Influential local worthies: John Ross

After a South Korean friend had drawn my attention to John Ross (1842-1915) I picked up on an event in Newington Cemetery earlier this month.  It celebrated 100 years since his translation of the New Testament Bible into Korean and the event attracted the Cardinal and the Moderator (post here).

I note an article at ThinkScotland which gives more of the background of this influential man who was an elder at Mayfield United Free Church.  Successor church Mayfield Salisbury has an appreciation on their website.

Grange Loan closure for BBC

From 10am today (31st May) to the eary hours of tomorrow Grange Loan will be closed between Kilgraston Road and Whitehouse Loan to enable the BBC to take a few shots for Pramface.

Plan for Nicolson Street/Clerk Street

A town centre coordinator has been appointed with responsibility for encouraging the regeneration of the Newington corridor.  Graham Russell has been employed by the Economic Development Department to revitalise the area, strengthen the sense of community and improve relationships of those with a stake in the environs.

The strategy can be found here (see appendix), and a current update can be found in this report (paras 3:25 - 3:30), whilst a summary article can be found here.  Graham Russell, who covers Stockbridge and Tollcross as well, can be contacted on 529 3507.

Historic Scotland misconduct probe

Two members of staff of locally based Historic Scotland have been suspended as part of an investigation into misconduct.

Historic Scotland is based in Salisbury Place (picture above) though the two members of staff, described as 'senior' in this Evening News report, are based at their Newcraighall office.

Winning run: Carlton dump Watsonians

Carlton's Ali Evans

Grange Loan team Carlton defeated Watsonians at the weekend, continuing an unbeaten run which keeps them at the top of the Scottish cricket premiership.

Details on their website here and in the Scotsman sports pages.

"To see oursels as ithers see us!"

Robert Burns (post title)

As the peak tourist season approaches I have been struck (helped by exploring the features of a new phone) by how our area is viewed by visitors and newcomers to Edinburgh.  One cannot help but be moved by the positive view so many express of the features of our city which we should resist taking for granted.


And so, here is a short article written by Kristin Innes published yesterday on The List  site which surveys Newington (she means the area north of Salisbury Road).

Source of post title here.

Religion in schools exchange

An exchange in the columns of the Evening News may be of interest to some.

It began with an anonymous article from a 'concerned parent' arguing that there is too much religion in non-denominational schools in Edinburgh. 

I responded suggesting a 'religion free' position is was simply another world-view which should not necessarily have precedence.

A correspondent responded suggesting I was being one-dimensional in advocating a religious observance component in school education.

I responded yesterday noting the desire to remove religion from schools is actually a more one-dimensional view and that we should not be seeking a lowest common denominator. Co-existence with respect is preferable.

Enjoy.

Wind debris cleared quickly

Meadows tree

Branches have generally been cleared promptly after the storm last week end. Around 150 calls were received about fallen trees or boughs.  There was a lighting column in Whitehouse Loan seriously damaged.

Whilst some fallen trees still remain (where they are not causing a problem), I agree with a correspondent to the Evening News today who compliments those who have cleared up promptly.  Thank you. Link here (see last paragraph of first letter).

". . . I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the council on its speedy response to the havoc caused by Monday's terrible storms, and how the toppled trees were cut up and removed so quickly."
M Gray, Craigleith, Edinburgh 

Stephen Green scales Everest

A 24 year old Newington man reached the summit of Mount Everest yesterday.  Stephen Green tackled the highest mountain in the world as part of an Adventure Peaks expedition which reached the summit in the early hours of yesterday morning (UK time).

Stephen is suffering a spot of high altitude pulmonary edema but is making progress on his descent. More details:

• Adventure Peaks Dispatch  (See 26th May entry)
• Stephen Green's website
• Evening News report

Radio Lollipop wins award

Here are details of an award won by the Radio lollipop volunteers at the Sick Kids Hospital in Sciennes.

The award was in the Volunteer Team section of the Edinburgh volunteering awards.

