Champion Anna
Champion Scottish cyclist Anna Flynn has spoken of her pride after graduating from Edinburgh Napier University.
The Team Spectra racer, who is from Edinburgh, combined her competitive career with her studies, completing a final project at the ENU-hosted Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland in the Scottish Borders as part of the Sport & Exercise Science course.
Following recent wins at the British National Mountain Bike Marathon Championship and the Scottish Student Cycling Championships, she has added another to celebrate by collecting her degree at the Usher Hall.
The 23-year-old took on her programme as a dual career student, which allows elite athletes to balance their studies at ENU with competition, and now says she is racing better than ever.
Anna said: “I’ve had a really good experience here. I loved the course and I’m proud of how everything went.
“I wanted to do something that I could balance with competing. I knew Edinburgh Napier had a reputation for accommodating athletes looking to study, but I was still surprised by how supportive the staff were.
“The first couple of years at had ups and downs when it came to racing. I had quite a few injuries, but I got a lot of support from staff to help me through it.
“Now I’d say my racing is the best it’s ever been.
“I’m one of these people who loves training. When I’m in that pattern of racing and training though, it’s good to have something else to focus on. This gave me something to do when I needed to sit down and recover.
“If you enjoy your sport, it’s definitely possible to study alongside competition. As long as you’re motivated, that’s the main thing.”
Gardening in Newtongrange
For the past month, the residents of a Midlothian village have been celebrating 150 years of horticultural heritage by planting, pruning, weeding and watering their gardens in a bid to be crowned a winner in the Newtongrange Garden Competition. And Newtongrange Community Council is now pleased to reveal the names of the green-fingered locals that stood out in this historic garden contest.
With prizes up for grabs in a number of categories including Best Garden, Best Pots and Baskets, Best Wild Garden, Best Fruit and Veg, Best Flowers and Best Young Gardener, competition to win these coveted cups was especially high this year.
Taking on the difficult role of judging the entries were Sarah Matthews of Newtongrange Community Council, Rebecca McCosh of the Newtongrange Guerrilla Gardeners and Flora Florence of Newtongrange Community Garden.
According to the judges, what made the competition even more special this year was not only the amount of thought, time and effort that the residents had invested in their gardens, but also the community spirit that was evident throughout the village, with judges commenting that some competitors has selflessly shared their knowledge and even their blooms with neighbours to help brighten up the area.
The honour of presenting the trophies this year fell to Newtongrange Gala King, Mason Thompson, and Newtongrange Community Council Chair, Jeremy Adderley, with a ceremony taking place in Newtongrange Community Garden on Saturday 5th July.
The winners of the 2025 Newtongrange Garden Competition were as follows:
- Category: Best Garden
Winner: Blair McNeil
Judges’ remarks: “This was a true hidden gem. The design was stunning and so ambitious. We loved the distinct zones and how it made us feel moving through the different spaces. It was tranquil, surprising and beautiful. And the fact it has attracted newts and other wildlife just shows that nature loves this garden too!”
- Category: Best Pots and Baskets
Winners: Graeme and Nel Sinclair
Judges’ remarks: “This garden had the wow factor! It was absolutely immaculate. There was so much colour and so many items of interest to grab attention. We loved how they evidently “thought outside the box” (excuse the pun!) when it came to pots and baskets by reimagining unusual items such as an old mangle as planters. The fact that Graeme crafted the flower wheel himself was so impressive. We also loved how they have evidently shared their gardening knowledge with neighbours.”
- Category: Best Wild Garden
Winner: Zoe Baillie
Judges’ remarks: “Zoe clearly has a deep understanding of nature and how to nurture it. Evidence of hedgehogs on the ‘Hedgehog Highway’ just shows she’s doing everything right!”
- Category: Best Fruit and Veg
Winner: Newtongrange Primary School
Judges’ remarks: “The school garden is a triumphant transformation and it keeps going from strength to strength. It is not only producing some fantastic fruit and veg, it is also providing a valuable opportunity for the children to learn where their food is coming from and for hands-on experience cultivating and caring for nature. It was especially nice to sample their strawberries and beans!”
