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No 70 Autumn 2019
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Clarion Autumn 2019 No 70 Contact :clarion@edinburghu3a.org.uk
The Clarion is the Edinburgh U3A magazine and is published bi-annually with contributions from individual members and groups. The Bulletin is published monthly on-line and contains brief updates on forthcoming events and group news.
In this Issue:
Letter from your new Chair
Other Committee News
Luminate Festival
Clarion Interview Richard de Soldenhoff
Monthly Meetings
Scotland’s Tapestry
Rebuilding the Borders Railway
Hidden Edinburgh
A Wooden Future?
One Night
Round the Groups
Journey to Nantes
Astronomy
Jogging
Scottish Authors: John Muir’s birthplace
Easy Hillwalking
Visits Summer 2019
Garden Groups Tour of Northumberland
Lunch Club
Film Appreciation
Other News
Hidden Edinburgh: the stories behind the photos.
Current Committee
Editor’s Note
Dean village: Moira Winton
No 70 Autumn 2019
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Karyn Costa
Welcome to the
Autumn 2019
edition of the
Clarion. My first
as Chair!
Dear Members,
First, a little about me. After graduating from
Edinburgh University with a degree in French,
I spent the next forty-two years of my life in
France (along with a spell in Tahiti!) teaching
English. Returning to Edinburgh on retirement,
I immediately enrolled in the U3A…..and have
never looked back! I am delighted to participate
in this wonderful organisation and help extend
the social and self-help learning and friendship
opportunities and the challenges it offers.
I hope to carry on the good work done by Bruce
over the past three years and am delighted that
he has agreed to remain on the Committee as
Vice Chair, as well as taking on responsibility
for Internal Communications.
There are a few other changes. Patrick Leach is
taking over from Tony Trewavas on External
Communications. Our thanks and warmest
wishes to Tony. We are pleased to welcome
Jenny Clarke as Assistant Treasurer and Louise
Grimm as Group Coordinator 5. You will find a
full list of all the Committee and details of how
to contact them on your new membership card.
A Luminate event, focusing on “Creative
Ageing” held at Edinburgh Napier University’s
Craiglockhart campus in May was a great
success. Our members demonstrated their
musical, artistic, photographic and dancing
skills, among others, to a large audience,
showcasing how creative we continue to be as
we advance in age. You will find photos of the
event on the next page of the Clarion.
There has been much discussion recently about
our name. It is widely felt the word ‘University’ is
a barrier to people joining. The Third Age Trust
has therefore decided to concentrate attention
on the unadorned logo - U3A - and the strapline
‘Learn, Laugh, Live’, which sums up the
essence of what we are about.
Internal Communications? After three and half years as Chair, Bruce
Cowan is now co-ordinating ‘Internal
Communications.’ He explains:
Part of the job is to oversee our publications
which include the monthly Bulletin and bi-annual
Clarion and help co-ordinate and ensure
consistency. There are other internal
publications to be edited and printed e.g.
Groups Booklet and Guidance for Group
Leaders. Groups are continually changing, new
groups form, and old ones withdrawn, a group
changes leader, venue, day or time, and these
changes have to appear in the Bulletin, Groups
Booklet and the website updated. This is mostly
a routine process carried out by a number of
individuals, namely the Group Coordinators,
Bulletin Editor, Webmaster and Lachlan
Paterson who keeps a spreadsheet of Groups.
I also have the role of Beacon Administrator.
That means I have ‘superpowers’ to control who
has access to what data. So, for example, the
Membership Secretary can see, change, delete,
and email members, while other Committee
Members can only see and email them. The
Treasurer can use the financial functions such
as PayPal payments and renewal payments.
When all members are emailed via Beacon, for
example, sending out the Bulletin and
subscription renewal notices, I get messages
about any failed emails which I then investigate.
Along with the membership secretary, Ann
Ryan, I’m looking at how we communicate with
our 2400 members via e-mail and letter.
In the future we could use Beacon to, for
example, list our groups and allow Group
Leaders of larger groups to keep track of who is
in their group and email them easily. They could
also use the accounting functions for payments
for events, field trips and outings, lessening the
burden on Group Leaders. I will be investigating
these with Jenny Clarke.
Finally, I hope to tidy up our “cloud” files where
we store our various documents so that they are
accessible to all Committee members and
cannot be lost because of anyone’s computer
failure.
Letter from your new Chair Other Committee news
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Luminate Festival
On Tuesday 28th May 2019 Napier University
hosted a Luminate event at Craiglockhart
Campus showcasing 14 different performances
from some of the groups we encompass. The
venue was filled to capacity with 140 guests
and positive comments would suggest it was a
great success.
Among the groups contributing were Art (1 & 2),
Archaeology, Cryptic crossword, Astronomy,
Raspberry Pi, Creative writing, Photography,
Science, Tapestry, Recorders, Ukulele, Blues,
Choir, Recorders, Jazz and Circle dancing. One of the venues we used was the “Rivers
Suite” named after the doctor who pioneered a
new treatment for casualties in the First World
War suffering from shell shock when the cam-
pus was a hospital. Two of those casualties
were the poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried
Sassoon. Tours were arranged for anyone who
wanted to visit the museum displaying their
poems and other artefacts from the time.
Convalescing soldiers arrived in their uniforms
and it appears the seeds of some plants native
to France were carried on the soles of their
boots and took root in the garden. So there is a
little part of the Craiglockhart garden which is
forever France!
Our thanks go to Gary Seath and Nicole
Porterfield from Craiglockhart for their
assistance in making this Event possible
Doreen Barr
The promotion of the event raised some
interesting questions on how society in general
views “Arts and older people” The very
existence of such a category appears to want to
separate us from mainstream society. If you
haven’t already seen it, read Eric Midwinter’s
article in the summer 2019 Edition of TAM .
“The U3A was to be a practical demonstration
that older people (that term again!) had the
skills and resilience to run their own affairs and
in doing so invent their own destiny.”
MG
Circle Dancing and Ukulele. Photos by Geoff Gardner
Choir Photo Gary Seath
Tapestry, recorders and conductor, Jeremy Devlin-Thorp Photos by Geoff Gardner
Photo: Gary Seath
No 70 Autumn 2019
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A life with Microscopes and Motorcycles Maggie talked to Richard de Soldenhoff about his time working as
a medic round the world and his adventures in retirement.
Clarion interview U3A members are not a typical cross- section of the population at large. We are an
independently minded bunch, achievers in many different ways, with extraordinarily
interesting & diverse backgrounds. We have one thing in common, we don’t like being put
into a category of “old people!” In retirement many want to continue contributing to a
better society. In each issue we feature one of our members but selection is difficult!
