Even without a European football championship and the build-up to the Olympic Games in London, it rarely captures sporting headlines, but each year members of the Royal Company of Archers participate in the one of the oldest fixtures in the sporting calendar.
The Royal Company of Archers, the Soverign's bodyguard in Scotland, was founded in 1676. Since the magistrates of Edinburgh presented the Company with a silver arrow in 1709, the archers have held an annual midsummer competition.
Long bows are the weapon of choice, with competitors, dressed in distinctive green uniforms, shooting arrows at targets or "clouts" at either end of a 180 yard range in the Meadows.
This year's Edinburgh Arrow winner, after a final shoot-off, was our own Allan Alstead, pictured above receiving the silver arrow from the Lord Provost. It was the first time that the former officer of the City of Edinburgh Regiment - The King's Own Scottish Borderers, has won the competition.
More on the Edinburgh Arrow
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