Update: Death of Betty Brown

Betty Brown on left with her sister

Here is the Crimewatch update on the suspicious death of Betty Brown, whose last confirmed sighting was in Nicolson Street on 28th May 2010.  Now police believe she was seen talking to a man on a bus later in the day.

• Previous post here
• Crimewatch appeal here  - including video and background details of her life and friends.

Weather: more trees down

Hill Square

After gales in February we have now had another storm which has unhinged a few slates and tipped over a few trees.

Here is a bough broken off yesterday afternoon with below a poor pic of a Japanese cherry taken in the Meadows this morning.  More info here.

Japanese cherry

Nicolson Street: Crimewatch appeal

Betty Brown

Since 11th June last year this blog has followed the mystery of the disappearance and death of Betty Brown who was last seen getting off a number 3 bus in Nicolson Street on 28th May 2010.  Her body was found in January this year in Cumbria and a cause of death has not been established.

The case is featured on Crimewatch tonight at 9pm.  More details here.

Carlton triumph over Edinburgh rivals

English and Gilmour

Grange Loan based Carlton Cricket Club posted an emphatic win over Grange Cricket Club (Raeburn Place) at the week end.  The margin was nine wickets with Cedric English and Stevie Gilmour running up 203 in their second wicket partnership.

Details here.  Carlton lead the Premiership.

Grange Loan cricket success

Carlton Cricket Club (home ground Grange Loan) are currently top of the Scottish National Cricket League.

That position will be tested when they take on Grange Cricket club (home ground Raeburn Place, not in the Grange) today.

Grange rental prices spurt

Edinburgh has overtaken Aberdeen as the most expensive place to rent property and the Grange has proved to be a hotspot in the last few months.

More information here.

Ward road resurfacing programme

Parts of Melville Terrace, Findhorn Place, Grange Loan Gardens and Kirkhill Road are scheduled for resurfacing in the remainder of May and June.

There will be parking restrictions to allow the machinery access.

Ascham Court for new street name?

The lodge in Boroughloch

The Southside is to get a new street name for the courtyard being created behind Archers' Hall in Buccleuch Street.  The proposed name is Ascham Court. Below is the reasoning.  The decision has not yet been finalised and any views - or suitable alternatives - will be welcomed.

The suggestion for this name was put forward by The Royal Company of Archers who own the land the new development is being built on. The new street is being formed within the grounds of their headquarters at Archers' Hall which is a listed building. An ascham is a cupboard or case used to contain bows and other implements of archery. The lodge on the corner of this site was knows as the Ascham Building and the locker room on the first floor the Ascham Room. The lodge is being incorporated into the new development and the Royal Company have requested that the name is not lost to the site. The name was originally derived from Roger Ascham who was an eminent exponent of archery in Elizabethan times.

Bomb Squad in Mentone

A vintage fire extinguisher was the cause of a bomb alert in Mentone Terrace.  Electricians discovered a football sized container in the attic of a flat there.   More details in the article here which states:

The Selfac fire deterrent, believed to have been manufactured in 1941, is basically a cardboard canister holding bicarbonate of soda and a central explosive charge. Hung in roof spaces, they were deployed to contain blazes by dispersing fire retardant powder over the flames having been triggered by intense heat.

New writer-in-residence for University

Novelist Alan Warner has been appointed as writer-in-residence at Edinburgh University.

Previous holders of the post have included Sorley Maclean and Liz Lochhead.

More details here.

Mosque Kitchen key role solving murder

Mohammed Akbar made a key identification of the accused Robert Chalmers who was convicted of murder earlier this week. Police investigating the disappearance of Samantha Wright eventually traced a CCTV image of the her with an unknown man.

The manager of the Mosque Kitchen recognised the male who had frequented his premises and contacted the police.  Police raided his address and found the body of Samantha Wright.  Chalmers had obtained free food from the restaurant and, at one stage, worked as a handyman in the nearby car park.

Full story here and here, including the following quote from Akbar.

