October 2026
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LOCAL HISTORY: RECIPE & FOOD NOTES:
PLUS: health, puzzles, CLUBS & CLASSES, what’s on, and more LOCAL FEATURES inside!
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he local history article this month is the first of a two-part series, from a National Museums of Scotland curator who shares his recollections of his time at Port Edgar, South Queensferry – a very interesting read, and there is more to come next issue. For young Lego enthusiasts, Colinton Village Enterprise are running a competition to get input from the young minds of our community into what buildings that would like to see in Colinton in the future. I think the entries are going to be fascinating. There are Lego vouchers to be won, see page 33! With the clocks going back on 25th October, the nights are drawing in. Time for warming and hearty recipes, such as this month’s chilli con carne with the addition of the season’s favourite veg! See page 24. There’s plenty on as we head into the last quarter of the year. We’re looking forward to the Pentlands Book Festival which kicks off at the end of this month. If you are running a festive fundraising fair in November or December let me know about it so I can include it in the November issue. All our usual columns are here. Thanks for reading The Dell Directory and supporting the local area in every way!
All enquiries, E: editor@konect.scot M: 07854 492638
Local History: Spying on the Royal Navy.......8 Puzzles..........................................................13 / 33 The Good Goodbye:......................................... 16 Feature: Tips to avoid rogue traders............ 19 Recipe: Pumpkin Chilli Con Carne............... 24 Wine: Wine for the Master Vintner................. 25 Lazy Gardner’s Diary........................................ 28 realLIFE................................................................ 32 WIN! Children’s Colinton Building Challenge............................................................. 33 What’s On: October Events............................. 35 Clubs & Classes................................................. 36 What’s On: Pentlands Book Festival............. 38
COVER IMAGE: Recipe & Food Notes - Pumpkin Chilli Con Carne (See page 24).
The Dell Directory is delivered monthly to 5,500 homes in the Colinton, Craiglockhart and Kingsknowe areas. It is also available online: konect.scot/subscribe THE DELL | 3
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LOCAL HISTORY
PORT EDGAR - A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE PART 1: “SPYING ON THE ROYAL NAVY”
In this two-part series, Colin Hendry shares a personal account of the time he spent at Port Edgar between 1978 and 1992. His own observations, and the reminiscences of people who had been here when it was the Royal Navy base HMS Lochinvar, left him realising just how important it is that these people must not be forgotten. I joined the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (now National Museums of Scotland) in 1973, attached to the Country Life section. As a government museum we had various stores for the collection, on former military bases scattered inconveniently at locations across Scotland. So when the former Royal Navy premises at West Camp, Port Edgar, became available in 1978 to house the entire collection, we eagerly secured it. The Royal Navy, which had latterly berthed its Ton Class minesweepers of the Fishery Protection Squadron at Port Edgar, moved to Rosyth in 1975, and the former HMS Lochinvar (the Navy name for the base at Port Edgar) became vacant.
The West Camp was formerly the accommodation, hospital and administration centre for the base. The primary two-storey accommodation buildings bordered the seafront west of the breakwater, with a steel fence topped by barbed wire stretching for several hundred yards. Within the perimeter, two rows of coiled barbed wire extended for the entire length. A street separated the two-storey buildings from the row of singlestorey administration offices and stores on the south side. These included a Guard Room, Victualling Store, Boiler Room, Activities Rooms, and the Married Quarters Office. The Married Quarters themselves were the three blocks of houses (Numbers 10-19) on the south side of Shore Road entering South Queensferry. About 100 yards further west was the Officers’ Wardroom building which faced upriver, and between them lay a large underground air raid shelter.
Our tenure began in 1978 when I first visited to make plans for housing the collection. Large items such as carts, tractors, ploughs and so on, were naturally to be stored on the ground floors, whilst smaller items - horses’ harness, joiners shops, trades and agricultural hand tools - went on racks on the upper floors.