Where did your inspirations come from?
Your love of travel?
That was largely down to my parents. The
family weren’t wealthy. My father studied in
Edinburgh and then got a job with the Indian
Medical Service. After some years he returned
to Edinburgh to study and met my mother, who
was from Canada. Both encouraged me to look
beyond the confines of Edinburgh and one of
my first short posts as a medical student was in
Pakistan with a friend of my parents. They were
fundamental Baptists and their outlook was
somewhat different from my own, but I faced
many situations that I would never have had to
deal with at that stage in my life had I stayed at
home working for the NHS.
While I did return home, I found the draw of the
challenges and responsibilities that came with
working in the “Third World” was too great,
despite the attraction of the camaraderie and work ethic that was typical of the NHS at that time.
Your love of music? My father was an obstetrician and worked from home. His waiting room was our dining room but unfortunately this had no soundproofing. After one patient disclosed that they found the overheard conversations “so interesting”, speakers were installed playing Bruckner, Wagner and Mahler at top volume. I think that my love of music must have started then. Luckily, most years I was able to come back to Edinburgh for the Festival and a cultural “top up” of my batteries, enough to keep going for another year.
What were the highlights of over 30 years?
Few countries can match working in the South
Pacific “paradise” of Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
where I worked as District Medical Officer for a
year in 1977 after
training in general
practice back in
Edinburgh. Imagine an
archipelago of 82
islands of lush tropical forest and fertile volcanic
soils. Moreover, because the islands were
administered jointly by France and Britain, good
food - salami, French cheese and even fresh
baguettes were readily available, unlike many
former British protectorates.
What was the most beautiful?
The mountainous and fiercely independent
country of Nepal where I worked as a project
leader for a leprosy control project in the east of
the country for 5 years between 1988 and 1993.
I learned to speak Nepali and still visit regularly,
as well as surprising Nepalese restaurant staff
in Edinburgh. No secrets there! Your most frustrating experience?
Once considered a centre of learning and the
Buddhist religion, very few foreigners apart from
Buddhist pilgrims visit Bihar. With a mainly rural
population, Bihar has lagged far behind other
Indian states in terms of social and
economic development & health care. I spent 9
months there trying (but failing) to get a leprosy
project off the ground.
The best country to live in?
Without a doubt, Indonesia.
A stunning
combination of
islands with some of
the world’s best
cuisine. Altogether I
spent 10 years there
working on leprosy
and tuberculosis
programmes.
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The most challenging?
I was working in Zambia between 1982 and
1988, 20 years after independence and just at
the start of the AIDS epidemic. I was working for
the Zambia government which involved signing
their official secrets act and was contracted to
set up a new leprosy management programme,
my first big job in leprosy as well as being
responsible for TB control in the country.
What about retirement?
I’ve kept busy volunteering in residential centres offering respite and holiday care and as a sighted guide on walking holidays for visually impaired. Having become a specialist in leprosy, I’ve been a guest lecturer for the University of Glasgow; Diploma Course in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
But the best thing I’ve ever done was to donate a kidney. I remember visiting a friend who was unlucky enough to get an infection which led to kidney failure and realised what a miserable quality of life dialysis allowed. Altruistic donation carries no reward other than, in my case, a letter of thanks from the recipient. It also carries fewer risks for the donor than many popular activities such as scuba diving, horse riding and skiing. Many donors have medical backgrounds and are well aware of the odds. The selection process is rigorous so only those physically and mentally suited to being donors are accepted.
Six weeks after the operation, I was back climbing “Munros.” See above! Do you have any regrets?
Never having stopped long enough to settle
down and have a family. Having been to
boarding school, I wouldn’t send my children
there. Nevertheless, I am full of admiration for
those who take on responsibility for nurturing
the next generation.
Bucket list?
I plan to travel to Bhutan in 2020 - for a holiday!
Monthly Meetings
Scotland’s Tapestry In June, Andrew Crummy, the designer for the
Great Scottish Tapestry, came to tell us about
how this remarkable work came about. Andrew
was the son of Helen Crummy, founder member
of the Craigmillar Festival and a community
activist with a determination to improve the lives
of local people through the arts. He remembers
his home as being full of colour, laughter, music
and drama. Like many artists, he was dyslexic
and school was not for him but he went on to
train as an illustrator at Dundee and Glasgow
Art Schools and became involved in community
and public art through the creation of large
scale murals, often depicting local history, and
in the Battle of Prestonpans tapestry in 2010.
This unique project was to tell the entire story of
Scotland’s history from the end of the ice age in
8,500 BC to the creation of the Scottish
Parliament in 1999. The idea for the project was
conceived by Alexander McCall Smith and the
story line by Alistair Moffat. It involved over
1000 stitchers led by Dorie Wilkie who ran
workshops, visited the stitching groups to offer
advice and co-ordinated the volunteers. It is
actually cotton & linen fabric embroidered with
wool rather than tapestry.
Logistically, the task was challenging. The
designs for the panels were devised by
Andrew who prepared sketches and translated
these to full sized drawings for the 160 panels
which were then traced and sent out to the
teams of volunteer stitchers from all over
Scotland. As they learnt and shared new skills,
(and a bit of Scottish history) this generated a
real creative buzz as well as creating new social
groups. More than 1000 stitchers took part and
the finished tapestry measures 143 metres.
The tapestry was exhibited throughout Scotland
including 2 visits to the Scottish Parliament
where it was seen by more than 5000 people a
day. The project generated such enthusiasm
that it generated spin- offs amongst the groups
of stitchers and many went on to create other
smaller scale tapestries using their new skills.
Maggie Gilvray
No 70 Autumn 2019
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Rebuilding the Borders Railway
On July 17th, author and railway enthusiast
Ann Glen, gave a most interesting and very
well attended talk on the rebuilding of the
Borders railway line.
Ann comes from a family of engineers. She is a
graduate of Glasgow and Strathclyde
Universities and a Fellow of the Royal Scottish
Geographical Society. While writing the book,
she visited the site on numerous occasions,
walking several parts of the route and speaking
to workers on the line to gather material. She
was one of the first to travel on the new line
between Waverley Station and Tweedbank.
Her book, ‘The Waverley Route – Its Heritage
and Revival’ was on sale at the meeting.
The Borders railway was first constructed during
the 1850’s and completed in 1862 by the North
British Railway Company. It ran from Edinburgh
to Carlisle, a distance of 98 miles, and quickly
got a reputation as the toughest main line in
Britain to operate because of its twisting curves
and steep gradients. It was christened the Wa-
verley Route after Sir Walter Scott’s novel and
was extremely popular for day excursions taking
as many as 300,000 passengers per year.