- Category: Best Flowers
Winner: Helen Law
Judges’ remarks: “We were really touched by the stories behind Helen’s flowers and the fact she has been able to love and nurture so many of them for years and years. She had a lovely mix of colour and some unusual varieties that really stood out. We also liked how she shared blooming plants with her neighbours.”
- Category: Best Young Gardener
Winner: Oscar Bell
Judges’ remarks: “This budding gardener has a real understanding of how things grow, as shown in his recordings. Oscar has a bright future ahead of him in horticulture!”
As well as picking up a trophy, each winner also took home a prize kindly donated by a local business including The Dean Tavern, Be Happy Performing Arts Company, Kaya’s Café, Pastel Bakery, National Mining Museum Scotland and The Sun Inn.
Free houseplants
Visit Central Library on Wednesday 16 July and take home a houseplant along with your library books.
Central Library has been hosting the Living Knowledge Network’s ‘Unearthed’ exhibition, now at Leith Library. A spokesperson said: “We encourage our visitors to learn about the ‘power of gardening’ through library displays, books available to borrow and events. It’s the last few weeks of our Central Library gardening staircase exhibition – so please do drop by for a look – and to continue with these events, we are offering you the chance to grow your own houseplant!
“Houseplants are proven to reduce stress, improve well-being and impact air quality. They can be easy to grow and can take little time and effort to keep them thriving. That is the case with both the spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) and the mother fern (Asplenium ‘Parvati’).”
Go to Central Library’s George Washington Browne Room on the Mezzanine from 10 to noon or from 2 to 4pm on Wednesday 16 July 2025 to pot up your free spider plant or mother fern and take it home to grow and thrive.
You could also enter the library’s ‘Unearthed Edinburgh’ photography competition with a picture of your new plant.
Looking for more gardening inspiration? Browse the Gardening in Edinburgh resources guide(with a focus on community and wildlife) – and of course, drop by your local library to borrow some of the many helpful gardening books.
Looking back in time with The Old Edinburgh Club
On 12 July in 1698, a fleet of five ships set sail from the Port of Leith for the Isthmus of Darien in Panama; the ships were launching the Darien Scheme, a project which aimed to establish a Scottish overseas colony in the New World to rival those of England and Spain; the scheme was to prove a disaster and caused the ruin of dozens of businessmen and landowners who had invested in the project; the main consequence was the subsequent Union between Scotland and England. And in 1838, the Reverend John Jamieson, lexicographer, philologist, and antiquary, died in a house in George Square.
Historic Environment Scotland say this about the Darien Scheme
Visit Redhall Walled Garden on Saturday
The Redhall Walled Garden is used as a therapy base by the mental health charity, SAMH. It is at risk of closure due to the multi-million funding cuts for 60+ third sector bodies being proposed by the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board who will next meet in August under their new Chair, Cllr Tim Pogson.
The programme Thrive Edinburgh receives funding from the EIJB but with a £30-50 million shortfall in their funding EIJB say they have to make cuts.
The problem is that the organisation has a budget of £900 million and it is tinkering about with small amounts to organisations such as SAMH and these small third sector organisations produce more return on the investment than it is possible to measure. If someone is “trained” in the garden it is likely that they will not require medication – or as much medication as they might otherwise need.
Alex Cumming is SAMH’s Director of Delivery and Service Development. He said: Redhall Walled Garden has been changing and saving people’s lives for decades through the support our skilled and compassionate team provides on a daily basis.
“We’re gravely concerned for the future of this vital service and for the people with mental health problems we support.
“The proposals to cut most of Edinburgh’s community mental health support will be catastrophic if voted through by the IJB.
“The services at risk support thousands of people with mental health problems who will be forced to look for help elsewhere, resulting in significant pressure on an already over-stretched system and causing longer wait times for support.
“This is a short-sighted move which will cost more money in the long-term and harm Edinburgh’s mental health.”