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The site retained many mementos from its previous tenants. A large sign at the gate announced “Ministry of Defence Property - Entry Restricted.” The Guard Room was the most intriguing with its prison-type internal gate leading to the rear and several individual cells, each with wooden benches for sailors to sleep off their alcohol indulgences. On the key-board were still all the building keys in numerical order. A notice on the door of a flat-roofed and nicely carpeted extension to the block at the east end announced “Fleet Chief Petty Officers Lounge” (this extension has recently been demolished). A rating’s cap was found in an attic. The air raid shelter remained open and wound its way underground in darkness from entrance to exit, the bulkhead lights still in place, and large yellow signs on a few scattered buildings with “SHELTER” and an arrow pointing to the nearest one. Outside the Married Quarters Office, two glass-fronted noticeboards still contained information documents, and a large bronze alarm bell was mounted on the wall.
It was indeed an incredible place to be, made more so by the location of my designated office. This was upstairs in the hospital area at the west end of the two-storey sections, which had housed the operating theatre, and two adjoining rooms with swing-doors - mine being the anaesthetist’s room - and had a fantastic large plate glass window giving a stunning panoramic view out over the Forth. I came to consider this to be surely the best office-with-a-view in Britain - stretching east well beyond the Bridges, Inchcolm and Inchkeith, west beyond Crombie to Grangemouth, and of course directly over to Her Majesty’s Naval Base Rosyth. I’d always had an interest in the military so the naval activity in the Forth captured my attention immediately, and I began noting down the comings and goings of the vessels. Binoculars, marine-band receiver and a logbook were kept at the ready as Royal Navy, Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service and Royal Fleet Auxiliary traffic was regular every day. And occasionally a barge would be towed out from Rosyth by tugs flying red flags and moored in a danger zone off Hopetoun. After a significant time of preparation the tugs would move away and a huge underwater explosion would erupt in
dramatic fashion, followed a couple of seconds later by the deep “BOOM!” and my glass window rattled with the shock wave. These were experimental tests on the effect of underwater explosions on hulls, tests after which the seagulls always loved the edible collateral damage!
My log of ship movements with photographic records is documented in my book, “Spying on the Royal Navy and NATO - Military Activity in the Firth of Forth during the 1980s”, available at the Port Edgar Chandlery. The main event, as far as I was concerned, was witnessing the movements before, during and after the Falklands War of 1982.
Since arriving at Port Edgar, we had occasionally been visited by veterans, many for nostalgic reasons, and they shared with us their experiences at HMS Lochinvar. The idea dawned on me just how appropriate - in fact necessary - a display here would be about the base’s history. And so was born “The Scottish Naval Collection”, an exhibition housed in the former Fleet Chief Petty Officers’ Lounge, which concentrated on the naval history of Port Edgar, but also encompassed other aspects of general naval life. In the second part of Colin’s reminiscences, coming in the November issue of The Dell Directory, he shares his observations on the Forth during the Falklands War, and the story of the Scottish Naval Collection museum. This article is an abridged version of “Port Edgar - A Personal Perspective” by Colin Hendry. Colin worked at Port Edgar as a museum curator from 1978 to 1992 and was instrumental in setting up “Scottish Naval Collection” exhibition here. THE DELL | 9
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The crossword solution will be published in the NOVEMBER edition
OCTOBER CROSSWORD
ACROSS: 7. Moscow’s country (6), 8. Clears throat (6), 9. Continent (4), 10. Extra (8), 11. Picture houses (7), 13. Head organ (5), 15. Wooden barrier (5), 17. Go backwards (7), 20. Fell (8), 21. Limit, boundary (4), 23. Event, incident (6), 24. Idea (6). DOWN: 1. Pet name for cat (4), 2. Property, manor (6), 3. Yellow fruits (7), 4. Corrosive liquids (5), 5. Six-string (6), 6. Explanations, hypotheses (8), 12. Recognise (8),14. Title (7), 16. Fighting (6), 18. Occurrences (6), 19. Warn (5), 22. Enlarge, develop (4).
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THE GOOD GOODBYE
The difference between 'my death' and 'thy death' is well known in social anthropology [my PhD discipline]; what we want to have may not be what our bereaved loved ones need. Media advertising of cremations without ceremony only focusses on the advantages of saving money over a ‘traditional’ funeral, while ignoring the possible negative effects.
I have been called upon to conduct memorial ceremonies because loved ones had cremation only arrangements in place and family members had got ‘stuck’ in their grief, with no sense of closure, unable to move through their bereavement. In other words, they had missed the psychological and emotional benefits of the funeral ritual. Presenting our loved ones with our ashes and leaving them to organiae a party does not always do the job.
