We’re looking forward to attending this free #FamilyHistory Fair hosted by our friends at @natlibscot on Monday 28 October.
Join us and representatives from many other archives to learn how our collections and services can help your research https://nls.uk/whats-on/family-history-fair/
Police have released an image of a male they wish to speak to who may be able to assist with their enquiries into an assault which took place on Saturday, 14 September, 2024 on George IV Bridge. The incident took place at around 8pm.
The male (pictured above) is described as a white male, medium build, mid-30s, approximately 5ft 9” tall with short dark hair. He was seen to be wearing a red short sleeved polo shirt, dark skinny jeans and white trainers.
Detective Constable Adam Campbell said “I would urge the male pictured or anyone who may recognise him or has information about this incident to contact us as soon as possible.
“Anyone who can assist is asked to contact Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 3442 of 14 September 2024. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where information can be given anonymously.”
The city council is improving the roads, pavements and drainage at Lawnmarket – between Castlehill and George IV Bridge – and Upper Bow. Work is due to start on 23 September 2024 and end in July 2025.
The improvement work includes the reconstruction of the existing natural stone setts on the streets, and will improve walking and road conditions, whilst enhancing road safety.
This will take place in four phases, which will be completed consecutively. Work will take place Monday to Saturday typically between the hours of 7.30am and 5pm.
Phase 1: 23 September – December 2024
Upper Bow – full length. Upper Bow will be closed. The Lawnmarket will continue to operate eastbound only.
Phase 2: December 2024 – February 2025
Lawnmarket – roundabout area. Road closed at the roundabout area with no through route for vehicles. Access may still be available from George IV Bridge. Deliveries to Castlehill will be via Ramsay Lane.
Phase 3: March – April 2025
Road closure of the eastern half with no through route for vehicles. Local access to the western half and Castlehill can be obtained via Johnston Terrace.
Phase 4: May – July 2025
Road closure of the western half with no through route for vehicles. Local access via Johnston Terrace – some access may be available from George IV Bridge.
Pedestrian access to the area will be maintained at all times, restrictions will be placed on vehicle access. Eastbound traffic will be maintained during phase 1, but Lawnmarket will be closed to through traffic from December 2024.
Access will be maintained at all times for emergency services vehicles.
Temporary parking restrictions will be introduced to make sure the work is done safely, with on-street signage providing details of specific restrictions.
Full details on bus access, diversion routes, loading and servicing are available on our website.
Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson said: “Maintaining and enhancing our streets is a key priority and I’m proud that we’re taking these steps to make improvements in the Lawnmarket area.
“The Old Town is world famous for its setts and cobblestones and we need to preserve these for the future. I appreciate these works may cause some disruption for our residents, businesses and visitors so I’d like to thank them for their patience.”
Throughout the works the council says it will monitor progress and keep residents and businesses updated.
Walking like a Tortoise, a mixed media, walking art exhibition
Edinburgh Central Library, 7 – 9 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EG. Foyer and Display Case on Main Stairs
1 August – 30 September
(10am – 8pm Monday to Wednesday; 10am – 5pm Thursday to Saturday)
‘Walking like a Tortoise’ is a range of art work based on a series of walks around Granton on the northern edge of Scotland’s capital city.
Using maps of the area from 1870 to the present day, Tamsin Grainger skirted the urban and coastal landscapes of Granton, looking into hidden corners, seeing from unlikely angles and meeting those who live and work there.
Through photography, words, video, textiles and found materials, she asks how the act of slow walking can develop a sense of belonging somewhere, and how mindful noticing of the area on foot, promotes appreciation of and connection to what is home.
Tamsin’s been walking around Granton for 14 years now, alone and with other members of the community, and has become interested in the alterations that people and the climate have wrought.
Although places transform all the time, the built-up environment and natural spaces of Granton have recently been changing at an exceptionally rapid pace and still are: the harbour is now a no-go area; streets and stations have been given new names and functions; and views have disappeared.
Slowly wandering the boundary and making artwork has stimulated a deeper understanding of local history and heritage, but how much of this will soon have vanished? Is Granton disappearing and being replaced by the Edinburgh Waterfront?
By visiting the exhibition, you are invited to consider: ‘What are the invisible boundaries which define us?’ ‘What happens if the exact edges of our living space change? Is it important to you that things stay the same or do you welcome transformation?’ ‘Do you feel part of the decision-making processes which precipitate such changes?’ and, ‘Is there a link between a sense of who you are and feeling that you belong somewhere?’
Tamsin Grainger is a walking artist who has lived in Granton for 15 years and has extensive experience in the Community Arts in Edinburgh.
She was Dance Artist in Residence for the City of Edinburgh, and is currently the Granton Waterfront Heritage Programme Development Worker.
This exhibition was first shown at the Granton:hub in 2023.
The Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge is kicking off in Scotland with an exciting event featuring award-winning storyteller Danyah Miller.
On 29 June at 10.30am, Edinburgh Central Library will host Making Marvellous Stories with Danyah Miller, an interactive storytelling experience that celebrates the power of imagination and creativity.
