We were incredibly saddened to learn about the death of our dear friend Linda Garcia (writes GILLEAN PATERSON, Chair of Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden)
Linda was one of the founder members of the campaign to save the Walled Garden back in 2013. She played a crucial role with her knowledge of Granton and the various local organisations in which she was active.
She was always determined, cheerful and very well informed despite all the setbacks we faced over the 4 years it took to come to an agreement with Edinburgh Council, whereby the Friends group would officially look after the garden.
She brandished petitions, approached shoppers in Morrisons and passersby on the waterfront path, lobbied the council and always brought along snacks and drinks to our regular meetings.
Once we were in the garden Linda played a crucial role as a volunteer gardener and trustee. She always had wise counsel regarding how we planned to involve the community in the Walled Garden project, particularly older and isolated local residents.
She was also up to the minute with other great ideas such as getting funding for outdoor exercise equipment and vertical wind turbine generators.
She also enjoyed the practical side of rescuing the garden from wilderness and managed to be elegantly dressed even when pulling up endless weeds.
Gillean Paterson (Chair of Granton Castle Walled Garden)
THURSDAY 18th – SATURDAY 20th JULY at GRANTON STATION
A piece of public art will be commissioned by the City of Edinburgh Council as part of the development of Granton gasholder park.
In February the Council invited locally-based artists and creative practitioners to develop ideas for the new artwork to be co-created with the local community.
Locals and visitors to Granton Waterfront will be given a sneak peek of six shortlisted designs for the new piece being exhibited at Granton Station from Thursday 18 – Saturday 20 July.
Ideas for the selected pieces have been taken from community interests and themes connected to Granton and all of the artists have provided opportunities for the local community to participate in the design process.
One artist will be chosen by a panel of experts from the City of Edinburgh and West Lothian Councils as well as creative and cultural charitable organisations.
The winner will be announced later this month and when it is open, the artwork will be one of the focal points in the new iconic Granton gasholder park.
The space within the restored gasholder is to have multi-sensory play zones, a dedicated area for permanent and temporary public art and one for relaxation, outdoor trails, and tracks for exercise as well as a large outdoor space for sports, markets, seasonal events, community use, festivals, performance arts, exhibitions, and play. Work will also be carried out to plant trees, shrubs and wildflowers improving biodiversity and local habitat in the area.
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “The gasholder plays such an important role in the £1.3bn regeneration of Granton Waterfront.
“The structure itself is currently being refurbished allowing it to become a place where the local community and other visitors will come together to enjoy outdoor space as well as other cultural activities.
“It is really important that they are involved in this project which is why local people have been working with all of the artists to help to produce each final design.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the exhibition and very excited to see which design is taken forward to be an engaging artwork in the new park.”
Designs by
Natalie Taylor
The concept for flutterby garden is to represent some of the species currently surrounding the Gas Tower and the wider Scottish environment in nectar rich borders. The proposal features a biodiverse garden with Scottish wildflowers and plants, selected to attract and sustain pollinators. It will also provide a beautiful area to sit and enjoy the surroundings. Design elements will honour the gas tower’s industrial history, including a laser-cut steel trellis featuring artwork by local people. The garden will form a bridge between the human and non-human world, pointing out the relationship between our food system and pollinating insects.
Kevin Dagg
The Mossy Bothy, a 9metre by 4metre building, aims to create a living monument that honours the legacy of factory workers and their families while capturing a snapshot of the natural regeneration in North Edinburgh. With sustainability at its core, the Bothy is designed to grow with the community, evolving with the passage of time and changing seasons. The building will be constructed from recycled brick with horizontal surfaces to harbour sedums. Gradually over time as the sedum secures a footing it will start to colonise the structure, which has the potential to harbour 120sqm of biodiversity.
Bespoke Atelier/Iglu Studios
The proposal is for a playful composition of forms which inspire users to interact, perch, play and sit. The proposed artwork is inspired by the vessels of the Scottish Marine Station in Granton and wave sculptures surrounding the boat signify the coast and water. The surfaces will be tactile, inviting people to touch the patterns and feel the connection to their natural environment. The low carbon approach to materials will be complemented by a series of planting areas around the edge of the art space.
Maja Quille/Julian Stocks
The artwork will be ia geometric steel sculpture, utilising squares, circles and triangles, inspired by the historic links to lighthouses in the area and the gasholder itself. A steel cube balanced on its point, the shape references the trestle-like frame of the Granton lighthouse windows as well as the gasholder cross-beams, creating interesting sight-lines through the structure, which will frame the work when seen from different angles. Each side will be covered in a unique pattern, developed in collaboration with different community groups and abstracted through a kaleidoscope.
