Fifty is a big number, so it feels appropriate to mark the 50th edition of the magazine with some reflections on its history from those involved in its earlier days. In our first feature, Adam Swan, the magazine’s editor for many years and former Chair of the Society, details the publication’s history and his experiences in preparing it for print.

The second feature looks at the lead-up to Edinburgh’s first council housing of the late 19th and early 20th century. The challenges experienced by ordinary people at that time and the reticence of the council are sadly still very familiar. What are the solutions? Self-build, discussed by Natasha Huq in our third feature, might be an option. As she points out, however, the skills, energy and finances needed are too much of a barrier for many. But the political climate and planning systems are changing, and community-led collective self-build may be the way forward.

The Spotlight feature explores the Kerr family’s post-war response to their ownership of a rambling country pile, Monteviot House. Unusually, rather than offering it to the nation, letting it crumble, or demolishing it, they commissioned the architect Schomberg Scott to modernise it.