Tag: Old Town

Edinburgh gets playful!

Children set to invade Grassmarket for fun and games

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The Grassmarket will be transformed into a giant children’s playground tomorrow (Wednesday) to promote play in the city.

The enclosed street in the Old Town will be transformed between 12.30pm and 4.30pm for Edinburgh’s Playday where there will be lots of family-friendly activities on offer including junk drumming, a mud kitchen, parachute games, magic potions, a giant sand pit, water play, and a cardboard city.

This will be the 15th year that the event has been held and every year gets bigger and more fun! Thousands of people, both young and old, have come along to join in activities on offer.

Playday is the national day for play, which is being celebrated next week. On Playday thousands of children and their families get out to play at hundreds of community events across the UK.

As well as a celebration of children’s right to play, Playday is a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives. It’s all about learning for life and showing that play is fun not just for the child but for adults as well.

Councillor Keith Robson, Play Champion for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Play is a massively important part of a child’s development and makes a tremendous contribution to happy and healthy childhoods. Children need freedom to play so they can practice skills, explore the world around them and develop understanding in their own way and in their own time. Real play comes from children’s need to express themselves, to explore, learn about and make sense of their world.

“Playing with your child is one of the most wonderful things about being a parent. It’s a vital part of the way babies and children grown and learn. The time you have fun together brings you closer, makes your child feel loved and secure, helps them develops elf-esteem and social skills.

“Our very popular Playday in the Grassmarket provides a fantastic opportunity to celebrate play and promote its many benefits as well as visiting one of the most picturesque areas of the city. I would recommend everyone comes along for what promises to be a fun-filled afternoon of play!”

Playday is part of the successful City of Edinburgh Council Play Strategy which states:

“Edinburgh aims to be a play friendly city where all children and young people can enjoy their childhood. They will have access to play opportunities in a range of different settings which offer variety, adventure and challenge. They will be able to play freely and safely and make choices about where, how and when they play.”

Other ongoing projects to promote play include the formation of the Edinburgh Play Forum – ‘Playful Edinburgh’, which is a partnership of voluntary groups and other organisations supporting play across the city.  The forum were successful in gaining Inspiring Scotland Go2Play funding for Play Ranger projects which will run outdoor play sessions in eight sites across the city.  The Edinburgh Play Ranger projects are organised by Smart Play Network, Canongate Youth Project, North Edinburgh Arts and Edinburgh Leisure.  EPF members Dads Rock and The Yard will be adding to the exciting activities on offer at Playday.

Access to Edinburgh’s Playday is free but children should be accompanied by an adult.

For more information contact cf.play@edinburgh.gov.uk

The event has been organised by the City of Edinburgh Council, the Edinburgh Play Forum and many volunteers.

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See city streets exhibition

A touring exhibition tracing 100 years of town planning in Edinburgh opened at the historic Museum of Edinburgh on Saturday.

Edinburgh skyline

The 100 Years of Planning temporary display, which launched at the city council’s Waverley Court headquarters in September before touring different corners of the city, takes the visitor through ten decades of the Edinburgh skyline from 1914 to the present day.  

From the father of modern town planning, Sir Patrick Geddes, to the man who designed Edinburgh’s iconic police boxes, Ebenezer James Macrae, the exhibition takes a look at the personalities who have made significant contributions to the cityscape of the Capital.

Providing a remarkable insight into the changes which have occurred in the city over the last hundred years, the exhibition presents the opportunity to learn lessons from the past. As Edinburgh adapts to the changing social and economic conditions of the future, Sir Patrick Geddes’ concept of ‘Conservative Surgery’ – keeping the best from the past whilst improving the environment of the city for the future – will remain an important consideration for planning.

Edinburgh was at the forefront of town planning many years before the establishment of the Royal Town Planning Institute, and the New Town of Edinburgh, built between 1765 and 1850, is considered to be a masterpiece of city planning. Along with the Old Town, this area of Edinburgh is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Councillor Ian Perry, Convener of the Planning Committee, said: “This exhibition offers a fantastic opportunity to take stock of planning in Edinburgh over the last century. Our Edinburgh World Heritage site is part of the city’s international status and the display provides visitors with a great insight into how this has been achieved.”

Councillor Richard Lewis, Convener of the Culture and Sport Committee, added: “Above the entranceway to the Museum of Edinburgh there is a an old Latin inscription which translates as Today to me, tomorrow to thee. To me, this sums up Edinburgh’s streets and buildings which change and grow as the city gets older and is inherited by new generations. A timeline will run through the exhibition so that visitors can understand the city’s architecture and streets in context with other events that took place in the city and the wider world over the last 100 years.”

The Museum of Edinburgh is housed in a series of 16th to 18th century buildings arranged around a close off the Royal Mile, making parts of the site up to 500 years old. The exhibition is free to enter and will remain in the Museum until 20 June 2015.

Visit the exhibition to find out about some of the important personalities that have shaped the streets and skyline of Edinburgh

1920s: Sir Patrick Geddes – Edinburgh is fortunate to be so closely associated with Geddes, the father of modern town planning in the 1920s.

1930s: Ebenezer James Macrae – Macrae was influential, both as an early adopter and promoter of the idea of conservation, and as the creator of large swathes of inter-war Council house schemes, numerous schools, and the iconic Edinburgh police boxes.

1940s: Sir Patrick Abercrombie – Patrick Abercrombie was an extremely influential figure in UK planning. Abercrombie’s proposals for Princes Street included the creation of three separate decks. The upper level was to be a service road with all traffic diverted from it. The middle level, in the gardens, to be a car park and promenade area, with traffic restricted to a tunnel a level underneath.

1950s: Councillor Pat Rogan –  Rogan was a prominent campaigner in the move to improve slum housing in Edinburgh. He took Harold Wilson on a tour of the slums, and the future prime minister pronounced them the worst he had ever seen.

1960s: Sir Basil Spence – was one of the most important and versatile British architects of the post-War period. He is associated with many buildings of the period including the design of residential blocks on the Canongate (1961-69), Mortonhall Crematorium (1967), and Edinburgh University library on George Square (1965).

1970s: Desmond Hodges OBE – Desmond Hodges became the first Director of the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Committee (ENTCC) in 1972. During his 22 years overseeing the project, the ENTCC carried out over 1,200 repair projects and offered over £7.5 million in grants.

1980s: Sir Terry Farrell – An architect, he has been influential in Edinburgh’s modern changes and was responsible for the Edinburgh Exchange District as well as designing the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

1990s: Professor David Begg – Professor David Begg was a Convenor of Transport who promoted innovative transport policies in the 1990s. His policies included giving buses priority on key ‘greenway’ routes, such as banning cars from driving along Princes Street. Many people strongly disagreed with his methods, but they set out the transport agenda that is still pursued today.

2000s: Enric Miralles – Miralles was a Spanish architect and graduate from the School of Architecture Barcelona, whose largest project came in the form of the Scottish Parliament Building.