Sadly, this only comes to light when it’s too late for discussion. Perhaps it’s worth a second thought? This piece was contributed by Dr Joni Wilson, a retired Life Celebrant who lives in Colinton Mains. During her career as an independent Life Celebrant, Joni conducted over 1,300 funerals. E: joniwilson1952@gmail.com 16 | THE DELL
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AVOID Stay safe and protect your home. Chairman of Taylor Roofs, Jamie Taylor, has seen a lot of damage and distress caused by rogue traders. Here he shares the five main things to look out for to avoid being taken in by a rogue traders. You can also watch Jamie and the team explain things on their YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@TaylorRoofs TIP 1: Don’t accept a verbal quote at the door Rogue traders are notorious for cold calling and saying they were ‘just working in the area’. TIP 2: Do your research to make sure the company is legitimate Is it a limited company registered at Companies House? How long has it been trading?
TIP 3: Check their online presence and accreditations. Check out their website and social media, and look for reviews and membership of schemes like Trusted Trader and accreditation with professional trade associations like NFRC.
TIP 4: Make sure there’s a physical address for a place of business. Make sure there’s a business address you can go and visit to sort things out if things go wrong.
TIP 5: Make sure you get everything in writing. Don’t rely on verbal promises or vague start or completion dates. Insist on it being clearly stated in black and white. This article was contributed by Jamie Taylor, Chairman of Taylor Roofs | taylorroofs.co.uk
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RECIPE & FOOD NOTES
This fright-night feast isn’t just for Halloween – it’s the perfect winter warmer the whole family will love.
Ingredients:
• 1 small pumpkin or butternut squash • 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra to drizzle • Salt and black pepper • 1 tsp yeast extract • 500g beef mince • 1 tbsp tomato purée • 1 small onion, peeled and diced • 1 green pepper, deseeded and diced • 1 x 400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed • 1 x 500g carton tomato passata • 1 tsp chilli powder (heat of your choice) • ½ tbsp dark brown soft sugar • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes • 700g baby potatoes • 1x 300ml tub crème fraîche • 30g watercress, finely chopped
Serves 4 Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas mark 4.
2. Peel and halve the pumpkin (or butternut squash) and scoop out the seeds. Dice half of the pumpkin into 1cm cubes and reserve. Chop the remaining pumpkin into large chunks, place in an oven tray, drizzle with oil and season. Roast in the preheated oven for approximately 25 minutes or until cooked through. 3. Meanwhile, place a large pan on a medium-
high heat. Add the oil and heat until beginning to smoke. Add the minced beef and fry until browned. Drain the beef onto some kitchen paper. 4. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the beef back to the pan, then add in the onion, diced pumpkin and green pepper, cooking until the onions are translucent. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for a further minute before adding the kidney beans, passata, chilli powder, sugar, yeast extract and chopped tomatoes. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 1 hour. 5. Place the potatoes in an oven tray, drizzle with vegetable oil and season. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until cooked through and crisp on the outside. 6. Once the roasted pumpkin is cooked, remove from the oven and place into a blender. Add a ladleful of liquid from the chilli and blend until smooth. Add to the simmering pan and stir through. 7. Mix together the crème fraîche and watercress, and season to taste. 8. Divide the potatoes between four bowls. Add a ladleful of chilli and serve with a generous dollop of crème fraîche.
For more recipe inspiration, visit www.watercress.co.uk; for more information on the health benefits of watercress, visit www.thewatercresscompany.com 24 | THE DELL
WINE TASTING
One of my favourite events in my calendar is the Court and Charter dinner hosted by the Royal Company of Merchants in Merchants Hall, Hanover Street. The dinner is an elegant, formal occasion with stellar menu and wine list- selected by me! Our guests include the Master Vintner of Vintners Guild in London. The dinner is very grand and while I love the pomp and circumstance, my favourite part is selecting the menu and wine. I visited the tasting kitchen of our caterer, Culinarians and selected a truly fabulous menu. Our intermediate course this year is duck parfait with buttermilk. It’s a really interesting and challenging course to find a wine for! There is a delicate balance of rich duck and sweet buttermilk, gentle textures and savoury structure.
