Marchers on the mound

Dobermans against poverty: Even the dogs have got the message. Photograph: Neil Mcintosh

The march is supposed to start an hour ago, and the locals are gathering expectantly at the foot of the Mound - the road that winds down from Edinburgh's Old Town to the New Town, past the rather grand Royal Scottish Academy and National Gallery of Scotland.

A public march is a slighly curious thing to come and watch - it is, after all, other folk just marching past, and everyone there could actually join in. But, alas, there wasn't much to see. Just lots of police, a robotic dancer moving to Kraftwerk on a very quiet bit of pavement behind everyone, a helicopter high above, and each other.

And then, suddenly, the protesters hove into view. First came the photographers, running backwards. Then the placards - thousands upon thousands being borne by the white t-shirt clad crowd, many with the Make Poverty History slogan but lots of others highlighting how a patchwork of beliefs and aspirations has gathered under the anti-poverty banner.