City of bridges: 14 man-made crossings within a mile’s radius of Edinburgh Castle

The city centre of Edinburgh sits atop a dramatic landscape of ancient volcanic plugs, river-cut ravines and glacier-carved valleys that has formed over many millions of years.

IR20150417. 17/04/15. TSPL Shift, General view of the Scotsman Hotel, the former offices of the Scotsman newspaper on North Bridge Edinburgh. Picture Ian Rutherford ©Ian Rutherford [email protected] www.ianrutherfordphotography.com 07710337520

These obstacles have necessitated the construction of numerous man-made bridges that traverse Edinburgh’s unique topography and stitch the Scottish capital together. From the creation of the first crossings over the meandering Water of Leith to the construction of the original North Bridge in the 1770s, we take a look at more than a dozen bridges to be found within a mile’s radius of Edinburgh Castle.