It was closed in 1969 as a result of the
Beeching report and re-opened in 2015
following the route of the original line along a
distance of 30 miles from Edinburgh to
Tweedbank. The full extent to Carlisle was
considered but thought, at the time, too
expensive to construct. The promise was that it
would open up the Scottish Borders to tourists
and commuters, encouraging people to move in
and stay in the area.
When the line was first surveyed prior to its
re-opening it was beset with obstacles such as
collapsed structures, blocked tunnels and
culverts. It was overgrown in many places and
in others it had been taken over for agriculture.
Occasionally newly-built houses and agricultural
buildings had been erected. Protected species
such as badgers, bats and lampreys had to be
safeguarded and rehomed. Old mineworkings,
particularly at Monktonhall, had flooded and
extensive areas required to be stabilised. Two
hundred miles of drilling took place in
preparation for 4,500 tonnes of grout which was
pumped into the ground. The project also
included refurbishing the 23 arch Newbattle
viaduct at Lothianbridge and the nearby
Glenesk viaduct. The latter, built in 1829, is one
of Scotland’s earliest railway bridges. It was part
of the horse drawn Edinburgh Dalkeith railway.
Where cables had to be laid, fibreoptic was the
choice instead of copper which was too
attractive to thieves. The track is mainly
single but doubled up at passing places.
Crossovers were manufactured off site and
wagons used specifically for laying new tracks
were used. Borthwick was the steepest section
of track to be laid. There are no traditional
signal boxes but small electrically operated
boxes. All infill material in use on the railway
was taken from Falahill Quarry. One hundred
and thirty two bridges were reconstructed, 97 of
which had radical refurbishment, one main
reason being to take emergency vehicles. The
bridges were painted in Railtrack green. 1,100
workers were employed in its reconstruction.
Sherrifhall roundabout and Hardengreen viaduct
were probably the largest structures the railway
had to negotiate.
The Waverley line was opened on time and on
budget for £300,000,000. The contractors were
BAM and Nuttal. It has proved popular both with
Borderers visiting Edinburgh and Edinburgh
residents on day trips to the Borders with four
million journeys being made in the first three
years.
Gill Baldwin
Photo: Edinburgh reporter Sept 2015
No 70 Autumn 2019
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Hidden Edinburgh How well do you know your city?
Photos contributed by U3A members. See page 19 for the “answers” 1. Peter Jones 2. Peter Jones 3, Marjory Combe 4 Peter Jones 5 Penny McKee 6. Morag Pirie 7. Bob Douglas 8. Bob Douglas
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No 70 Autumn 2019
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9. Peter Jones ,
10. Maggie Gilvray 11. Peter Jones 12. Bob Douglas 13. Ruth Hannah 14. Bob Douglas 15 Eileen Holttum 16 Maggie Gilvray 17. Catherine E. Dignan
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No 70 Autumn 2019
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A Wooden Future? Professor Tony Trewavas. FRS.
In a previous article in The Clarion
(Treeconomics) I indicated that the trees
growing in Edinburgh provided services
equivalent to £400 million and I suggested the
Scottish government should increase its
ambition for tree coverage of Scotland to at
least one third of land surface. I think that
should go now to 50%.
Why? Because cars, planes, batteries, and
even skyscrapers can now be built out of wood.
Not the ordinary planks that can be purchased
at the local buildings store but something called
cross laminated timber (CLT), engineered by
materials scientists. It is made from sheets of
wood usually spruce or beech that are
mechanically dried, stacked together at right
angles to each other and glued over the whole
surface reducing expansion and contraction to
negligible levels. Each panel consists of
between 3-7 boards.
Currently Scotland imports CLT. With a large
increase in forest coverage, it could be
manufactured here with the benefits that forests
confer on wildlife, soil stabilisation, water
run-off and climate change.
A major use of CLT is in the building trade. It
can be used like Jenga blocks placed one on
top of the other and fixed with appropriate joints.
An 18 storey student residence in Vancouver is
currently the highest but shortly to be overtaken
by a building in Norway. Although the tallest
here is only 7 Storeys, there are plans for an 80
storey building , 300 ft high, in London. But mid
-height blocks of 7-8 storeys can be
prefabricated and put together using cranes in a
few days, saving construction times.
Building this way replaces an estimated 80% of
concrete and steel normally needed. Concrete
is still needed for foundations but much smaller
in depth because wood is lighter. The wood
construction starts above the damp course.
Wood is an excellent insulator against winter
temperatures but does require external cladding
against the elements. Concrete and steel
production are primary sources of global
emissions; different authors quote anywhere
from 8-15% of the total. Using wood in this way
locks the carbon fixed during tree growth for 60-
70 years contrasting with the mistaken
approach of burning wood in power stations
thus immediately releasing this source of stored
carbon. So the benefits to climate change are
substantial.
So how does wood achieve this? It consists of
three basic constituents:-
1. Cellulose, long strong fibres similar in
structure to Kevlar in bullet proof jackets and
now finding use as a petrochemical substitute in
paints, glues, electronic components, nappies
and potentially clothing.
2. Lignin, a mixture of organic compounds that
have potential in replacing petrochemical
products in adhesives, coatings and resins.
Chemical modification of lignin can provide
sources for many other valuable chemicals.
One group has found how to completely remove
lignin from wood leaving a transparent structure
useful for skylights and in due course windows.
3. Hemicellulose, a mixture of different
carbohydrates polymerised into a branched
chain structure. The potential is to use this to
replace plastic. Already several products,
including carrier bags and Sulupacs, equivalent
to the plastic bottle have been made. When
buried they degrade within a year. Sulupac
aims also to produce cutlery, pens, combs etc.,
directly from wood.
The Toyota “Setsuna” is a roadster made
almost entirely of wood. Batteries have been
made by embedding appropriate materials into
the wood fibres.
Finally, densified wood, made by partially
removing lignin and hemicellulose followed by
hot pressing, produces a high-performance
structural material with a more than tenfold
increase in strength, toughness and ballistic
resistance and with enormous dimensional sta-
bility. Its specific strength is higher than that of
most structural metals and alloys, making it a
low-cost, high-performance, lightweight
alternative. It bounces when dropped and
sounds like steel. Its potential uses are
enormous.
No 70 Autumn 2019
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Helen Welham read this short story out
at the Luminate event as a contribution
from her Creative Writing Group
One Night
Moira awoke suddenly. She had heard a
noise. Her heart started to race as she realised
what it was. Someone was in the bedroom.
She could hear quiet breathing. Why hadn't the
burglar alarm gone off? Five years ago, after
they'd been burgled, she had insisted on having
one fitted. Ian had grumbled about the cost,
but he knew it made her feel safer. She always
set it at night when he was away. She was sure
it was on when she came to bed.
