Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to one and all ! Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me in 2010 (and there have been many ) . Lets get the bad stuff out of the way first then we can end on a high note. Another year another family bereavement. I am beginning to look forward to a year that doesn't start off with someone close to me dieing.
Last year ended well with the birth of a new grandson and also winning the Edinburgh East Labour Party Christmas hamper in the raffle! Don't normally win things in raffles so I was astonished. It was enormous - I could hardly lift it.

From My Pics

From My Pics

Memories of the cold weather are, of course mixed. Normally I love the snow but on this occasion the excitement quickly went sour as rubbish piled up, accidents occurred and people became trapped in their houses.

From My Pics

A bit late bringing the garden furniture in this year?

There was a Herculean effort by the South West team at the Council. Council staff and I would also single out bus drivers went above and beyond and I would personally say a huge thank you to them. Of course there were lessons to be learned, particularly the length of time it took to get round to the residential streets due to concentrating on the main roads. Everything I referred to Council staff was dealt with promptly however and the communications were excellent!

Christmas Light Switch on Cancelled!

Disaster - the Christmas Light Switch on Ceremonies have all been cancelled (including the one in Gorgie Dalry) due to the weather conditions. I fully understand why they have done it though. It is so they can concentrate on gritting / clearing roads and safety has to come first. Disappointing but the right decision I think.

Christmas is here!

The celebrations have started all over the ward so it must be officially Christmas. The impression is helped by the fact that there is at least a foot of snow outside - and still falling! Gorgie Dalry has been particularly well organised this year putting up a special Christmas what's on, courtesy of The GD and Pol Steele who runs it. Communications in the area have not been this good since the days of the sadly lamented Gorgie Dalry Gazette (who had there funding pulled by the Lib Dem / SNP Council Administration four years ago). Pol has made a huge difference to the area from the successful campaign to save the Gorgie War Memorial Hall to the thus far equally successful campaign to keep the Dalry Swim Centre open. The online campaigns have been vital and is know looking like an exciting development as it goes from strength to strength. Long may it continue.

For my own part I will be donning a well known disguise on Saturday for the party at the Gorgie Mem. and then compering at the Christmas Lights Switch on Ceremony on the Sunday (5th Dec.) . Big surprise for Hearts fans at the switch on ceremony (?).

Check out the The GD website for details...http://thegd.org.uk/christmas/

Pleasant visit.
Volunteered to do a Bailie duty last week which is worthy of note. I was visiting Jeanette Brown who is 107. She is in a care home in my ward so it was all the more significant that I was able to stand in for the Lord Provost and attend. It was something I will always remember. How pleased she was to see me and how much she obviously enjoyed my visit was humbling. To be able to do something like that for someone else makes it all worthwhile. I will remember little things like, when I was putting my Bailie chain back on, having let her try it on as she said she had enjoyed trying on the LPs a few years previously, she lent forward and buttoned my jacket and adjusted it to get it just right (that is what my mother whom I recently lost would have done). She said she thought I looked good in the photos we took! Still looking after others at 107! I gave her a small civic gift but she was just as delighted with the LPs paper carrier bag that it came in , saying 'Do you want this back ? ' 'I said of course not! ' and she clutched it tightly and she said 'Good , you can't have it back it's mine!' . She was lovely to talk to and amazing for 107. She likes the home she is in . The care staff clearly make a fuss of her and she deserves it. The staff were excellent. By way of philosophy she said she would like to have her whole life to live again , wouldn't change a thing but just would like to live it over again. She said the secret of long life was a not a secret but just to be happy and contented.

Time Time Time!


Never enough time. So what's new? Quite a lot.


A strange but interesting couple of weeks. First two weeks back at the school of course (not counting the in-service days the week before). Easy to forget how mentally demanding teaching is. My results were as expected (couple of exceptions in both directions) so I am generally pleased about that .


Now that I have replaced Ian Murray on the Police Board I have been taking the opportunity to observe a variety of activities including firearms training last week. That was the 'strange' one. Interesting though. Very clever intelligent headphones that are capable of deadening only the loud bangs of the guns but allowing you to hear even a whisper from the person next to you. How does that work? Very impressive score on the targets.


On a happy note it was the official celebration of the saving of the Gorgie War Memorial Hall last Saturday. Grant Stott said a few words and introduced me and I in turn introduced Sarah Boyack MSP.

There were three purposes to the event-

1. To celebrate the saving of the Hall. It was a marvelous campaign involving a petition , Facebook, the Internet, deputations and yes, even T shirts! Support for the Campaign came from everyone from the British Legion to (most importantly ) the community. These proposals should never been brought forward in the first place. The campaigners won by pointing out the truth. The truth that community space in Tynecastle was too small to accommodate the activities of the Hall (not to mention the safe outdoor green area). The truth that it is a War Memorial and it neither could be nor should be moved , it is already in the right place , the heart of the community with everyone from children to the elderly meeting around it. The truth that it has survived for 128 years since Gorgie was a village and laterally adopted by the Council to be held in trust for generations to come. I could go on! What on earth was the Lib. dem. / SNP Council thinking?
2. To make sure people know that it has been saved.
3. To encourage local people to get involved. We (I have joined the Management Committee) are particularly looking for anyone with time to spare and financial expertise. Although saved in the short term (16 months) the Hall has to develop the ability to run itself over this time. All help would be great.
Attendance at the event was excellent including stalls from the local Police and groups such as 'Health Help for All'. We even got the weather and were able to use the aforementioned safe green outdoor space.

Two events at the new Tynecastle High School in under a week! The official opening last Friday and the Concert and Awards Ceremony on Tuesday evening (29th of June). A highlight of the official opening for me was ex-pupil Jenny Douglas singing over the rainbow. I was glued to the series and, of course, voted for her. She lit up the auditorium with her presence and sang beautifully ( without a mike ).
The school is very like I remember seeing it on the original artists impressions and it has been heralded as , if not the best then certainly one of the best of the PPP2 schools in terms of design and implementation. From the eco friendly heating (working too well in the auditorium - it was boiling!) to the Smartboards in every classroom. The staff have always been good at Tynecastle but now they will have the tools and the environment to reach new heights. Most of all though it was a joy to see the effect on the kids, polite, articulate and enthusiastic; Clearly delighted with the new school. This is an exciting development for Gorgie Dalry .
All of the above aside however, one disappointment is the size of the community 'wing'. It is really one side of a corridor or more specifically ; a reception area , one full sized classroom , a smaller classroom and toilets! So much for shoe horning the Gorgie War Memorial Hall and Gorgie Dalry Community Association (the centre at McLeod Street) with their busy programmes into it. Cllr. McLaren must have thought it was the Tardis! Speaking of the head of Education, Children and Families I cannot escape the irony that not only do myself and the others in the Labour Group get never a mention for the fact that it was us that brought forward the plans, developed them and signed them off before the Lib. Dems. and SNP tool over but the Lib. Dems. voted against the buiding of the new school not once but three times! The new Tynecastle is there in spite of the Lib. Dems. not because of them. Such is politics.
Anyway lets not dwell on the past the Community Centres are staying where they are for the moment (due to a successful campaign with which I helped) and things are starting to look brighter in Gorgie Dalry.

Just a quick reminder to folks in the area that it is the Gorgie Dalry Festival tomorrow (Saturday 12th June). The opening is at 12 for 12.30 in Murieston Park. We still miss the Gorgie Dalry Gazette for this sort of thing but maybe electronic means can make up for it a little.