Hordes of mourners, well-wishers and young people personally affected by the Manchester terror attack have marked the week since the tragedy by flocking to an unofficial memorial to the dead and injured.
The usually bustling St Ann's Square has become a sombre focal point for outpourings of grief - where hundreds of floral bouquets cover the plaza, alongside teddy bears, football scarves, and poignant hand-written notes for the 22 dead, all sprinkled with a fresh coat of summer rain.
For many, the memorial represented the end of a journey they would never have wanted to make but knew they had to.
Read more: Manchester out in strength to watch runners defy the threat of terrorism
Eliot Leeming, 20, was among those visiting St Ann's Square after his brother Jonathan was caught up in the blast, at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on Monday.
He said there was a nervous wait of up to 45 minutes before he was able to get confirmation his 17-year-old brother escaped uninjured.
Mr Leeming said: "I'm here for the families who lost somebody.
"My brother was at the gig and there was a period where we didn't hear from him, which was obviously really worrying.
"So I'm just really grateful I'm not mourning my dead brother."
Festival worker Mr Leeming, from Rossendale, near Blackburn, said: "It was really scary - my girlfriend was scrolling down her phone and saw a bomb had gone off.
"It was really hard knowing what to believe, looking on Facebook it was really scary.
"It was half-hour, 45 minutes 'til we got hold of him and obviously during that time it was really scary.
Read more: Manchester out in strength to watch runners defy the threat of terrorism
"We felt nothing but relief, and I can't imagine what some of the families felt.
"He's so shocked and he feels so bad for those who have been affected."
He said the response to the tragedy was typical of the city and its people.
He said: "It brings out the best in people when tragedy happens and I think Manchester's done an amazing job."
Helen Hayward, who has lived in Manchester for seven years, said she was proud to call the city home in the wake of the tragedy.
The 25-year-old said: "I've heard stories about people opening their doors to victims, offering free lifts. It makes me really proud to live here and be part of such a strong community.
"It's very sombre, people are very quiet and respectful.
"Normally it's just a typical city area, hustling, bustling. A very different atmosphere today.
Read more: Manchester out in strength to watch runners defy the threat of terrorism
"I think it's respectful and remembering it, but also a defiance and continuing to be normal and not be defeated by it."
Her boyfriend, James Byrne, said he was taken aback by how the "impressive" memorial had been added to, hour by hour.
The 28-year-old said: "We came here a few days ago and put some tealights down, and the way it's grown since then - words can't describe.
"People bringing flowers even now, adding to it, it's just remarkable.
"I've seen the football scarves on each other, United and City, showing they are together.
"The names on the balloons is quite hard hitting."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here