As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw the
faint outline of a figure, bending over the chest
of drawers. One drawer was being eased out,
so softly that, if she hadn't been already awake,
the sound would never have disturbed her.
Concentrating on breathing steadily, she tried to
think what to do.
Best to pretend to be asleep. If it was money
and jewelry the intruder was after, he could
have them, she didn't care. Not that there was
much left since the last burglary. Coming
home to a ransacked house had been so
disheartening, she had decided not to replace
the necklaces, brooches and rings. Instead,
that year, they had flown to Italy for a week's
holiday, paid for with the insurance money.
Now the figure was rifling in the bedside
cabinet, still making scarcely a sound. He
stopped, looking over at the bed. Had he
sensed something? Snoring softly, Moira
turned on her side, facing away from the
intruder. She realised that he was searching
through her handbag. Thank goodness she
always kept fifty pounds in her purse. And her
credit cards were all there too. Surely that
would satisfy him? Every sense alert, she lay
rigid, forcing herself to breathe steadily, willing
the thief to leave.
After what seemed an age, she thought she
heard the bedroom door click shut. Moira lay
still, straining to hear any sound until, satisfied
she was alone, she turned to reach out for
Her mobile phone. When Ian was away, she
kept it near, under the pillow on his side of the
bed.
"So that's where it is."
A scream died in her throat as the light was
switched on and she saw her husband smiling
down at her. "Ian. I thought you weren't getting
back till tomorrow." "The meeting ended early.
Thought I'd surprise you but you were fast
asleep. Early night?"
Moira nodded. "What were you doing?" she
asked. What are you looking for?" Ian held out
his hand. "Your mobile. Mine's knackered.
Thanks. Still the same code, 6078?"
She nodded. "Right. Got to tell John what was
decided. Shan't be long. You go back to sleep."
He blew her a kiss as he closed the bedroom
door.
She lay back, calmer now, thinking how lucky it
was that Derek had cancelled. That was too
close a call. Then, heart thudding once again,
she sat up. On her phone. The texts. Derek's
texts.
Had she remembered to delete them as usual?
Would Ian find them? Trembling, she lay down,
………...waiting.
Helen Welham
Publication by Creative Writing
Group 1
Five years after our first publication, Friday
Mornings in Blackhall, the members of
Creative Writing 1 have produced a new
booklet. Its title Capturing the Essence reflects
the work of the group through our short stories
and poetry.
The booklet costs £2.50 and all profits will go
to St.Columba's Hospice. You will be able to
buy it at the monthly meetings, from St
Columba's charity shops and also from
members of the group. It will make an ideal
stocking filler for Christmas!
I hope that you will enjoy reading it as much we
look forward to hearing one another's work at
our monthly meetings.
No 70 Autumn 2019
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No
French Conversation: A journey to
Nantes.
The French Network Group's week long
exchange visit to Nantes began on what
should have been an historic day, the 29th.
of March. This was the date that was
planned for Brexit!
The group of 14 were hosted by students at the
Nantes Universite Permanente (UP) which
gives "learning for pleasure" courses mainly for
third agers. A list of interests was given to their
hosts by the Edinburgh Group prior to their visit
and naturally France and the French language
were at the top. So of course there were
language classes, but there was much more.
Concerts, an afternoon ramble, a visit to the
River Erdre museum followed by a river cruise
were organised for them by their welcoming
hosts. Jules Verne was born in Nantes so a visit
to see his birthplace was included. The group
found a memorial to the abolition of the slave
trade very moving and thought provoking.
They all thought that there was so much to see
and learn about in Nantes. There was the
history of Brittany and the history of Nantes.
The latter was once a great shipping hub whose
ship yards have now been spectacularly
redeveloped. You can tour these riding on a
huge mechanical elephant 12 metres high,
made from wood and steel and carrying up to
50 people! (See photo in summer 2019 TAM)
The Botanical and Japanese gardens are also
popular with visitors.
The visit came out of Anglophone culture group
formed in Nantes by Brian Frost Smith and the
group are very grateful to him and to their group
leader Dorothy Buglass for arranging such an
enjoyable trip.
Jean Cuthbert
Round the Groups
On these pages we try to reflect some of the breadth of interests and activities represented by a few of our 200 interest groups.
Photo: Shauna Dickson
City of real and imaginary journeys
Harbour of slavery and of Jules Verne
L'Espoir de Nantes, Nantes L'Aimable*
Camellias and suffering, magnolias and bomb sites
Time’s carousel stops for no one.
*These are the names of slave ships that journeyed from Nantes to Africa and America and back.
All the journeys are recorded on the Nantes quayside as part the memorial.
No 70 Autumn 2019
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Astronomy
New to Edinburgh, I received such a warm
welcome from the then fledgling U3A
Astronomy Group in Morningside Library that I
happily joined the U3A, took on the role of
Group Leader, and stayed.
The defining characteristic of this group is
curiosity. How did the Universe begin? Is there
life on Mars? How did the elements evolve?
What will the night sky look like this month?
What did the scientific literature recently report?
And so much more.
Do you remember where you were when the
first image of a black hole was published? We
do. On Wednesday April 10th 2019 at 14:00 our
speaker Nic Ross was scheduled to talk about
black holes. On that same date, at that same
hour, the very first image was published. We
were thrilled to be part of this event, albeit in a
very small way.
Group member Alan Pickup at the Luminate Event
Many other experts, including Prof. Dame
Jocelyn Bell Burnell, willingly gave of their time
to share their knowledge with us. We had
studied Prof. Charles Cockell’s “Astrobiology
and the Search for Extra-terrestrial Life" on
YouTube and were delighted when he came in
person to speak to us. We are currently
studying “How the Universe Began” a
Smithsonian DVD kindly donated by one of our
members. Speakers receive the same warm
welcome that I did, and some have stayed to
join the group, adding a level of professional
expertise. Members too, give talks about
subjects which intrigue them, some having
never given talks before.
Our away trips to dark sky sites, observatories,
the National Space Centre in Leicester were a
mixture of learning, improving our navigational
skills, often in the dark, getting to know each
other better but, above all, having fun.
At Kielder Observatory we were fortunate to see
an aurora, albeit not nearly as impressive as
this one. We observe in the hope of clear skies
and stunning vistas.
Credit: Swedish Traveling World Press 2014.
We are very grateful to both the Morningside
Library staff for hosting us and, when the group
outgrew the library, to Gary Seath of Napier
University for facilitating our move to the
Merchiston Campus, the first U3A group to
meet there. I personally am very grateful to the
GPS - group members who help plan our meet-
ings - and to all members for contributing to the
group with such enthusiasm.