Aeneas Wilder
Aeneas is proposing a monumental structure made from the stacked assembly of granite stone blocks, which is an abstract geometric structure echoing the construction and engineering of the Gasholder frame itself. The design also has within it a number of symbolic references and indicators of the culture, heritage and history of the Gasholder site, the greater Granton area and the communities that live there.
The proposed structure has seven peaks, which roots the design in Edinburgh, with its reference to the seven hills on which the city is built. These peaks could also be viewed as chimney stacks setting off a chain of reference, including coal, heating, energy sources and sustainability.
Svetlana Kondakova Muir
This design celebrates the local natural environment by portraying one of the Firth of Forth’s most special visitors. A copper and bronze life-sized head of a humpback whale will appear to be emerging from underwater vertically, an awe-inspiring shape, allowing visitors to experience the full might of this incredible creature.
It will be made in a contemporary polygonal style which will complement the gasholder structure, the faceted form relating to the idea that the humpback whale is the ‘jewel’ of local wildlife. . It will incorporate bronze artworks created by local school children and college students, including an oyster reef, barnacles and other wildlife as well as tactile panels created by pupils of Oaklands School with complex support needs.
Exhibition opening times:
Thursday, 18 July, 9am-5pm
Friday, 19 July, 9am – 5pm
Saturday, 20 July, 10am – 3pm
Location: Granton Station, 1 Granton Station Square, EH5 1FU
Everyone is welcome to visit the Granton Gasholder Park public art design exhibition opening this Thursday 18th July 9am at Granton Station.
Running until Saturday 20th July 3pm.
On view will be proposal from the six shortlisted artists and artist teams who have been developing ideas alongside the local community in Granton for this permanent art installation opportunity.
Only one artist proposal will go forward. Come along to see all the options available. To be decided by selection panel only.
Following extensive consultation, plans for the first phase of a £1.3bn sustainable new coastal town at Granton Waterfront in Edinburgh are available to view on the Council’s Planning Portal.
In partnership with Cruden Homes, the Council plan to transform part of the Capital’s largest brownfield site into an exciting new development comprising over 800 net zero homes, capacity for a new primary school and low carbon heat network, commercial units, active travel routes and other sustainable transport infrastructure as well as attractive public and open space.
At least 35% of the homes will be of affordable tenure.
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “We’ve been consulting with people every step of the way to deliver this project. I’m really pleased that after listening to feedback from the local community and others interested in the area, the team has submitted plans for the largest regeneration project of its kind in Scotland at Granton Waterfront as part of the £1.3 billion regeneration.
“To deliver our net zero targets for the Capital, sustainable regeneration is so important and every element of this development has been designed with that in mind.
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a 20-minute neighbourhood completely from scratch which includes affordable net zero homes, shops, cultural, leisure and education facilities all close by.
“Our plans show how the new neighbourhood will link to the rest of the city and beyond as well as to the many established communities nearby.”
Fraser Lynes, Managing Director of Cruden Homes said: “We have thoroughly enjoyed working closely with the Council, local community and key stakeholders to create a transformational design that reconnects the Capital to the Firth of Forth.
“This landmark, landscape-led development of Edinburgh’s coastline takes a fresh approach to urban regeneration which will create an exciting new coastal community set to become one of Europe’s largest waterside amenities.
“Moreover, the delivery of 847 much needed, high quality and sustainable new homes across all tenures will make an important contribution to alleviating the well documented housing emergency.”
An exclusive opportunity to visit the National Museums Collection Centre in Granton to see the vast and awe-inspiring insect collection, with experts from National Museums Scotland and Granton Gas Tower-shortlisted artist Natalie Taylor.
Workshop One: a focus on the biodiversity of our UK pollinators. Photography allowed for research. 1.00 hr
Workshop Two: UK pollinators and a chance to draw from still life. Photography allowed for research. 1.5 hrs
Where: National Museums Collection Centre in Granton
When: Thursday 13th June.
Workshop 1: 1:30-2:30pm;
Workshop 2: 3.00-4:30pm
Who: Over 16’s, unless with carer/adult
Exclusive: two opportunities to visit this Scottish Collection with the opportunity to learn more about local biodiversity and see some incredible insects up close. Workshop 2 will have an additional half an hour to draw from museum specimens.
If you are interested in this opportunity with limited places, please put the first three letters/ numbers of your postcode in the comments and I will DM you a code to access the Eventbrite listing.
The third North Edinburgh Community Festival will take place on Saturday 1th May 2024 in West Pilton Park. The park sits in the heart of North Edinburgh and draws its audience from Pilton, Muirhouse, Granton, Drylaw, Davidson Mains, Silverknowes and Wardie.
The event which has grown year on year is a fun, free to attend, family day out for new and existing residents to enjoy – promoting opportunities, creativity, enhancing community cohesion, reducing social isolation and celebrating the diversity of the area.
The Festival is going from strength to strength with over 100 local groups, organisations and charities taking part and providing workshops, information and activities – from glitter tattoos to video games, from dodgeball and football to obstacle courses and interactive theatre.
