leisure – Page 30 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

Edinburgh’s egg-citing for kids this Easter!

‘Mum, I’m bored!’ Don’t despair – help is at hand!

With the school holidays well underway, parents are planning how to keep their youngsters ones entertained for the next fortnight.

The City of Edinburgh Council, which offers a wide variety of entertaining and educational activities for children and young people, has created a ‘best of’ list to help families stay occupied on a budget.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture & Sport Convener, said: “The Easter break is a chance for families to try something different and experience Edinburgh’s great selection of museums and school break activities. The challenge of balancing budgets and keeping the kids entertained is no easy task for any parent, and I encourage those of all ages and interests to take in the wealth of attractions in the city centre, many of which are free.”

The City Art Centre has been transformed into a science playground as the Edinburgh International Science Festival launches with a full programme of events, exhibitions and experiments until 19 April. Children can visit the Market Street centre for six floors of science lessons including classes on potion making and monster hunts . Day passes are £7 for adults, £9 for children over 7 and £6.50 for children aged six and under.

The Museum of Childhood on the Royal Mile hosts a treasure trove of toys the whole family will love. Children can learn what it was like to grow up in other eras and gaze at a range of toys and games, while adults can enjoy a trip down memory lane. The latest exhibition to open at the Museum is a celebration of the classic children’s gift, the Annual. Entry is free.

Also on the Royal Mile is the Museum of Edinburgh. Housed in the beautifully restored 16th Century buildings on the Canongate, it is the city’s principle museum of local history where children can dress up in replica costumes from Georgian and Victorian times and follow an activity trail around the Museum to learn about Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns.

Adults and older children can enjoy the museum’s newest attraction, Historic Edinburgh From Above, an aerial photography exhibition exploring the dramatic changes to the Edinburgh skyline over the 20th Century. Entry is free with spotlight guided tours taking place at 1:00pm and 3:00pm on Thursdays and Saturdays.

The beautiful grounds of Lauriston Castle, laid out by William Henry Playfair in the 1840s, are worth a wander – especially on Saturday 19 April from 10:00am when the Castle staff host their annual Easter egg hunt. Entry is £7 per person. Afterwards, why not stay for afternoon tea and a game of croquet? Further details and other workshops are available from the website. Guided tours of the Castle take place every day at 2:00pm except Friday.

For when the weather makes a turn, the City’s 28 community libraries will be open for borrowing – and much more besides. Visit the libraries’ website for further details or contact your local library for details of special holiday events.

For active kids, Edinburgh Leisure has a range of dedicated holiday activities for ages 3-13 years running throughout the fortnight, from free tennis tasters at Leith Links to trampolining at Meadowbank. Until the 21 April, Edinburgh Leisure is also offering free swimming to all primary school children at Dalry, Gracemount and Ainslie Park Leisure Centres. This year marks the first time the free sessions will be open to any public swim session at participating pools. Visit the website for further details.

After taking in the city, where better to enjoy the breathtaking views of Edinburgh than by climbing to the top of the tallest tribute to a writer in the world, the Scott Monument in East Princes Street Gardens. Equally impressive is the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill.

At night, take the scenic route home passing through the spectacular Field of Light which will remain in St Andrew’s Square until 27 April. Entry is free.

There’s got to be something among that lot to keep the little dears happy?

Sorry, folks: council set to pull the plug on Leith Waterworld

The city council looks set to accept a £1m bid to convert Leith Waterworld into a soft play area, only months after agreeing to work with local campaigners to reopen the leisure pool as a community enterprise.

The decision will be formally made at tomorrow’s full council meeting, but speaking earlier today Culture and Leisure convener Councillor Richard Lewis said the “difficult decision” to support a proposal by Glasgow-based A&G Property Group to create a soft play and leisure centre at Waterworld had been taken.

Leith Waterworld closed in January last year, but supporters have campaigned to have the popular facility reopened ever since. Campaign group Splashback have worked tirelessly to get the facility reopened as a community asset – and felt they might be on the verge of success when councillors voted to support a feasibility study earlier this year – council officers have even been working alongside the Splashback group to firm up proposals.

However campaigners were concerned when news of the A&G bid emerged last week and Councillor Lewis’ comments today has confirmed their worst fears.

Councillor Lewis said: “This has been a very difficult decision and one that this Council does not take lightly. Firstly I’d like to thank Splashback for the work and commitment they have demonstrated in progressing the community bid. However this coalition feels that the potential purchaser will create a high quality leisure facility that will greatly benefit the community in Leith and the wider Edinburgh area.

“In recognition of Splashback’s commitment to creating affordable and accessible swimming opportunities for young people in the community, we’re proposing to commit £125,000 towards free swimming for primary aged children in Edinburgh.