"Chalmers used to come to the kitchen and we would give him free food and coffee because we felt sorry for him.  We thought he was homeless. He was hanging around for a few months . . ."

St Margaret's may become nursing home

Four Seasons Health Care are submitting a planning application for the main campus at the East Sufflok Road site.  They intend to create a nursing home.  More details here.

The proposals for a Muslim community centre are likely to be superseded if this planning application is successful.

Update 2300hrs:  It is suggested in the comments below that the Iqra proposals and the Four Seasons proposals relate to differing buildings.  I haven't had a chance to speak to the Iqra people in the past few weeks and I' m not sure when they last updated their website but

• a quick comparison between the Iqra website and the Four Seasons planning application (11/01375/FUL) does suggest the same buildings.
• Last I heard the Iqra plans were dependant on raising the necessary purchase price.  It is not clear if they have reached that yet.

In short, more clarification needed.

Business awards at Prestonfield

Allister Langlands won the main prize

The Scottish Business Achievement Awards Trust presented awards to a range of Scottish businessmen this week at the Prestonfield House Hotel.

Speakers included James Naughtie of the BBC Today programme.  See here for more details

Bogus workman - Blackwood Crescent

About 3pm on Wednesday (11th May) a man, claiming to be from the 'Water Board', tricked his way into a house in Blackwood Crescent and stole money.

For a description and further details see here.

Drama: prisoner escape from St Leonard's

Yesterday morning a prisoner escaped from custody just outside St Leonard's Police Station.  A short time later a young lady in her car was stopped in Holyrood Park Road and her car was taken from her and a police pursuit ensued. The vehicle was later crashed in the Leith Links area.

A man was arrested.  That is the shortened version.  Oh, and a Reliance security officer was injured and a local councillor's daughter was the young lady mentioned.  Find more of the event here and here.

Technical: normal service resumed

Blogger is the fifth top ranked site in the world - at least for traffic.  For the last 24 hours it has been plagued with problems.  This blog is a blogger blog so, although most posts were visible, recent posts were removed from view and I have been unable to update since yesterday afternoon.  A few of my recent posts seem to have been lost.

Normal service is now resumed.

Buccleuch St footway and lighting upgrade

Buccleuch St at Boroughloch

On Monday (16th) work is scheduled to begin on upgrading the footpaths in Buccleuch Street.  There will also be work done at the same time replacing and repositioning some lamp posts.

Depending on weather and circumstances the work may take up to 10 weeks.  There will be parking restrictions in the vicinity of the work.

Trees in the Meadows

Some have expressed concern about the loss of 32 trees in the Meadows in the last year.  Three were blown down by storms and most of the remainder were lost to Dutch elm disease.   Hardly any replacements are due this year - though two will be planted by the organisers of the Taste festival.

These losses need to be put into context.  The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links has over 1150 trees and in recent years there has been replanting - though not as many as have been lost.

More background can be found on Meadows trees below:

• The effect of wind and trees
• Table of trees in Meadows area (in need of updating)
• Meadows wood used for furniture
• Storm February 2011
  

Reduction in helicopter flights

I receive a number of complaints from people in the ward disturbed by helicopters overhead.

The collapse of Lothian Helicopters, reported here, may lead to a reduction in such complaints.

Jail for Livingston Place man

Yeoman Smith was sentenced to 25 months in prison earlier this week.

Last month he was convicted of possession of over half a million images of child pornography.

More details here, here, and here.

History of Newington tour

There is a Walk and Talk history tour next Wednesday (18th) lifting the lid on fascinating aspects of the Newington/Grange area.  Ian MacDonald is the guide and he will be including information on the infamous Dr Robert Knox (Burke and Hare), Arthur Conan Doyle's model for Sherlock Holmes and many others.

More details here and here.

20mph pilot to be amended and extended

June 3rd has been set as the final date for comments/objections on the plan to extend the 20mph zone in much of the ward.  Following consultation on the previous proposal, it was found there were calls for some of the streets within the area, initially left as 30mph, to have the speed limit reduced to 20mpph there as well.