Pat Williams. https://u3asites.org.uk/edinburgh/
page/59668
The Astronomy Group on a visit to the
Royal Observatory Edinburgh 2016.
No 70 Autumn 2019
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Jogging
Have you noticed that we have a Jogging
group? Perhaps you thought that it is not for
you? Perhaps you were wrong. Jogscotland
claims 170 members in their 70s and several in
their 80s! The health benefits for joggers are
well-known, but for older people some are
particularly relevant - increased bone density,
better balance, muscle mass as well as
endorphin release.
Our group jogs along different routes in the city,
usually about 5-6k in distance, always ending
with a coffee stop, so it is a social activity as
well as a physical one. We take it easy, stop
when we want to, go on when we are ready; no
one is left behind. We loved the NHS “Couch to
5k” starter programme. All you need is a mobile
phone and earphones, then you just download
the programme and follow the
instructions. Nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/get-
running-with-couch-to-5k. Try it! - then join us.
No, this is not a dogfood advertisement, but I
assure you that jogging Prolongs Active Life!
David Syme
Easy Hillwalking
This Group has only been running for a little
while, but already we have scaled the heights of
three of Edinburgh’s Seven Hills on our Monday
afternoon walks. We had a rare, beautifully
sunny day for our outing to Arthur's Seat which
was mobbed, but it was great to be up there.
Unfortunately, our first assault on Corstorphine
Hill had to be postponed due to thunder and
flooding. July 22nd was another fine hot
summer’s day and six of us tackled the “twin
peaks” of Craiglockhart to enjoy the fine views
of the city from the summit of Wester
Craiglockhart, the highest of Edinburgh’s Seven
Hills. We were sustained by wild
raspberries on the way and refreshed by tea or
ale in the “Kilted Pig” .
Susan Whitehead
Scottish Authors visit john Muir’s birthplace in Dunbar
“I care to live only to entice people to look at
nature’s loveliness.” John Muir
(Words inscribed on the stone in Makars Court,
near the Writers’ Museum)
After studying the works of Robert Louis
Stevenson our group moved on to study other
Scottish authors –Neil Munro, Naomi Mitchison,
Nan Shepherd, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, James
Hogg and so many others. Then each summer
sees us off to visit some site associated with
one of our authors. But we still celebrate Robert
Louis’ birthday with a meal each year!
In July six of us travelled to John Muir’s
birthplace in Dunbar. The museum is in the
original old house on three different levels, but
there is a modern lift for those who want to
avoid the steep stone stairs.
John Muir is world famous as a conservationist
who promoted the idea of National Parks. There
is a photo of him enjoying a cigar with
President Roosevelt in what would become
Yosemite National Park. His Scottish childhood
is portrayed on the ground floor. It had a strong
influence on him throughout his life and the
excerpts from his autobiography tell of a severe
upbringing in a very religious household, but his
God was in the cathedral of the trees and it was
his grandfather who took him out to the woods
where he gained his love for nature. The family
moved to North America when he was 11 and
here he spent many years travelling mostly on
foot. On one occasion he walked the length of
the USA. His many books are full of his
thoughts and deeply inspiring words and these
adventures are shown in words and
photographs upstairs in the museum. He wrote
many books, one of the last being an
autobiography of his Scottish childhood.
After a scrumpious tea in the cafe down the
street, some of us went off to the harbour, a
little changed from John Muir’s day but we could
still see the rocks where he scrambled even if
we couldn’t find the pool he was bathed in!
Margaret Roy
Descending from Wester Craiglockhart Hill
No 70 Autumn 2019
14
Visits Summer 2019
February: V&A Dundee.
Our first visit of the year was to Dundee’s
celebrated V & A Museum. It was a pleasant
drive to Dundee in brilliant sunshine with a
comfort and coffee stop at Glendoick Garden
Centre. Last winter’s Ocean Liners' exhibition
complemented our visit to the Fairfield Heritage
Centre in Govan on the history of shipbuilding
on the Clyde, and showed the opulence of the
interiors and fashions of the Ocean Liners of the
20th century. The Design Galleries, which are
permanent, are dedicated to telling the story of
design in Scotland and its relevance to our lives
They cover architecture, furniture, fashion and
jewellery, displaying the magnificent tiara with
diamond wings created for the Duchess of
Roxburghe; and even Dennis the Menace comic
strip, to name but two.
Yvonne Michelson
May: Huntingtower & Stanley Mills
This was the first of the summer visits but was
dogged by winter weather! It was raining hard
when we left Edinburgh and it was raining even
harder when we arrived at Huntingtower just
outside Perth!. The day of my recce had been
warm with bright autumn colours so we planned
that the 50 members should divide into two
groups, one to explore the tower while the other
strolled on the lawns around the tower … but
pouring rain hadn't been in the plan!
Fortunately, Dobbie's Garden Centre is just
across the road so while one group braved the
rain, the other took refuge and supped coffee.
The gloomy day made admiring the painted
ceiling and walls a challenge as they hadn't
installed lighting in the 16th century. Mobile
phone lights came to our rescue and provided
illumination. However, we sheltered in the
Historic Environment Scotland ticket office to
hear an excellent summary of the history of this
tower and its importance in Scotland's story.
Hot soup, sausage rolls and mounds of
sandwiches in The Glovers' Arms, warmed and
restored the travellers ready for the afternoon at
Stanley Mills.
These cotton mills are situated attractively on a
curve of the River Tay. The buildings and the
history of the mills are similar to those at New
Lanark but Stanley has not developed as a
tourist attraction, so the realities of a working
mill are easier to visualise. There is a huge
amount to see and the site manager Eilidh
kindly acted as guide directing our attention to
key points and describing the erratic progress of
the mill from cotton in 1785 to acrylic in 1989.
Isobel Miller
June: Kellie Castle & Kirkcaldy Art
Gallery
A group of 50 U3A members were expecting a
visit to Kirkcaldy Art Gallery and Museum to see
the collections of Wemyss ware and Scottish
paintings and enjoy a coffee stop.
Unfortunately, a thunderstorm and resulting
water ingress closed the gallery. Instead we
visited St. Andrews Museum where we were
made most welcome and learnt much about the
history of St. Andrews.
We then set off to Kellie Castle where we had a
substantial lunch provided by National Trust of
Scotland catering staff. The castle comprises
two tower houses joined in the early 17th
century and later restored in the 19th century by
the Lorimer family. It has an interesting mixture
of features including fine plaster ceilings,
painted panelling and tapestries. The drawing
room features a lovely painted panel by
Phoebe Anna Traquair, well-known to us in
Edinburgh as a leading proponent of the Arts
and Crafts style.
