The Edinburgh Reporter November 2019

2
NEWS
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Editor: Phyllis Stephen
editor@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
07791 406 498
The Edinburgh Reporter
Letters to the Editor
Three Peak Challenge
Dear Editor
I invite your readers to join an
amazing charity team climbing the
three highest peaks in the country.
When I was just 22 years old, I was
told I only had three hours to live.
I was on my way to Norway for
a work trip when I fell ill. Luckily,
I wasn’t allowed on the flight
because I had deadly meningitis.
I live with long-term after effects
of the disease - memory loss,
anxiety, and hearing problems
and was one of the reasons I
was so glad I chose to join the
Meningitis Now team in the Three
Peak Challenge earlier this year.
I knew that I was raising money
for a fantastic cause but I also
found the most incredible support
network of people who helped
me through one of the most
exhilarating weekends of my life.I
would encourage anyone, whether
they have had a meningitis
experience or not, to join the
Meningitis Now team. Sign up now
for Meningitis Now’s Three Peaks
Challenge 2020 meningitisnow.org
Holly Jackson - Meningitis Now
Edinburgh
Collected
Several scenes in The Huts were
filmed around the Wester Hailes
Venchie, an adventure playground
built to give children somewhere
to play.
The Huts was one of the first
documentaries made by Channel 4
and showed how the community in
Wester Hailes had built community
huts to provide facilities for groups
and projects. The photo here of
Carnival at the Venchie appeared
in a Sentinel report on the annual
carnival week that was held in
Wester Hailes. It shows how
popular the Venchies were!
Edinburgh Collected is an online
community photo archive
managed by Edinburgh Libraries.
You can add your own photos to
help preserve the city’s history for
the future. It is also a good way
for organisations to preserve their
archives in scrapbooks online.
All Farmers Autocare outlets
across the city at 194 Queensferry
Road, 225 St John's Road, 34
Hillhouse Road, 111 Piersfield
Place, 19c Strathearn Road and
108B Market Street Musselburgh.
All city libraries.
Bonhams 22 Queen St EH2 1JX
Boardwalk Beach Club
50 Marine Drive EH4 5ES
Broughton Place Hair & Beauty
2a Broughton Pl EH1 3RX
Safety First
Dear Editor,
As dark mornings are upon
us, I would like to appeal to all
shopkeepers who offer a morning
newspaper delivery service.
Please ensure your employee has
full safety clothing and equipment
before setting out. Cyclists
without proper lighting and
reflective clothing are vulnerable
on dark, rainy mornings as they
cross streets on their rounds.
Especially when young people
are concerned, I think police
should prosecute any shopkeeper
who does not make such safety
checks. I write as an early
morning driver who has witnessed
several near misses.
Yours etc David Syme
Muddled thinking
Dear Sir / Madam,
There seems to be some
muddled thinking by the
authorities, concerning transport
in the city centre; and very little
consideration of less-mobile
citizens (the elderly, or infirm).
www.edinburghcollected.org
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Café Lowdown
40 George St EH2 2LE
Candersons Sweet Shop
102 Leith Walk EH6 5DT
Close Gallery
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731-733 Ferry Rd EH4 2UA
ESPC Showroom
107 George St EH2 3ES
Grassmarket Community Project
86 Candlemaker Row EH1 2QA
We write about news relating to Edinburgh and the immediate area.
We welcome contributions to our website and newspaper.
The statement that "The number
of bus stops, particularly on
Princes Street will be reduced
in a bid to speed up journeys ..."
displays a lack of understanding
of what buses are for. They are
not something to be got out of the
way as fast as possible, as if they
were just an evil to be tolerated.
They enable people to get around,
especially people less able to walk
far. Some of the city centre stops
are a long walk apart. Making
the less mobile walk even farther
negates the purpose of the buses.
I suspect a lot of this policy is
driven by younger, fit people, who
cannot grasp that we are not all
able to walk far, or ride bicycles.
Likewise, the emphasis on
excluding cars fails to take
account of less-able people who
are physically unable to use public
transport.
Closing roads to buses, and / or
cars, raises the same problems
for those less able to get around
unaided. e.g. Such a person
wishing to access the post office
in Forrest Road will have to find
a way of getting there from a bus
stop ... where ? ... on Teviot Place,
or Lothian Street (?), ... how ? ...
Struggling along in a wheelchair,
or hobbling on sticks, possibly
Henderson's 94 Hanover St EH2
1DB and Holyrood Rd
The Hideout Cafe 40-42 Queen
Charlotte St EH6 6AT
Leith Walk Police Box Pop Up
Croall Pl EH7 4LT
Maialino 34 William St EH3 7LJ
Milk & Honey
78 Queen Street EH2 4NF
Ocean Terminal
Ocean Drive EH6 6JJ
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having to stop here and there to
get breath. The whole idea seems
quite heartless.
Why indeed make any of the
Old Town streets inaccessible for
those less able to walk or cycle?
Is it assumed that such people
would not want or need to access
them, or ought not to be allowed to
in our fit youth culture?
Previous "consultations" by the
Council on various matters, - call
me a cynic, - have seemed to
me window-dressing, the plans
already having been decided and
set in motion long before the
public were "consulted". The
abysmal tram project, a vanity
project if ever there was one,
seems to have been an example
of such non-attention to citizens'
views. I suspect that this City
Centre Transformation is just
another example of a "fait
accompli", masquerading as a
"consulted" project.
Yours faithfully,
Daniel Sutherland
Scottish Arts Club
24 Rutland Sq EH1 2BW
St Bride’s Community Centre
10 Orwell Terrace EH11 2DZ
Strumpets
35 William Street EH3 7LW
Summerhall
1Summerhall EH9 1PL
The Queen's Hall Box Office
Clerk St EH8 9JG
The Royal Scots Club
29-31 Abercromby Pl EH3 6QE
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