The additional streets affected are:

• Ratcliffe Terr/Causewayside from West Mayfield northwards to West preston Street
• Esslemont Road - West Mains Road - Blackford Avenue - sections of Oswald Road and Grange Loan linking to Kilgraston Road - Kilgraston Road - Marchmont Road
• Church Hill - south section of Greenhill Gardens 0 Strathearn Place - Strathearn Road -Beaufort Road - Grange Road

Details can be found here under TRO/11/17

Crimewatch called in over mystery death

Betty Brown, who was last seen alive getting off a No 3 bus in Nicolson Street on Friday 28th May last year, was found on January 18th near Longtown in Cumbria. 

Her badly decomposed body meant that cause of death could not be established and police are now looking to Crimewatch to help solve the mystery.  Her case will be featured in the programme on 26th May.

More details here - previous posts here and here and here

Odeon planning decision delayed again

Consideration of Duddingston House Property's proposals for the Odeon  site in Clerk Street was scheduled on the Planning Committee agenda.

Following last week's issue of the Planning Department's report and recommendation (to refuse the application), DHP had made representation to the Council concerning the accuracy of parts of the report and the procedure being followed.

The Convener of the Committee (Cllr Jim Lowrie) decided to to recommend to the committee that the application be adjourned to allow consideration by the Council of the issues raised by DHP.

At this stage consideration is expected to be resumed at the next meeting of the Committee at 10am on Wednesday 26th May.  The report for today can be found here and here.

History of Meadows Jawbone - Wed evening

Graeme Cruickshank

Graeme Cruickshank, a local historian, will speak on the history of the Meadows Jawbone on Wednesday evening immediately after the Marchmont/Sciennes Community council AGM.

All are welcome.  The event is at 7:30 in St Catherine's Argyle Church.

Last week the 125th anniversary of the opening of the International Exhibition of Edinburgh in 1886 was marked in a short ceremony at the Meadows Jawbone Arch.  Over the coming months it is intended to raise money to conserve and repair the Jawbone Arch for future generations.

Community Council meetings and AGMs

Venue for Marchmont/Sciennes CC

Marchmont/Sciennes and Southside community councils meet tomorrow evening.  In both cases they are holding their AGM alongside their normal monthly meeting.  All with a local residence or interest are welcome to attend.

Southside starts at 7pm (details here) and Marchmont/Sciennes also begins at 7:00pm (AGM here and May meeting agenda here).

See the next following post for more details of a talk on the Meadows Jawbone at Marchmont/Sciennes AGM.

Community Arts - Causewayside

Enable are hosting a Community Arts Celebration at 95 Causewayside on Thursday (12th May) between 7pm and 8pm.

The event will bring together art from the Best Buddies Student Society and the Art in Healthcare Student Friends Society.

Poetry - at the Blind Poet tonight

Poetry reading in West Nicolson Street tonight might be worth consideration for an outing.   Full details here.

A number of artists, including the Scottish slam champion, are reading their poetry for your pleasure and entertainment.

125 year anniversary marked in Meadows

On Friday, along with others, I marked the 125th anniversary of the opening of the International Exhibition of Edinburgh by the Jawbone.    The Jawbone Arch, near the foot of Marchmont Road, was on display at the Zetland and Fair Isle Knitting Association stand at the exhibition and was placed in its present position after the vibrant exhibition of arts, science and industry closed on 30th October.

More details here.

Edinburgh Central bucks the AV trend

Out of 410 electoral areas the Edinburgh Central Holyrood constituency is one of only 10 in the UK which voted YES in the AV referendum.

Edinburgh Central includes that part of the Southside & Newington ward which stretches from the centre of Edinburgh south to Holyrood Park Road, Minto street and Melville Drive.

Edinburgh Central: For AV:  14,486 - 51%  Against AV: 13,717 - 49%%
Edinburgh Southern:  For AV: 16,549 - 50% Against AV: 16,569 - 50%
Scotland:  For AV:  713813  - 36%  Against AV:  1,249,375 - 64%
UK wide:  For AV:  6,152,607 - 32%  Against AV: 13,013,123  - 68%

Results here.