“Ultimately this option ensures that the community in Leith has an accessible leisure facility for many years to come, that swimming opportunities are available and also that the Council gets best value for the taxpayers of Edinburgh.”

In a statement on their Facebook page, Splashback campaigners told friends and supporters: “Outraged to report to all our wonderful supporters that Coalition Motion for tomorrow’s Full Council meeting is to pull the plug on Waterworld and accept the other bid. We have, however, been working frantically behind the scenes in the last 24 hours to salvage SOMETHING for the city’s families.

“Consequently, the motion includes a commitment to ring-fence the £125,000 they promised us in the first year for a Council-led ‘programme of free swimming opportunities for primary aged children in Edinburgh, and other free swimming initiatives; and that the impact of these programmes will be monitored and assessed.’ SORRY FOLKS, that’s the best we could do …”

Commenting on the council’s decision to sell Leith Waterworld, Lothian Green MSP Alison Johnstone said: “This decision sends the worst possible message to communities trying to come together to protect services and improve facilities in their area. Despite all the warm words we hear on community empowerment and people power, when a developer comes along with a wad of cash, community efforts seem to count for little.”

She went on: “Families in Leith and right across the city made it very clear that they valued Waterworld as a unique leisure pool, and just five months after giving everyone hope that it would reopen, the Council have pulled the plug and campaigners will be feeling totally gutted.”

Bingo! Citadel play brings the ‘house’ down!

PORT OF LEITH RESIDENTS ENJOY CITADEL ARTS GROUP PERFORMANCE

Sheltered housing residents at Port of Leith’s Jameson Place and St Nicholas Court complex were entertained to an unusual play presented by Citadel Arts Group recently. ‘Bingo!’ written by retired engineer Alan Mountford, not only included a real game of the popular activity, but demonstrated how people can get quite possessive about the seat where they usually sit – especially when they are playing bingo.

The cast of Caroline MacKellar (Betty), Sharon Erskine (newcomer, Morag) and Mark Kydd (careworker and amateur bingo caller) treated the audience to afternoon of fun and entertainment.

Liz Hare, Artistic Director at Citadel Arts Group, said: “Citadel Arts Group gives older writers the chance to see their work professionally performed in a variety of settings including libraries, pubs, theatres, schools and centres for elderly people. We regularly perform for Port of Leith Housing Association residents who thoroughly enjoy our performances, but I think this was their favourite as they also got the chance to play bingo!”

Elaine Edwards, Scheme Co-ordinator at the Port of Leith Housing Association’s Jameson Place Sheltered Housing Complex, said: “Our residents had a great time. Many of them used to be keen bingo players, so it’s nice when there is something for them to relate to and get involved in.”

New Kitchin for San Marco’s!

Michelin star chef Tom Kitchin and his Telford College-trained business partner Dominic Jack are to open a new gastro pub in Stockbridge. Kitchin and Jack worked together as young chefs at Gleneagles, and the team behind the Kitchin in Leith and Castle Terrace Restaurant will open their third site – the former San Marco Restaurant on Comely Bank Road – in the Spring.

The Stockbridge pub restaurant will open seven days a week and will follow the team’s “From Nature to Plate” philosophy in a more informal setting.

Alan Goldie, director from The Restaurant Agency, said; “Stockbridge is an area that’s thriving and though many local residents will miss San Marco, I know Nino and Franco are pleased to retire and spend more time with their families. The family were involved in the decision to find new tenants and we’re all confident the planned offering will bring an exciting new flavour to the area. Run by an award winning, expert team, it will bring a range of outstanding menus, combined with the hospitality expected from a warm and welcoming family pub.”

Brothers Franco and Nino Alonzi from San Marco Restaurant said; “While the decision to close the restaurant after 30 years was not an easy one, we’re pleased to be handing over the property to another family-run business. With two successful restaurants in the city we’re confident they can continue to provide locals and visitors with a new destination to relax with friends and family, and enjoy great fresh food and drink. We would like to thank all of our loyal customers for their continued support over the years – we take with us many fond memories.”

The new venue – which is yet to be named – is currently under refurbishment and is expected to open in Spring.

Edinburgh Reads is underway

Top authors will be visiting libraries across Edinburgh as part of the city’s Edinburgh Reads events. The spring 2013 programme, which runs until 2 May, will see a host of key figures from the literary world deliver talks and workshops in a number of city libraries.

Councillor Richard Lewis, the city’s Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Our popular Edinburgh Reads programme attracts a number of high profile and influential authors throughout the year and we’re delighted to once again present another fantastic line-up of events. It goes to show that libraries are not just places to borrow books but are also community hubs where people can come to be inspired and learn more about reading.”