Danyah Miller, an international solo performer, writer, and story trainer, will lead an engaging spontaneous storytelling hour. Through story games and collaborative storytelling, children and families will embark on a journey to spark their imaginations and create lasting memories together.
Oral storytelling is a fundamental component of literacy development, enhancing fluency, vocabulary acquisition, writing skills, recall, and memory. By participating in this event, children will not only have a fun and interactive experience but also develop essential literacy skills.
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in story games, make up fresh, new stories together, and learn tips and tricks for endless storytelling fun. The event promises to be an unforgettable experience, igniting the imaginations of children and families alike.
“We left full of ideas and inspiration,” said a mum of boys aged 7 and 9 after attending one of Danyah’s previous storytelling events.
In addition to the storytelling experience, the Summer Reading Challenge, developed in partnership with Create, a leading charity bringing creative arts to those in need, offers a range of exciting activities and resources that bring reading and creativity together throughout the school holiday. Children are encouraged to explore their creativity through various outlets, including junk modelling, music, dance, drawing, and painting.
The Making Marvellous Stories with Danyah Miller event is free and open to the public. Families are invited to join this unforgettable experience and embark on a journey of storytelling and creativity at Edinburgh Central Library.
For more information and to register, please visit: https://readingagency.org.uk/our-work/events/making-marvellous-stories-with-danyah-miller/
A unique event that will give participants the chance to research family ancestry within nursing and midwifery is to take place in Edinburgh next month.
Hosted by Edinburgh Napier University, The Royal College of Nursing and the National Library of Scotland, the event will give attendees the chance to research a nurse or midwife of any era who worked in any setting – hospital, community, asylums, industry, prisons, military – under the watchful eye of a range of experts.
The event will feature a number of short presentations, including introductions to family history research from researchers and archivists as well as opportunities to learn about online searching.
There will be a chance for attendees to ask questions and get guidance on how find to find out more about their nursing or midwifery ancestors.
Those attending are invited to bring along a photo, or other small memento, of the person(s) they are interested in finding out more about and would be happy to show on the day.
The event – which will take place at the National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge Edinburgh from 10am-4pm on 5 June – will welcome a number of guest speakers and contributors:
Chair of the RCN History of Nursing Forum Dianne Yarwood said: “It’s not unusual to hear people say: ‘Oh yes, my great gran was a hospital nurse, or my uncle worked as a mental health nurse.’ Often, they would like to know more about this person’s nursing career but have no idea where, or how, to start searching.
“Do join us for this exciting, informative one day event and learn how to find that elusive ancestor. You will meet experts, gain advice and guidance and leave with the knowledge and confidence to find that nurse or midwife of yesterday.”
Those attending will be given notebooks, pens, and lunch free of charge.
To sign up to this in-person event, please follow the link:
https://tinyurl.com/NMFamilyHistory
People interested in attending who require disability adjustments on the day, should contact CMHPPLR@napier.ac.uk
Those on low income and not entitled to free bus travel, may be eligible for some travel compensation. Please contact: CMHPPLR@napier.ac.uk
Edinburgh Central Library, 7-9 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG
A new exhibition displaying over 100 items on loan from public and private collections of world traditional dance books and artefacts, opened today as part of this year’s Pomegranates Festival in Edinburgh.
Portrait of dance artist Ella Moore wearing a Ukrainian headdress and scarf featured in the exhibition. Commissioned by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland for the inaugural Pomegranates festival in April 2022 by floral artist Fiona Rose Gregory. Photo by Iliyana Nedkova
Dance Around the World will feature items from over 20 different countries including Scotland, Greece, Estonia, Poland, Bali and Japan. Highlights include a Ukrainian headdress commissioned by the festival in 2022 in tribute to the millions of displaced Ukrainians around the world (pictured above); an original Estonian dance dolly ‘rescued’ from a Finnish flea market and a full outfit worn at Scottish country dances since 1978 by a lifetime member of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.
This year’s festival commission is a Barbie doll clad in a tartan frock by festival’s fashion designer-in-residence Alison Harm of Edinburgh’s Psychomoda brand. (Alison Harm’s solo exhibition of sustainable tartan exploring the role of tartan in Scottish trad dance is at the Scottish Storytelling Centre 23-30 April.)
Barbie in Highland Dance Dress – Commissioned by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland for Pomegranates Festival 2024. Outfit by Alison Harm of Psychomoda.
Alongside the numerous books on display selected from five private collections, as well as the catalogue of the Edinburgh City Libraries, visitors will revel in rare artefacts, including a pair of exquisite lacquer Geta shoes and an Obi bow and sash worn as part of the traditional wrap-around costumes for the Bon Odori summer dance festivals in Japan, and at the inaugural Pomegranates festival in Scotland.
Amongst the heirlooms in the exhibition is a silver brooch with a Viking ship motif which used to adorn the trad dance and song costume of the Estonian grandmother of the festival’s artist-in-residence Mare Tralla.