Memorial Newington Cemetery - John Ross

Newington Cemetery

Buried in Newington Cemetery off Dalkeith Road, John Ross is widely celebrated in South Korea as the man who spread Christianity there from the 1870s .

Yesterday afternoon a memorial was unveiled commemorating his remarkable impact on the world.  The ceremony was attended by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland John Christie, Cardinal Keith O'Brien and Elaine Duncan of the Scottish Bible Society.

More background here and here.

That helicopter over Prestonfield . . .

New MSP Jim Eadie

. . .  today will be our First Minister arriving at Prestonfield House Hotel for his victory press conference after an historic and emphatic victory in the Holyrood election yesterday.

Congratulations.

And the new Edinburgh Southern MSP is now Jim Eadie (SNP).  The new Edinburgh Central MSP is Marco Biagi (SNP).

125 year anniversary project begins Friday

The Meadows on Friday will witness the launch of a project to capture a flavour of the ingenuity and dynamism of the Victorian era in Edinburgh.

The project is the Meadows Jawbone Arch appeal aimed at raising money to conserve and restore the historic jawbone arch which has graced Jawbone Walk for 125 years.  It was placed in its current location following its role in the International Exhibition of Edinburgh in 1886. 

The Exhibition ran from 6th May to 30th October 1886 and the target is to raise sufficient to conserve and restore for future generations this monument to the Victorian science, industry and art.

The appeal will be launched at 2:00pm at the Jawbone Arch with a short introduction to the project. All interested are welcome to attend.

Posts over the next couple of days will give more background.

Prestonfield House in election plans?

Scene from Prestonfield House

Word on the street is that the SNP has booked the Prestonfield Hotel for a victory speech by Alex Salmond on Friday. 

Should this happen it will be a rerun of his choice of Prestonfield to claim victory in 2007.  See here for details.

The source for the 'word on the street' also advocates a second term for Salmond with Annabel Goldie and the Conservatives having a key role.

Which is bad news for the other event on Friday - which I will address in a post later today.

Fire, death & mystery at Festival Theatre

Photo: Booktryst.com

100 years ago this week end the Empire Palace Theatre was the scene of a fire which killed eleven people and brought to an end the life and career of The Great Lafayette.

With a sell-out audience of 3000, the performance of the Man of Mystery was to be his last as a lantern overturned and in the ensuing fire Lafayette, his body double(!) and nine others perished.

There is a variety of events this week-end commemorating the occasion.  More details here and here.

The Empire Palace Theatre was on the site of what is now the Festival Theatre in Nicolson Street.

Note: Later today I will post on another anniversary this week marking a remarkable event in the local area.

Peffermill Road closed overnight

Cameron Toll will experience delays as temporary traffic lights are installed during roadworks on Wednesday night between 7pm and 5am.

Peffermill Road will be closed for much of that period to allow essential carriageway repairs.

Avoid.

Lady Road closed overnight

The Cameron Toll to Craigmillar park carriageway (south) of Lady Road   is due to be closed overnight Tuesday from 7pm through to 5pm for essential carriageway repairs.

Avoid.

Polish connection revived - George Square

A school of medicine for Polish exiles during World War 2 was set up in Edinburgh in 1941.  From Wednesday this week it is commemorated in an exhibition in Edinburgh University's Main Library in George Square.

Seventy years on, the exhibition tells the story of the graduates of the school, some of whom are in their eighties and nineties.  The exhibition is open from 4th May to 10th June.  See here for more details of the history, a polish medicine memorial fund and the exhibition times.

70 X £1m plus properties sold in Edinburgh

Currently for sale - offers over £2m

In 2010 seventy Edinburgh properties sold for more than £1m as the top end of the market proved bouyant.

The report is from the Bank of Scotland and, though we don't know the exact numbers, a significant number of them were in the Grange and surrounding area.  The BBC report is here.