounds are something of a hidden gem, but well worth a visit.

Just off the main street, St John’s Road, on Kirk Loan is Corstorphine parish church, also known as the Collegiate Church of St. John the Baptist. It is notable for its large stone roof tiles.

It was built in the late 14th century by Sir Adam Forrester, who bought the lands of Corstorphine some time after 1374. His church stood next to the 12th century St. Mary’s parish church, and the two operated side by side.

In 1634 the collegiate church was dissolved, and this building became the new parish church. St. Mary’s church was demolished in 1646 in order to extend Forrester’s church with a new north transept.

Within the churchyard some Chionodoxa Luciliae offered a rare bit of colour on an otherwise grey day.

Not far from the church, behind 22 Castle Avenue, is the site of Corstorphine Castle, which was also built by Sir Adam Forrester in the late 14th century.

Nothing now remains of the castle, the last traces of which seem to have been removed in the late 19th century. However the castle’s huge 16th century doocot still stands, in Dovecot Road of course, although today it was unfortunately surrounded by scaffolding.

Next we drove to the opposite side of Corstorphine Hill and the area of Blackhall. Here, at the bottom of the hill, is Craigcrook Castle.

Dating back to the 16th century, the castle was added extended early in the 17th century, then remodelled in the 19th century, and is now home to the Richard Demarco Archive Trust and Scottish Field magazine.

Next to Craigcrook Castle is a field that runs up onto Corstorphine Hill, providing a green oasis in a residential suburb, perfect for horses and rabbits!

Strictly-speaking it’s not a castle, but an L-plan laird’s house built on the site of an earlier castle, and incorporating elements of the older building within the fabric of its basement. It is accessed via a cul-de-sac named, imaginatively, Pilrig House Close, off Broughton Road / Bonnington Road, and sits at the end of a sleepy street of 1980s retirement housing.

Built in 1638 by an Edinburgh goldsmith named Gilbert Kirkwood, it has a rounded stair tower within the re-entrant angle between the two wings, which is topped off with a rectangular caphouse.

For over 200 years from 1718 the house was owned by the Balfour family, and in 1777 Lewis Balfour, the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson was born here. Stevenson mentions Pilrig House in two of his books, Kidnapped and Catriona.

While on one side the house is hemmed in by new developments, on the other it opens onto Pilrig Park, a sea of green in an area of mixed residential and commercial properties.

It is now run as a self-catering apartments.

We went slightly further afield for the next castle, but still not too far really. We headed down to the shore near Granton to see what could still be seen of Granton Castle.

Granton Castle dated back to at least the 15th century, possibly earlier, and existed until relatively recently. In 1928 it was a well-preserved ruin, but it was bought that year by a company who knocked it down in order to quarry away the rocky outcrop on which it stood. Part of this outcrop still survives today, and shows why a castle was sited here, with extensive views over the River Forth below.

The site is now a rather sad and neglected one, situated within a run-down industrial area with plenty of vacant plots. However despite this it is still possible to see some features from the old castle. A walled garden was laid out to the east of the castle, and a section of the north wall still stands on a mound above West Shore Road.

Another section of this wall also runs approximately north to south from the south-west corner of this garden back up the hill to the castle’s doocot, which still exists.

According to old maps and plans a section of wall to the west of the garden would originally have been bisected by the castle, and interestingly the section which corresponds with this on the ground is topped off with corrugated metal fencing rather than stones, presumably where the castle wall was removed.

One of the reasons for Granton Castle‘s ultimate demise was its purchase in 1740 by John Campbell, the 2nd Duke of Argyll. The previous year he had bought the neighbouring property, Royston House, which he renamed Caroline Park. Royston House is a grand 17th century mansion which incorporates the remains of Royston Castle within it.

Presumably Argyll bought Granton Castle to expand his estate in the area, and perhaps to acquire a picturesque ruin for his garden. But whatever the reason, by 1749 it was a ruin, and would remain that way until its destruction almost 200 years later.

With rain clouds gathering overhead, we made our way out of the undergrowth and headed for home along the River Forth, the clouds making for a dramatic sky.