The 17th century garden was popular, as was
the art installation of coloured sheets flapping
on washing lines, part of the East Neuk Festival.
A good day was had by everyone despite the
last minute change in arrangement and we were
very fortunate in the weather.
Ann Kerrigan
No 70 Autumn 2019
15
Garden Groups Tour June 2019
The Garden Tour this year visited the counties
of Northumberland and Durham, and the
recurring theme was THE WEATHER. It
seemed that many visits started with ‘thank
goodness you weren’t here yesterday’ or ‘it’s
been terrible all morning’. We could see rain on
the horizon but the luck of Edinburgh U3A held
and we only caught one or two brief showers.
Forty members set out from the coach station
on St Andrew’s Square at a very reasonable
hour. Everyone was on time (thank you) and
everyone seemed cheerful. A quick drive down
the A1 brought us to the Mindrum estate,
Cornhill-on-Tweed. Our host was very
enthusiastic and knowledgeable and gave us a
tour of the gardens, first designed in the late
19th century with 7 acres of romantic planting –
roses, violas, hardy perennials and scented
shrubs. The garden sloped steeply down
through the woods to a rather full river. Our
host’s family meanwhile were busy preparing
refreshments, and later, our lunch.
Afterwards we travelled a short way down the
road to visit Kirky Cottage. In just six years the
owner had created a beautiful garden
overlooking the surrounding Bowmont Hills. The
garden was a wonderful example of how gravel
can be used around a central water feature with
plants seeding themselves at random, including
soft pastel shades of antirrhinums, which I, for
one, would not have thought of sowing in
gravel. There was a large area strewn with
poppies which was quite magical too.
The second garden of the afternoon was
Ferndene Garden near Ryton. This garden was
under an acre in size and surrounded by trees.
Here we saw espaliered apple trees and wild
flowers. A scarlet border was planted in 2014 to
reflect the modern interest in hot colours in
contrast to the pastel borders of recent years.
From there we travelled to our hotel, the Holiday
Inn in Jesmond, on the outskirts of Newcastle
city centre.
After breakfast on Saturday we set off for
Hexham, passing through the attractive old
market town to Loughbrow House at the top of
a steep hill. If we thought that we were at the
top of the hill on reaching the entrance to the
house, we were wrong. The ‘100 yard’
driveway, as described by the owner, was steep
indeed and turned out to be about half-a-mile.
Members were flagging but the advance party
notified the 92-year-old owner who drove down
to pick up those who needed a lift. We were
treated to a large garden with a part-walled
kitchen garden and paved courtyard. There
were some colourful borders with a wild flower
meadow and specimen trees. The owner had
baked cakes for us and had home-made jams
and chutneys to sell as well.
Lunch on Saturday was taken at the Boatside
Inn just outside Hexham where the North and
South Tyne meet – an idyllic spot.
After lunch we travelled for 15 minutes to the
garden of a partly-retired accountant. Imagine a
house, doubled in size by McAlpine (who also
diverted the road that used to pass close to the
house) surrounded by a number of immaculate
gold-medal-standard gardens of herbaceous
perennials, grasses, a formal pool with bronze
statue and clipped formal hedging. We were
served tea, which came free of charge, under a
green oak open building, built by local
craftsmen using trees from the surrounding
woodland: Truly astonishing (as was the inside
of the house too).
On Sunday we ventured into County Durham to
Bishop Auckland, narrowly avoiding a car which
had come down a slip road towards us in the
wrong direction. Our destination was Woodside
House at Witton. The 2-acre garden had been
superbly landscaped by the owners with island
beds and borders, rhododendrons and 3 ponds,
and has featured in the Daily Telegraph and
Amateur Gardening. The garden has also been
the winner of ‘Bishop Auckland in Bloom’.
Plants were for sale and we took advantage of
that. Our next stop was for lunch and an afternoon
visit to the historic Raby Castle at Staindrop.
The castle, the seat of the Barons Barnard, is
still a private home and partly open to the
public. The gardens and parkland cover 22
acres which we couldn’t manage in one
afternoon, but thought it was a place to consider
revisiting one day.
We set off for our return journey to Edinburgh
on Monday morning looking forward to our final
garden visits. (Continued on next page)
No 70 Autumn 2019
16
Garden Groups Tour: continued
The first was Bide-a-Wee near Morpeth.
Coffee and biscuits were served and we were
delighted with the garden set in an old stone
quarry with a lake at the bottom. The garden
holds the National Collection of Centaureas
(Cornflower and Knapweed family) with 90
species and cultivars to spot. The immaculate
nursery was a treat, and we were able to fill up
a bit more of the coach’s storage space!
After lunch at the Shoulder of Mutton in Long
Horsley we travelled to our final stop at Howick
Hall, the ancestral seat of the Earls Grey since
1319. The hall is not open to the public but has
a small information centre illustrating the
history of the house and its occupants.
The garden and estate is very large and we
only had time to visit part of it, some members
opting to visit the tea room to sample the
family’s famous blends of teas! A recent
addition was a new sensory garden, opened in
2018, with the help of funding from the National
Autistic Society.
Then it was back on the coach to return to
Edinburgh in bright sunshine with views of the
North Sea coast, glimpsing Bamburgh Castle
and Lindisfarne in the distance.
Thanks go to Michele and Bill Terrell and Ella
Bruce; Glentons Travel for the transport and
the Holiday Inn at Jesmond for making our trip
so enjoyable.
Ann Taylor
Lunch Club
Welcome to the Lunch Club. Join us to
sample some of Edinburgh’s varied cuisine in
good company! There is no fixed membership
and everyone is welcome. Please chat to
everyone around you, especially anyone on
their own.
Guidelines
• The time is 12.15 for 12.30pm.
• Please pay for your drinks as you get them.
• Payment for the meals varies. The money is
usually taken at the table (if it is a fixed price
menu) or individually at the till. Keep a note
of the cost of your meal and ANY DRINKS
ordered. It is your choice to give a tip.
• Book the next meal at the previous lunch, at
an Open Meeting or by telephoning the
organiser for the month. See below for
organiser’s telephone number.
• Remember to cancel, even on the morning
of the lunch, by telephoning the organiser.
• Recommendations for venues are
appreciated. These should be easy to reach
and able to accommodate 15-20 people.
