The tourist buses of Edinburgh had a surprise treat on Sunday as a sizeable crowd gathered in Hunter Square for the Critical Mass demonstration against the oncoming war. Bicycles, banners, whistles and drums made a peaceful march up to the Hub at the top of the Royal Mile, and massed there for a time, before turning around. A traffic-stopping trail was blazed across the Bridges and along Waterloo Place, coming to a loud crescendo as near to the American Consulate as the numerous and luminous police would allow.

The atmosphere was colourful and relaxed, with a nice variety of middle-aged ladies, students, kids, hippies, the odd professor and a few professionals. Everyone there seemed to have a good time, and the crowd did grow noticeably bigger as the march progressed. It was a bit directionless at times - mainly due to the "spontaneous" nature of the gathering - and many of the crowd seemed confused as to what was going on. Noticeably, too, it was preaching only to the converted: no-one was enticed out of Starbucks, and mostly only bemused looks and a few beeps on car horns emanated from passers by.

Nevertheless, even if it didn't get Tony Blair overly worried, it certainly made a visible and audible impression on Edinburgh's Sunday traffic. The letter presented to the consulate, and the racket made outside it, will have made a few ears prick up. It was a small and colourful blip in Edinburgh's normal routine, and a happy one at that.

Kate