- Edinburgh Schools Closure updates
- Fountainbridge Street Food Fridays
- Urban Detectives
- Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th birthday
- Craigentinny & Telferton allotments saved – for the moment
There were many updates posted to the City of Edinburgh Council website yesterday afternoon. Many more children are now back ‘in education’ which may or may not mean they are back in their own school building.
Priority has been given to older children who have exams soon, and to those who attend Edinburgh’s special schools.
You can read more about the contingency plans here.
“We have now put in place alternative education arrangements for the majority of pupils, and work continues to identify alternative options for other primary and S1 to S3 pupils. We will communicate to parents as soon as we have further information.
“I fully recognise the significant inconvenience to parents caused by these closures and I want to thank them for their patience as we continue to work through this issue. I’m sure they understand the steps we have taken to ensure the safety of their children.
“The SQA have been very supportive to our situation and I must thank them for the steps they have taken regarding verification and examining visits and help with additional resources.
“I also want to pay tribute again to the response from the organisations, both public and private sector, who have come forward with offers of help and accommodation – most recently Historic Environment Scotland who have today agreed to give a tour of Edinburgh Castle for the children of Rowanfield Special School.”
The programme of structural surveys arranged by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership is continuing this week.
The Council will update parents directly, via text message, the Council website (www.edinburgh.gov.uk/schoolclosures) and via the Council Twitter @Edinburgh_CC as soon as information becomes available.
Parents in Edinburgh looking for educational activities to keep their children entertained and sharp over this unexpected break, can look no further as Explore Learning centres in Westfield Road and Craigleith Road are opening their doors for a day of free literacy workshops running at 12:30pm and 14:30pm on Monday the 18th April.
The workshops will be focused on creative writing and all children in the local community that have been affected by the school closures are welcome, giving them the opportunity to enjoy some interactive learning. Staff will also be on hand to offer support and advice to parents who are looking for guidance on what they can do at home with their children until they return to school.
The one hour sessions are scheduled as follows in both centres:
- 12.30–13.30 for 5-8 year olds
- 14.30–15.30 for 9-14 year olds
Workshops operate on a first come first served basis so parents keen to book a slot for their child must do so in advance. Please contact your nearest centre to book a space you can reach the Blackhall Centre in Craigleith Road on 0131 332 3300. Or call The Explore Learning Murrayfield Centre on 0131 337 7401.
Fridays are now going to taste even better with the launch tomorrow of Fountainbridge Street Food Fridays. This is a new foodie event organised by the family business behind Stockbridge Market along with their partners CBRE Properties and Re-Union Canal Boats.
From 11am till 7pm there will be a range of street food available at the Canal basin including food from Babu Bombay Kitchen, Flat Out Food, Umami Spice Girl, Creperie @ the Market, Bearded Barista, Orinoco Latin Food, Opsono and Alplings.
Beth Berry the owner of At the Market who will organise Street Food Fridays said: “The start of the Union Canal is a great space – and we want to bring something fresh and exciting to the area. We think there will be no better place to get that Friday feeling than from our delicious, local hot food traders.
“We can’t wait to bring attention to a wonderful underused local area and welcome everyone. Fridays are a great day to celebrate, and we hope to see everyone from families to workers stopping by.”
Fountainbridge Street Food Fridays launches on Friday 15th April 2016 with a big celebration. Visitors to the Street Food Market will be able to have free 15 minute canal boat rides from 12-2pm while they eat their street food lunches, as well as enjoying music from local musicians, tasters and discounts. The street food market will be open 11am – 7pm and is open to all.
Local residents are being asked to get hands on with history by taking part in a nationwide initiative to record the littlest local landmarks in Scotland’s towns and cities.
The initiative comes from Scotland’s Urban Past (SUP), a five-year community-engagement project from Historic Environment Scotland that puts communities in charge of recording the history on their doorsteps, and is part of the celebrations for the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016.
Volunteers can become ‘Urban Detectives’ by submitting photographs and location coordinates of Edinburgh’s tiny buildings to the SUP website. Users are also invited to take measurements and sketches, all of which will become part of Canmore, Scotland’s online record of architecture, archaeology and industry.
This national record is a digital time machine, holding images and information about more than 320,000 sites in Scotland. But with many places still to be recorded for future generations, SUP is turning to local Urban Detectives to help fill in the gaps – starting with the smallest sites in Auld Reekie.
Queen Mary’s Bath House, built in the 16th century in the gardens of Holyrood Palace, is just one of the many tiny sites to be investigated by Urban Detectives. Despite its name, this curious, asymmetrical building was most likely to have been a garden pavilion rather than a bath house. The peculiarly-shaped summer house lies on the east side of Abbeyhill and is believed to be the earliest surviving garden building in Scotland.
Other small structures for Edinburgh-based Urban Detectives to investigate include watch towers built to protect burial grounds against grave robbers in the days of Burke and Hare, and the sedan chair house in Tweeddale Court – possibly the smallest listed building in Edinburgh. This stone built shed is a rare survivor of the Georgian period and once stored sedan chairs – enclosed cabins carried on poles by two bearers. For those who could afford them, sedan chairs provided a quick and efficient way of travelling around the city.
Chiara Ronchini, SUP Project Manager, said: “People throughout Scotland will be bringing our national collection to life by telling the big stories of our tiniest buildings.”
“Our dedicated digital team have made it easy to contribute information to Canmore on mobiles and tablets, as well as PCs and Macs, so you can even add a snapshot of local landmarks such as police boxes on your way to work.”
“Every contribution will be accessible to the wider public, helping to build a detailed and accessible history of our urban heritage by the people who live within it. It’s a great opportunity to help document the Borders, past and present, for generations to come.”
SUP provides free training, support and resources to people of all ages to help them discover and share the fascinating stories of Scotland’s towns and cities.
Free workshops for Urban Detectives will be taking place throughout Scotland. For more information, visit www.scotlandsurbanpast.org.uk.
Her Majesty the Queen celebrates her 90th birthday next Thursday 21 April. There will be many ways of marking the day across the UK and the Commonwealth, and here in Edinburgh we have our own.
There will be a 21 gun salute from Edinburgh Castle at 12 noon.
We are promised a spectacular fireworks display which will take place at The Royal Yacht Britannia on Thursday 21st April at 9pm.
The Palace of Holyroodhouse will open a new exhibit called Fashioning a Reign : 90 years of Style from The Queen’s Wardrobe. This will run till October so you will have plenty of time to see it, and it is the largest display of The Queen’s outfits ever staged. There will be over 150 outfits on display across all three of the Royal Collection’s palaces, with pieces from Sir Norman Hartnell, Sir Hardy Amies and Ian Thomas. We are getting a wee preview on Wednesday next week and will bring you the news about the exhibition next Thursday morning.
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[mc4wp_form id=”169103″]The allotments at Craigentinny and Telferton have been given a reprieve – at least for now.
The 1.4 hectare site has been allotments since 1923 but it is owned by a house builder and they have applied for housing with a smattering of allotments. The planning officers recommended refusal and the committee agreed with them.
Read more about the meeting’s decision here.
One of the deputations was delivered by Geoff Pearson on behalf of Craigentinny & Meadowbank Community Council. He said: “I described the allotment site as a “Hand-made, home-grown hidden gem” at the hearing of Avant Homes planning application to build 28 houses on the site.
“The public gallery was packed with over 50 allotment holders and many had to stand all round the Committee room. After hearing the developers’ presentation one Councillor asked how replacing 85 full-size allotments with 42 half-size plots could be seen as an improvement for the community.”
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