Salisbury Crags is the rocky escarpment above Edinburgh that links two stages of Dexter Mayhew’s life. First looming over a July morning spent with Emma Morley, it later becomes the destination of a father-daughter climb with Jasmine Mayhew. The familiar ascent turns a landscape associated with the past into a physical test of Dexter’s place in the present.

Setting and approach

The Crags rise at the end of Rankeillor Street, overlooking the surrounding streets and estate. From there, the route leads towards Arthur’s Seat through Holyrood Park. The landmark is visible from the ordinary residential setting below: when Dexter shows Jasmine the flat where Emma used to live, she notices the escarpment beyond it and asks what it is.

An outing with Emma

On a hazy July morning, the Crags loom ahead as Emma and Dexter step outside together. Emma asks whether they are really going to climb them; Dexter encourages her by saying that even a child could manage it. The exchange makes the ascent a shared undertaking, with Dexter’s confidence setting the tone for their departure.

A later climb with Jasmine

Years later, Dexter identifies the Crags to Jasmine and suggests that they try the climb. In Holyrood Park, his seven-and-a-half-year-old daughter makes her way up the path with much more energy than he has, stopping to laugh back at him as he wheezes and sweats below. Dexter blames his lack of grip on his shoes, but they leave the main path, scramble over rocks, and eventually reach the scrubby, rust-coloured plateau at the top of Arthur’s Seat.

At the summit, a stone column marks the highest point. Dexter inspects the names and messages scratched into it, half hoping to find his own initials among them. The climb thus ends not in a recovered memory but in a present-tense encounter: Jasmine has the energy to lead, while Dexter is left looking for a trace of himself in the marks left by others.