• Lunches are on the 1st Tuesday, 1st
Wednesday and 2nd Thursday of each
month (except in January)
September - 3rd, 4th and 12th,
Apiary, 33 Newington Road (Buses
3,5,7,8,29,31,37,47), 2 courses £12 or brunch £8,
Contact Jess Timms, 07947 319157 or
jesstimms@yahoo.com
October - 1st, 2nd and 10th,
Clay Oven, 86 Morningside Road (Buses
5,11,15,16,23,36), lunch £6.95,
Contact Pauline Macdonald, 447 9056 or pauline-
macdonald2005@yahoo.co.uk
November - 5th, 6th and 14h,
Verdo, 21 Newington Road, (buses 3, 7, 8, 31,
3747 and 49), £11.99 for 2 courses + soft drink,
tea or coffee,
Contact Judy Mitchelson, 554 5690 or judymitch-
elson@gmail.com
December - 3rd, 4th and 12th,
Kweilin Cantonese Restaurant, 19/21 Dundas
Street, (buses 23 and 27), £11.50 for two courses
+ 10% tip,
Contact Jenny Di Rollo, 311 6998 or 0787
0132479 or jennydr@hotmail.com
February 2020 - 4th, 5th and 13th,
Papilio, 158 Bruntsfield Place (Buses 5,11,15,
16,23,36), 2 courses £11.50,
Contact Pauline Macdonald, 447 9056 or pauline-
macdonald2005@yahoo.co.uk
PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE
RESTAURANT TO BOOK / CANCEL.
See the BULLETIN and the U3A Webpage for any
changes, further details and directions.
No 70 Autumn 2019
17
Film Appreciation Group
The Film Appreciation Group 5 (FAG5meets
monthly in the premises of The Edinburgh Cine
& Video Society, originally known as
the Waverley Cine. Founded in 1936, it is one
of the oldest amateur movie making society in
Scotland. The Society has occupied premises
in Fettes Row, in the New Town of Edinburgh
since its inception. The property at Fettes Row
was the first building in the New Town to be
restored under the auspices of the New Town
Conservation Society in the 1970s. Today the
membership is much smaller than it was in the
heyday of amateur film making. However its
small 54 seat cinema is ideal for showing films
to groups.
As a member of the E.C.V.S. I thought that this
would be a unique venue in which to host a film
appreciation group, as the premises also have
a meeting room with tea and coffee making
facilities. Unfortunately there is no disabled
access to the premises, which are in a
basement area. We are over the closed
summer months upgrading the club facilities,
including a hearing loop in the cinema.
Group members participated in the selection of
the films included in the 2019-20 programme,
which is listed below. The viewings take place
on the second Wednesday of each month at
2.00pm in the clubrooms at 23a Fettes Row,
Edinburgh, followed with refreshments and a
discussion of the showing. It’s a very informal
and friendly group; if you wish to join us please
email stewart.emm@yahoo.com.
Wednesday 11th September La Vie en
Rose is a 2007 Biopic of the iconic French
Singer Edith Piaf.
Wednesday 9th October The Man Who Knew
too Much. An American physician and his wife
take matters into their own hands after
assassins planning to execute a foreign Prime
Minister kidnap their son.
Wednesday 13th November Argo. Acting
under the cover of a Hollywood producer
scouting a location for a science fiction film, a
CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to
rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S.
hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
Wednesday 11th December Cinema
Paradiso. A filmmaker recalls his childhood
when falling in love with the pictures at the
cinema of his home village and forms a
deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
Wednesday 8th January The Little Shop of
Horrors. A nerdy florist finds his chance for
success and romance with the help of a giant
man-eating plant who demands to be fed.
Wednesday 12th February No Country for Old
Men is a 2007 American neo-Western crime
thriller film written and directed by Joel and
Ethan Coen. A cat and mouse thriller starring
Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh
Brolin, it follows a Texas welder and
Vietnam War veteran in the desert landscape of
1980 West Texas.
Wednesday 11th March Belleville Rendez-
Vous. A hand drawn animation; there is little
dialogue and much of the narrative is
conveyed through song and pantomime. It tells
the story of Madame Souza, an elderly woman
who goes on a quest to rescue her grandson
Champion, a Tour de France cyclist, who has
been kidnapped by the French mafia for
gambling purposes and taken to the city of
Belleville.
Wednesday 8th April Pan’s Labyrinth. The
story takes place in Spain during the summer of
1944, five years after the Spanish Civil War,
during the early Francoist period. The narrative
intertwines this real world with a mythical world
centered on an overgrown, abandoned
labyrinth.
Wednesday 13th May Eyes of Laura Mars.
A famous fashion photographer develops a
disturbing ability to see through the eyes of a
killer.
Stewart Emm
No 70 Autumn 2019
18
Other news
Christine Hawkridge
As you may know by
now, our former Chair,
Christine Hawkridge,
died of heart failure
suddenly on the night
of 17-18 July in her
home in Bournemouth.
Though never having joined any of Christine's
U3A groups or activities, I knew how much she
valued the U3A and entered wholeheartedly
into taking part and contributing as a group
leader in many ways. She was interested in
Buddhism and her groups included Buddhist
Philosophy, Introduction to Buddhism and
others. She used her own personal and
research knowledge, her teaching and
leadership skills and excellent organisational
skills to the full in all she did.
I knew her before she discovered the U3A and
would like to pay tribute to her as a friend.
When she first came to Edinburgh, she
volunteered in the Amnesty Bookshop. There,
she proved a good manager and a warm friend,
forming a close group almost all of whom have
kept in touch. She volunteered also with Victim
Support and helped run sessions with Marianne
Ferguson Rice for the 'Alternatives to Violence'
programme.
Christine loved music, was a fine writer and
found time to write 2 books, Krishna’s Flute and
The Tiger and the Rose, both about cross-
cultural love affairs. She was a gifted story
teller and thanks to the Creative Writing group
in the U3A, she produced a range of short
stories. Her sense of humour came out in these
and in the poems she wrote for more personal
or political events.
We extend sympathy to the Bournemouth U3A
and the Humanists in which Christine had
become actively involved, and to her family:
Morn, Helen, Joel, Phine and Lara, and to her
sister, Jackie and to the wider Cambodian
family. We will all miss her.
Pat Bryden
New Swim Buddies session at Warrender
There is a new addition to the Ageing Well
Buddy Swim Programme at Warrender baths
on Wednesdays 10am – 11am. This will run
all year round and might suit those living on the
southside of the city. See article in Autumn
2017 Clarion .
If you would like any further information on
our buddy swimming sessions or any other
Ageing Well activity please contact the
team on Tel: 0131 458 2183 or e-mail
ageingwell@edinburghleisure.co.uk
Memory Research at Heriot-Watt.