Mare, who co-curated Dance Around the World is a Scottish Estonian artist and activist currently working and living in Edinburgh. Her professional art career started in Tallinn in the early 1990s, where she became one of the leading interdisciplinary artists of the younger generation, conducting a feminist revolution in the field of contemporary art in Estonia.
Mare combines a variety of media in her work, from video, photography and painting to performance and interactivity. She also often utilises traditional crafts like knitting and weaving in her practice, including through her long-term craft project Natty Peeps.
Artist-in-residence and co-curator Mare Tralla said: “I am so grateful for the opportunity to co-curate the Dance Around the World exhibition in collaboration with this year’s Pomegranates Festival and Edinburgh City Libraries and to offer hands-on craft workshops.
“I hope that any craft enthusiasts will join me to seek inspiration from the new exhibition to make our own costume jewellery and homeware while tracing the importance of tassels and pom-poms across the trad dance costumes from all corners of the world, including the sporran in the show”.
Edinburgh-based dance artist and art historian who is one of the major contributors to the exhibition Agnes Ness said: “I was so excited to go through my own library, photo albums and memorabilia and select a range of books, postcards and medals for the Dance Around the World exhibition.
“A wee testimony of my lifelong passion for art history and dance which dates back to my childhood spent in competitive Highland dance in the 1950s, leading to my current adventures as a teacher in Dance History at Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for dance where I am a founding member of the 24 Carat Gold Dance Group for those aged 60 and above.”
Iliyana Nedkova and Wendy Timmons, Pomegranates Festival Co-curators said: “Our collaboration with Edinburgh Libraries began in June 2023 when we brought live trad dance to the library, possibly for the first time, while celebrating the feisty women-tradition keepers and dance innovators as part of the 10th anniversary of the Harpies, Fechters and Quines Festival.
“We even recorded live in the George Washington Browne Room one of our Trad Dance Cast video podcast episodes with the legendary trad dance artist and costume designer Margaret Belford, 85.
“It was then when we pencilled and penned our love letter to the library – this very dance exhibition and all the related festival activities, including the craft workshops and walking tours.”
Dance Around the World
3rd to 30th April 2024, Open Mon-Wed 10am-8pm, Thu-Sat 10am-5pm, Closed Sun
Central Library, 7-9 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG
This exhibition is part of the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and TRACS’s programme of events showcasing Scotland’s traditional arts and cultural heritage alongside international collections.On display are over 100 items on loan from public and private collections of world traditional dance books and artefacts.
Co-curator Mare Tralla‘s festival residency follows in the footsteps of the artists-in-residence in the Pomegranates festivals 2022 and 2023: Claudia Nocentini (Italy / Scotland) and Gabriel Schmitz (Germany/Spain). Likewise, Mare will create a new commission in her media of choice in response to the festival activities – a new screen dance that will be premiered at the festival finale.
Admission to the exhibition is free.
10th, 17th and 30th April at 6pm
Central Library, (George Washington Browne Room) George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG
Led by artist-in-residence Mare Tralla, these hands-on craft workshops, inspired by the new exhibition include crafting your own costume jewellery and homeware while exploring the role of tassels and pom-poms across trad dance costumes. All materials such as natural fibres and up-cycled fabric will be provided. Suitable for anyone aged 18+.
Admission Free
Walking Tour
27th April at 11am
Meet at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR Led by storyteller Donald Smith this is a relaxed festival walking tour exploring the dance traditions of Edinburgh’s Old Town, including their locations and social contexts. An opportunity to learn about the local folk traditions, the Scottish Court and ‘polite’ society. The tour will start from the Scottish Storytelling Centre with a preview of the festival exhibition Vengefully Changed Allegiance by Alison Harm of Psychomoda. The tour will end at Edinburgh’s Central Library with a preview of the festival exhibition Dance Around the World featuring trad dance books and artefacts from Edinburgh and beyond.
Admission Pay What You Can
Pomegranates
Established in 2022, Pomegranates is Scotland’s springtime festival of Scottish and international traditional danceproduced by the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland and TRACS in partnership with Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh City Libraries, Dance Base and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. The festival celebrates Scottish traditional dance and traditional dance practised by cultural migrant communities across Scotland. It provides a platform to showcase new dance commissions and residencies accompanied by live music, poetry, and art; and invites audiences to participate in ceilidhs, workshops (both in person and live streamed), tours, and talks about traditional dance from Scotland and around the world.
For tickets and more information visit https://linktr.ee/pomegranatesfest, https://www.tdfs.org/pomegranatesfest2024/
Music on the Mezzanine returns @edcentrallib @TalesOfOneCity from 10th February! 
Every fortnight until 15 June, we’ll welcome a new musical event for this popular series.
More details and tickets www.ticketsource.co.uk/edinburgh-central-library
Links
In advance of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships the organisers are hosting two community engagement sessions at Stockbridge Library and Edinburgh Central Library on July 13 for residents to find out how the August 6 event will impact them 
Full details here: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/…/uci-world-cycling…