In the open area at the far end of the park we will have the Army, Marines and the Airforce in attendance showing as well as the Scottish Fire Services.
This year and moving forward, one of the key aims of the festival will be to work with young people in North Edinburgh and encouraging young people to take the reigns for future events and festivals.
One of the ways to engage with the young people is through music and over 600 young people from across North Edinburgh have taken part in the Tinderbox Garage Band Challenge, creating their own new music for the event. The winners will perform their original tracks on the main stage at the festival.
The music for the festival has been curated by local organisations Tinderbox Collective and Granton Youth’s Mixtape Music Club.
There will be more than 30 acts playing over the afternoon including over 160 performers, almost all of them from the local neighbourhood. On the outdoor stage, highlights include the incredible Fischy Music, Ama-zing Harmonies Choir, Heritage Of India Through Dance and Edinburgh Ukrainian choir.
On the indoor stage we have an exciting lineup of youth bands who are part of ‘North By North West’ a collaboration project between 5 youth music organisations across North Edinburgh the aim is to get the very best emerging talent out onto the Edinburgh music scene.
From the slick electronic pop of Muirhouse local (and BBC Introducing alumni) Laurent, Granton rapper Leon Highway, or the pop-rock stylings of Drenched in Dreams – we’ve got something to suit all tastes. Look out for amazing youth artists A420, Kieran Crosbie, Mezari, and Trisha Muco finishing out the festival in collaboration with players from Tinderbox Orchestra.
Head into the Sports Hall of West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre to find Tinderbox Games Showcase, an exhibition of playable games made by young game designers of all ages from North Edinburgh.
These will be featured alongside an exciting new escape room made in collaboration with young people from Granton Youth, which draws inspiration from trips to the Granton Hub archives and the area’s rich history, as well as a selection of games made by previous winners of the East Lothian Game Jam.
You’ll discover a mix of digital, physical and table-top games made by the next up-and-coming generation of game designers and creators from the neighbourhood.
Look out for Granton Youth’s stall advertising its youth work provision, which includes work with local schools, detached youth work, counselling for parents and young people, open access youth clubs, family support, and Mixtape – our music club.
This year we are extremely excited to have so many of the Edinburgh Festivals joining us on the day.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival Society will have street performers on the day and will be handing out free tickets to shows at this years Fringe Festival under their new Fringe Days Out Scheme which offers free Fringe vouchers and Lothian bus tickets to people who wouldn’t normally get to experience the Fringe.
The Edinburgh Science Festival are back with bigger and better street performance style science shows as well as their cargo tricycle for their science demonstrations.
And there will be storytelling activities for families from the Edinburgh International Book Festival Citizen Adults Writing Group plus loads of free books for children.
North Edinburgh Arts have a host of activities planned across their two large marquees this year. There will be drop-in arts activities for children and families, carpet bowls, and information on their newly refurbished and extended building opening later this year.
There will be family-friendly performances by commissioned artists, selected by local children from Forthview Primary School and Pilton Youth, as part of the Creative Encounters project, delivered in partnership with Imaginate, the Childrens Festival and North Edinburgh Arts.
And there will be storytelling activities for families from the Edinburgh International Book Festival Citizen Adults Writing Group plus loads of free books for children.
Of course, there cant be a festival without a parade and this year North Edinburgh Childcare have stepped up and organised the parade which will leave from their premises at 1130am and make its way along Ferry Road Drive around West Pilton Park and entering the park for the official start of the festival at 12noon.
The theme is Superheroes and any families looking to join in are most welcome. Pulse of Place will lead the parade and if you are around North Edinburgh on Saturday 11th May, you’ll most certainly hear the parade before you see it!
Other activities on the day include:
Important information from around 80 third sector organisations
Badge making with Pilton Community Health Project
National Galleries of Scotland’s Art in the Open electric cargo-bike for a sustainable art making workshop
Storytelling with Muirhouse and Granton Libraries
Human tower building with Colla Castellera d’Edinburgh
Horses from Edinburgh Equilearn
Each year the festival provides free food – the amazing RRT (Rapid Relief Team) hand out a few thousand burgers and will return again this year.
There will also be free food from Bangla Kitchen and Multi-Cultural Family Base.
This year we have yet again a larger food presence with some new vendors but as always there is cap on the cost of food at £5.
Lyndon Cane from RRT says “RRT is pleased to support North Edinburgh again by providing the signature burger meal at the North Edinburgh Community Festival.
“Care and Compassion is at the heart of what we do, and this event is important for us to attend so we can widen our support to communities during times of need.”
North Edinburgh Community Festival really does have the community at its very heart and we can’t wait to see everyone on the day.
When: Thursday 13th June.
Who: Over 16’s, unless with carer/adult