Some Programme Highlights:

Tues 22 January, 5.30-7.30pm, Tues 19 February, 5.30-7.30pm & Tues 19 March, 5.30-7.30pm, Muirhouse Library

Muirhouse Library Writers Workshop

Join experienced workshop facilitator and writer Laura Brown and explore the world of creative writing. With a PHD in Creative writing, Laura and Ryan Van Winkle, (Edinburgh Libraries’ writer in residence) get your writing juices flowing!
To book a place call 0131 529 5528 or email muirhouse.library@edinburgh.gov.uk

Tues 19 February, 6.30 – 7.30pm, Central Library

Firefighting in Edinburgh

Ian McMurtrie, retired Assistant Firemaster and Curator of the Museum of Fire, outlines the evolution of the Fire Brigade in Edinburgh.

Wed 27 February, 2-3pm, Stockbridge Library

Christine de Luca – And Then Forever

Christine De Luca, established Scottish poet and novelist writing in English and in Shetland Dialect, talks about and reads from her new novel – ‘And then Forever’.
To book a place call 0131 529 5665 or email stockbridge.library@edinburgh.gov.uk 2 weeks before the event.

Thurs 7 March, 7-8pm, Central Library

Julie Davidson – ‘Looking for Mrs Livingstone’

Award winning journalist, ex TV presenter and travel writer, Julie Davidson explores what really happened in the Livingstone marriage, and brings to life the real Mary Livingstone, forgotten by History, laid to rest in an obscure Mozambique grave.

Sat 16 March, 3-4pm, Central Library

Kate Atkinson – ‘Life after Life’

Best selling local author, Kate Atkinson wonders “What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?” Her new novel, published this month, tells the story of Ursula Todd born during a snowstorm in England in 1910, but two parallel scenarios occur – in one, she dies immediately. In the other, she lives to tell the tale. As the possibility of having a second chance at life opens up, Ursula lives through the events of the twentieth century again and again….

Thurs 21 March, 7-8pm, Central Library

Louise Welsh and Regi Claire – a literary friendship

Writers Louise Welsh and Regi Claire both talk about their novels, ‘The Girl on the Stairs’ (April 2013), an uneasy, imaginative tale of Jane and Petra in Berlin anticipating the arrival of their baby, and ‘The Waiting’, another tale of two women- Rachel, a messed-up young Swiss PHD student and Lizzie Fairbairn, an elderly widow whose Edinburgh home she invades.

Thurs 18 April, 7-8pm, Central Library

Iain M Banks – ‘Hydrogen Sonata’

The Scavenger species are circling. The End Days beckon for the Gzilt civilization. Having made the collective decision to follow the well-trodden path of millions, they are going to Sublime, elevating themselves to a new and almost infinitely more rich and complex existence. It seems that the final days of the Gzilt civilization are likely to prove its most perilous.
Come hear local author Iain Banks talk about his new novel.

Fri 19 April, 7-8pm, Central Library

Turkish Writers come to town

Turkish writers, Ahmet Ümit and Murat Mentes, visit Edinburgh as part of a British Council cultural exchange and celebration of Turkey in 2013 (part of the Cultural Programme of the Market Focus at the London Book Fair). Ahmet Ümit is a leading figure in Turkish crime writing and several of his novels have been adapted for screen and television. Murat Mentes is an up-and-coming young writer who writes thrillers (but with a definite strand of crime).
Both will explore the theme of the event- ‘Narratives of Crime in Fiction’ , and focus on the role of cities (Istanbul/Edinburgh) in the context of this theme.

Tues 23 April, 6.30-8pm, Central Library

Edinburgh Zoo – Celebrate 100 years!

It’s 100 years since Edinburgh Zoo opened its doors to the public. To celebrate this historic centenary, a guest speaker from Edinburgh Zoo will share stories about animals old and new, whilst looking to the future.

Thurs 2 May, 7-8pm, Central Library

Richard Holloway – ‘Leaving Alexandria’

Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, talks about his memoir ‘Leaving Alexandria’, his birthplace, and his journey through the meaning and purpose of religion. Compelling and intense, his erudite exploration of faith will not fail to move you, the story of one man’s exploration of ‘Christianity, a great work of the human imagination’.

Tues 14 May, 6.30-8pm, Central Library

Edinburgh Zoo – Penguin Parade

Colin Oulton and Jo Elliott, penguin keepers at Edinburgh Zoo, talk about the history of penguins at the Zoo, the world famous Penguin Parade, captive management techniques from the past to the present day, penguin conservation and research and much more.

“There can be no doubt that the ‘crowning glory’ of the Zoological Park is its magnificent display of Antarctic penguins.” – Thomas Gillespie, founder of Edinburgh Zoo.

All events are free and tickets can be booked online or by calling 0131 242 8100. Booking is essential for all events.

Book sales and signings will be available at most Edinburgh Reads events.