It looked very brooding standing under the black skies of Edinburgh, at the foot of Arthur’s Seat within Holyrood Park, but there was no mistaking the charged atmosphere amongst the tens of thousands of people that had gathered; to take part in the largest Scottish Independence march to take to the streets of Scotland yet.

There were, bikers, buskers, bairns; Mum’s and Dad’s, couples, sisters, brothers and we best not forget about the dogs. They came from all over Scotland and beyond, Old Scots and New Scots; with one thing uniting them all, Independence for Scotland.

The March which started in Holyrood Park; snaked itself through the Canongate past Holyrood Palace and up the full length of the Royal Mile over George IV Bridge, ending in The Meadows. The Marchers were met with  the sound of applause and encouragement from the many hundreds of onlookers that crowded the pavements on both sides along the way; many of whom would ask folks in the crowd if they could stop so their pictures could be taken, or just purely to shake hands.

When the vast crowds which at it’s peak was estimated at 200 thousand people or more; reached The Meadows they were met by a stage with a line up which included Janey Godley and Hardeep Singh Kohli with speeches from Peter Bell, Joanna Cherry QC MP, Tommy Sheppard MP, WG Saraband, and music from The Romains, Reely Jiggered and the Saor Alba Pipes and Drums to name but 9 of the 20 guests who roused the sodden onlookers, not to mention a little added heat from the flaming pipes below.

The weather may have been minging but the future is very bright according to those that took part in Saturday’s March.

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