Heriot-Watt University Memory Lab are
conducting several projects that require healthy
older adults and would like to recruit through
the EU3A. The studies in question pose no risk
and reimbursement is offered for travel
expenses. Some studies involve the use of Low
and High density EEG to measure brain activity
although the main project does not use EEG. If
at all interested, please contact Dr Michael
Craig on m.craig@hw.ac.uk or on 0131 451
8009 or 07932037913
I volunteered and had an interesting couple of
hours in the Oriam Building at the Riccarton
Camus (EH14 4AS). This involved simple
memory tests while having the electrical
impulses of my brain being recorded. Dr Craig
is still looking for more normal, older volunteers
to build up a bank of base-line data or
information which they can use to detect early
dementia and start useful interventions.
Details of the project are available from
Shannon Strickland at the Memory Labs. E-mail
s.strickland@hw.ac.uk 0131 451 8009
Richard de Soldenhoff
No 70 Autumn 2019
19
Hidden Edinburgh
The stories behind the photos
Dean Village (Cover)
In 1883 Sir John Findlay who owned the
Scotsman at the time, appalled by the state of
the tenements housing tannery workers,
commissioned architect Sydney Mitchell to
design Well Court as model housing in Arts and
Crafts style. All the flats are different, there was
a hall to socialise and the clock to remind
workers to be home by 10.00 on weekdays.
1. Detail from the sculpture “Going to the
Beach" Saltire Square, a new square in the
centre of Edinburgh Waterfront. The sculpture
was cast at Powderhall Bronze.
2. Mural Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh West
Montgomery Place, Leith.
3. HINC SANITAS (FROM HERE HEALTH) the
motto of the Royal College of Surgeons outside
Surgeons Hall. The sculpture is by Denys
Mitchell and shows a gigantic pair of
stylised hands holding an enormous scalpel. It
emphasises "the importance of manual
dexterity in the healing process."
4. Wildlife Mural by artist Ian Tayac, Figgate
Park, Portobello.
5. John Smith by Eduardo Paolozzi. His bust of
John Smith, the former Labour leader, was
commissioned for the House of Commons. This
is one of six casts and is to be found in the
Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
6. Toby James Clerk Maxwell, the eminent
physicist loved animals. His terrier Toby rests at
his feet in Alexander Stoddart’s statue in
George street. Maxwell apparently used to
explain his theories to Toby .
7. Derelict pier beside Ocean Terminal. At the end of the pier is the last of 6 Antony Gormley figures along the Water of Leith.
8. Pavilion in Queen mother’s Memorial
Garden, Royal Botanic Garden. The structure is
built from Caithness stone, The shells and
pebbles were collected by school children from
across Scotland,
9. One of a pair of old figures in a small yard off
West Harbour Road, Granton next to Depot
Studios.
10. Let the people sing
Those members who were at the monthly
meeting in June might recognise this sculpture
by Tim Chalk of Helen Crummy giving her son
Philip a violin. It sits outside the Craigmillar
library. He placed the sculpture symbolically in
an open doorway.
11. Wooden badger, London Road Gardens
12. Entrance to the Museum of Edinburgh, High
Street.
13. Hygeia
Detail from the statue of Hygeia, Greek
goddess of health inside St Bernard’s Well,
Stockbridge. The building was designed by the
painter Alexander Nasmyth in 1789. A natural
spring was discovered on the Water of Leith in
1760, and was soon a visitor attraction as at
that time ‘taking the waters’ was thought to be
very good for the health. Some claimed that the
water could cure everything from a bruised leg
to ‘total blindness’, but others described the
taste as having the ‘odious twang of hydrogen
gas’.
14. Plaque marking where Sir Walter Scott’s
Birthplace stood. It is now in Guthrie Street but
the original name of the street was College
Wynd.
15. Horse & Rider by Eoghan Bridge 1992
Rutland Court. This sculpture was
commissioned by Baillie Gifford, and is beside
their former building. Eoghan Bridge was born
in Edinburgh and his work is on show at various
galleries and international art fairs. This is one
of two of his large bronze public sculptures in
the city, the other being at Silvermills.
16. “Iron Age” Round House in Redhall walled
Garden. This 2 acre walled garden is managed
by SAMH as a Community garden with a team
of 50 people recovering from the challenges of
mental health problems.
17. “To Edinburgh and beyond“ The Lochrin
Basin, Fountainbridge. The swan sculptures are
by Shona Kinloch, Glaswegian artist who is the
winner of several awards including the Saltire
Society Art in Architecture Award (1992).
No 70 Autumn 2019
20
Editor’s note
A big thank you to all those (25 of you!) who
contributed articles and photos of lesser known
corners of our city for this edition, and especially
those from groups that are recently established
and those who we haven’t previously heard
from.
Remember, it’s your magazine and everyone
can have a story to tell - amusing or thought
provoking, factual or imaginative.
For the next edition, due out in early March
2020, we are looking for your articles and
anecdotes on the Joy of Food. - growing,
cooking, eating, literature of food, food in music
and song, science of food, photographs, food in
archaeology, food banks. Something for
everyone!
Contributions and any comments should be
sent, by 14th January preferably by email, to
clarion@edinburghu3a.org.uk
Guidance
Roughly 225 - 300 words (half A4 page) or 450
– 600 words (full A4 page) will give an article of
the right length accompanied by photographs.
Articles should be saved as a Microsoft Word
compatible document or as a plain text file or
e-mail. If you use a free program such as Open
Office or LibreOffice, please use ‘save as’ and
pick the ‘Word’ or ‘text’ option as the file type. If
you include photographs, these should be sent
as a separate image file (JPEG or TIFF) rather
than embedded in articles or e-mails
I am most grateful to the “editorial team” -
Norma Emm and Fiona Smith, for their
continuing support and Joanna Morris and
Peter Verity for proof reading.
Further information on themes and guidance for
the Spring edition will be available in the
Bulletin and on the Website.
Paper version. If you want a paper version of
this magazine, contact the membership
Secretary, Ann Ryan
membership@edinburghu3a.org.uk
Maggie Gilvray
Clarion is produced by The Edinburgh University of the Third
Age, Scottish Charity Number SC020301 and printed by
Dupliquick , 22a Great King’s Street, Edinburgh EH36QH
Current Committee
Chair: Karyn Costa
Vice Chair & Group Coordinator 2 (Groups D-I ): Ann Keating
Vice Chair and Internal Communications: Bruce Cowan
Treasurer: Hugh Young
Secretary: Kathy Wrench
Membership: Ann Ryan
Safeguarding Officer & Group Coordinator 4 (Groups Q-S): Jane Garrett
Group Coordinator 1 (Groups A-C): Doreen Barr
Group Coordinator 3 (Groups J-P): Joanna Morris
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New Members: Sheila Harvey
External Communications: Patrick Leach
Technical Support: Andrew Robertson
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Others behind the scenes
Assistant Membership: Sally Ann Urry
Assistant Membership: Graham Golding
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