Happy Father’s Day – Coronation Meadows – Today at the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling – Hearts need you – Stockbridge Market
Happy Father’s Day to all of you happy dads out there. We rather like this Lego video!
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Coronation Meadows is a project to mark the 60th anniversary of HM The Queen’s coronation in 1953. It is the brainchild of HRH The Prince of Wales.
In Scotland we have a few meadows, but none in Edinburgh itself. The nearest is at St Abb’s Head and this is what the Coronation Meadows website says about it:- “Cradled in in a rugged landscape – formed by volcanoes 400 million years ago – lies one of the best examples of a maritime grassland in Scotland. In early summer the meadow is full of flowers: rock-rose mixes with wild thyme, attracting the rare Northern Brown Argus butterfly, who eats the former as caterpillars and drinks the latter for nectar. St Abb’s Head is also a major stop-off site for migrant seabirds and thousands can be seen nesting on the cliffs hereabouts. The site is named after St. Ebba, who in 6th century, established a chapel in area.”
Do you think there should be a Coronation Meadow? If so , where?
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Today at the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling (which has the best website!) this is the programme:-
All day: Photography exhibition: Monumental Motion Exhibition. In this unique photo exhibition, photographer and urban mobility expert Mikael Colville-Andersen highlights 50 photographs that define a cycling life in The City of Cyclists. In association with the Danish Embassy, hosted by The Hub. Entry Free. Starts 10:00 Finish 17:00
All day: a celebration of the bicycle on video. For the nine days of the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling we will be showing a collection of short films on the Big Screen in Festival Square. These films will cover a wide range of different aspects of of cycling, there will be something there for everyone. Free
Morning: Ride Forth Road Bridge Unicycle Challenge join 10-year-old Brianna as she unicycles across the Forth Road Bridge over the Firth of Forth. Brianna is a Climate Justice Ambassador, she is doing this to raise money for planting 2,500 trees with Plant-for-the-Planet to combat the climate crisis and secure a future for her generation. Families welcome to cycle across with Brianna, on one wheel or two (but no tall bikes). Ride Starts 10.30, South Queensferry.
Morning: Ride The Edinburgh Lochs and Castles Tour: lead by Le Tour – Edinburgh A two hour tour using the Edinburgh cycle paths network. A gentle ride with historical commentary and a break in the pub. We visit the Innocent Tunnel, Craigmillar Castle, Dr Neil’s Garden, The Sheep Heid Inn, Duddingston Loch, The Palace of Holyroodhouse, The Scottish Parliament and Our Dynamic Earth. Adult/standard price ticket £20 for bike hire and tour, £6 if you b.y.o bike. Starts 11:00 book here.
Afternoon: Edinburgh’s Hills Ride: A 26 mile tour, taking in Calton Hill, Holyrood Park – circling Arthur’s Seat, Craigmillar Castle, Braid Hills, Easter Craiglockhart and Corstorphine Hills, and Ravelston Woods. The effort is rewarded by the commanding views over Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth. 2,900 feet of ascent and descent. Lead by Storybikes £20 (£15 Concession). Suitable for adults & older children. Starts 13:30, finish around 18:00. Book here.
Afternoon: Ride The Edinburgh Lochs and Castles Tour: lead by Le Tour – Edinburgh. See above for details. Starts 14:00 book here.
Afternoon: Photography exhibition: From the Tour De France to Mountain High. Capturing the moment as the action unfolds along with candid photos from behind the scenes. Pete Goding, Freelance Sports photographer and best selling author of “Mountain High” (finalists for best illustrated sports book 2012). Working closely with the Press Association showcases his work with national newspapers and magazines, capturing some of the most iconic moments in professional cycling in recent years. Featuring photos from “Le Tour” and “Mountain High”, along with previously unseen photography from his forthcoming book “Mountain Higher”. In association with and hosted by Newhaven Agency, 77 Montgomery Street, Edinburgh, EH7 5HZ. Entry Free. Starts 12.00 Finish 16.00.
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Hearts Football Club are in a bad financial position. This is not surprising at all given the state of many clubs across Scotland and England. The board issued a statement earlier in the week, and the club has appealed to all supporters to buy a season ticket to help assure the club’s future.
Due to recent unexpected circumstances away from Tynecastle, the club is now experiencing a shortfall in funding.This shortfall, due to recent uncertainty, has created a significant noticeable blockage in projected revenue streams for the club.
While this hesitation is understandable it is unwittingly damaging the club’s current efforts to improve its financial situation including current payments to HMRC and raising doubts over future payments to players and staff.
It is now crucial to the football club that we find a solution to bring in enough finance to allow us to trade into the new season when normal trading can resume with the benefit of SPL and game-related income streams. The payments to HMRC and players/staff salaries are the most important issues in our focus these days where very limited time remains available to the club.
However given that the revenues for season tickets has dried up and no other realistic income is available quickly enough, the club will consider offers for the players of the current squad, including the most promising talent in order for the most necessary and important payments to be made. The board had planned to bring income in through the sale of players while considering the financial forecast for next season but now this will need to happen much earlier in order to preserve the business. We understand that this will lead to significant on-field pressure but at all times we must consider the health of the club and preserve it for future generations.
We will adjust our expectations for the new season accordingly but will still be focused on the playing side of the business. Our financial deficit can, in part, be attributed to our worst league finish in over 30 years last season. This had a significant direct impact on the business. Other factors that hit revenues include the absence of Rangers Football Club from the SPL and significantly increased stadium costs particularly in relation to the Main Stand.
The biggest threat to the club at present however is hesitation and inaction. We hope that those supporters who have purposely held off will reconsider and make the decision to back the club in the best way possible in order that we can meet our targets.
Provided we can achieve security for the club, it is the view of the board that there is a viable strategy for the change of ownership to a willing buyer or investor.
The most difficult part in this is finding an agreement with the creditors, however we know that there is goodwill with Ukio Bankas, as demonstrated by the statement from the Ukio Bankas administrator yesterday. We also believe that UBIG remains supportive of Hearts.
We will be regularly updating you as the situation develops.
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Stockbridge Market takes place today from 10:00am till 5:00pm. Perhaps a good place to take your father to get him something nice to eat and drink?
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
