Category: Leith Open Space Events

What exactly does democracy mean? The Leith Community Involvement Project has organised a ‘summer school’ so local people can take part in a thought-provoking programme to stimulate debate about the connection between democracy and the lives of ordinary people.

The programme begins in August with drama in the Scottish Parliament (the theatrical kind rather than political debate!). A trip to Holyrood provides the chance to see a performance of “The Journey of Jeannie Deansâ€? following Jeannie’s journey from Edinburgh to London in an attempt to win the freedom of her sister who, she believes, has been wrongly accused of murder.

The summer school ends with a showing of Ken Loach’s film “Land and Freedomâ€?, about the questions raised by a young woman’s discovery that her grandfather fought in the Spanish Civil War.

All activities are free of charge. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT JACKIE MEARNS ON 554 9951 OR 07732471660 – she will be on holiday for two weeks from July 13. Continue reading “Summer in the city”

During Refugee Week Fay Young of Leith Open Space Group joined an information session organised by Edinburgh Refugee Centre. This is the first part of her report.

We sat at tables in small groups grappling with questions. What exactly is an asylum seeker? Where do most refugees come from? What is a migrant worker? Can there be an illegal asylum seeker? Continue reading “True or false?”

Let’s join the campaign for Leith Museum. Mark Lazarowicz, MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, is inviting Leithers near and far to sign a petition to support local groups campaigning for a museum celebrating the history of one of the fastest changing parts of the Capital.

Celebrating Leith’s history, the mural in North Junction Street was created by Tim Chalk and Paul Grime using material collected by Leith Local History Project in 1986. Thanks to Peter Stubbs for use of this photograph © Peter Stubbs www.edinphoto.org.uk

This not a new campaign – local groups such as Leith History Society have been calling for a museum for years – but as Mark told the Evening News
the case is now stronger than ever: “Leith deserves a museum which will strengthen community links at a time of rapid social change, and will highlight Leith’s important role in the history of Scotland as a whole.”

Exactly where the museum will be has yet to be decided (the spotlight falls on possible buildings like Lambs House and the old Customs House). But wherever it is there will be no shortage of exhibits: Leith’s diverse history stretches from seafaring to Trainspotting and celebrity connections include Mary Queen of Scots, Eduardo Paolozzi and Irvine Welsh.

Living memories of local people (recently captured by [murmur] who are returning to Edinburgh in June for a second phase of the oral history project ) are another rich resource for a museum aiming to appeal to people of all ages with family connections across the world.

So lets sign the petition – and pass it on!

It’s amazing what you can pick up with a litter picker (if that’s what those long sticks are called). At first sight on Saturday, Leith Links looked fresh and clean in the spring sunshine. Within two hours it was much cleaner. A group of willing volunteers had filled around 30 refuse sacks with assorted rubbish – crisp packets, drinks cans, cigarette butts, poly bags and a few other things you didn’t want to investigate closely (those litter pickers and rubber gloves meant you didn’t have to!).

Leith Open Space supported the enterprising community event organised by Greener Leith. We were joined by Cllr Gordon Munro (who is standing again for Leith Harbour Ward and got stuck in despite being dressed for a HIBS match, no prizes for picking him out) and Angela Blacklock, a Labour candidate for the new Leith Central Ward in Thursday’s Council elections, who proved to be a dab hand at picking up cigarette butts.

Altogether, as Alastair Tibbitt of Greener Leith said, it was not only a successful afternoon, it was fun too. Here’s to the next one!

If you have time, treat yourself to a walk through living memories today. As you walk round Leith you will almost certainly see the green ear signs marking the spot where local people tell stories that shape the character of this unique part of Edinburgh.

These green ears are symbols of [murmur] a very human approach to local history which we first reported on this website in September last year (see Making History in Leith). At that time we passed on an appeal for local people to come forward with their stories. Now [murmur] Edinburgh has been launched and Leith Open Space is very proud to have played a small part in helping to make local history. Some of our supporters are among the voices on the street.

Memories of life in Leith can come to life with the help of your mobile phone. Dial the number on the sign and you can hear a story (often more than one) triggered by this location. Alternatively, if you don’t have time for a walk today, click on the [murmur] Edinburgh website, and try any of the red dots on the map.

A sense of place: thanks to New Media Scotland for pictures

Remember when you could catch a train from Leith Central Station to Waverley? Just click here for John Stewart’s story? Or try here for Stan’s great tales of ‘the dancing’ on Mondays and Fridays when Alexander’s Ragtime Band filled the Assembly Hall with jiving couples. Then go along to Victoria Swim Centre to hear Gina remember the days when she paid six old pennies for a bath at Victoria Swimming Pool (for a whole shilling she got soap too).

The present inspires stories too. Celina Mbwiria, a founder member of our Opening Doors shadow scheme, celebrates the diversity she finds at the foot of Leith Walk. Click here for her warm memories of the welcome Leith Primary School gave her children at a time when there were no black children in the classroom. And click here to discover how Tommy Miah (who has generously donated food for our Open Space events) brings ‘fusion’ food such as curried haggis to that grand old cinema building which is now The Raj restaurant.

Supporters of Leith Open Space were among many who responded to the appeal for stories when Shawn Micallef came from Toronto last year to explore the potential for developing the [murmur] project in Edinburgh. Mary Moriarty, vice chair of Leith Festival, welcomed Shawn to meet locals at her Port O’ Leith bar with his name chalked among today’s specials on the bar blackboard. (Click here for one of Mary’s stories).

The first 20 story signs were recently launched in Leith but there will always be room for more. Shawn hopes to be back for a second launch in June when [murmur] Leith is part of the Six Cities Design Festival, and the Leith Festival.
[murmur] in Leith is produced in partnership with New Media Scotland (mediascot.org), which supports imaginative collaboration between art and technology. Or as Michelle Kasprzak of NMS puts it: ‘we are using the technology we all carry in our pocket as a tool to access contemporary culture’. New Media Scotland is core funded by the Scottish Arts Council, and [murmur] in Leith is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.