The intermediate follows salmon with white wine and comes before a rich duck main. There were lots of wine pairing options to choose from. A rosé would be quite nice but the dish has an autumnal flavour rather than a summer character. I moved away from rosé and decided to do something a little different instead. I wanted something that would surprise our guests. I decided to serve a red Italian wine called Nebbiolo, but instead of serving at its usual temperature, we will serve it slightly chilled. Serving the wine chilled helps brings out the acidity and cherry fruit (one of the fruits often paired with duck) without overwhelming the palate with spice and tannin. As the wine warms, it will pair perfectly with the main course. I hope the Master Vintner enjoys my selection! The monthly wine tasting column is contributed by Joanne Frette. Joanne lives in Juniper Green with her husband and three children. For wine recommendations, reviews and details of future tasting events, please go to swirlsipsocialise.com
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I’m writing this in September, when gardeners can hardly be lazy: we’re too busy harvesting and preserving the bounty of Scotland’s short growing season.
So this is a quick look ahead to October — but first, thank you for the fantastic response to last month’s article on fungi foraging. Photos came thick and fast in the Friends of Campbell Park WhatsApp group, including a poisonous potato earthball (Scleroderma bovista), edible “witch’s eggs” that grow into smelly, inedible stinkhorns (Phallus impudicus), pretty yellow stagshorn (Calocera viscosa), and a truly gigantic 12-inch puffball (Calvatia gigantea) — a choice edible mushroom that was shared and enjoyed by several local families. October is an ideal time to sow wildflower seeds and bulbs, plant spring garlic, and collect flower heads for winter wreaths. I saved my best and largest garlic bulbs for replanting, which is apparently a form of adaptation gardening, also known as landrace gardening. Goingtoseed.org describes it as “an ancestral form of growing food that involves selecting seeds from the healthiest and tastiest plants, then saving and replanting them in later growing seasons. A broad genetic base is favoured over strict uniformity, allowing crops to adapt to the local environment.” Please share any surplus seeds with local seed banks, such as the CVE red phone box and Colinton Garden Club. An FCP member has also offered to start a new seed bank in the Campbell Park pavilion soon.
This column is contributed by Shona Harrower. Shona lives in Colinton and is passionate about low maintenance food production. She is Chair of the Friends of Campbell Park (FCP) 28 | THE DELL
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SUZANN E GREEN
IA
sn’tsitainteresting we wish writer, withthat more than 20one years another a “happy new long as a magazine editoryear” behind me, afterI’m singing Auld Lang Syne – for well versed in deadlines! weeks afteralways boxingaup themarked Christmas There’s date decorations andbyreturning them to the loft. on the calendar which something must be done, or submitted. Pressure as Regardless of what’s going on inbuilds our world that gets nearer and nearer, andinthen and date various concerns about issues our dissipates once deadline is met. own country, wethe hope that 2025 will be a good year. It would to see Summer holidays, forbe ourwonderful family, used to start peace achieved in atthe least one area on the day after I sent magazine to where the printer. That wayraging. I’d haveAnd, a littleon breathing war is currently a personal space before of the nextand issue level, we alsoproduction hope to see growth became couldinactually relax. progressall-consuming. in our own lifeI and the lives of those we know and love, occasions But it wasn’t long before the lull was over to and I celebrate, goodwriting healthand and maybe evenand needed to start editing articles some funphotographs. surprises in the next 12 sourcing If I didn’t getmonths. everything to the graphic designer in time, he might not I’m focusing on the “new” in “Happy New finish time to meet the printer deadline. Year”.work I’ve in not exactly made any new year’s And that might result in the seems magazine being resolutions. This tradition to be released late. becoming less popular - social media posts regularly Itell that have we don’t need to strive Although no us longer to manage such toprocess, improve,I still we live are with “enough” as we are, we a a deadline mindset. shouldn’t loadrelationship. ourselves up withnot goals It’s a love-hate I may like and the then on feelthe guilty whenvery we can’t them. date calendar much,achieve but ultimately agree that good to IAlthough know it’s Imy friend. Soit’s whether it’s
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BALERNO | FEBRUARY,| 2025 THE DELL DIRECTORY OCTOBER, 2026
be upcoming realistic, I trip, lovehelping the promise that aorganise new an a daughter yearwedding, holds, the slate” potential! her or “clean producing a family Christmas (because what women myself If you live that’s in Balerno, you toodo!), mayI set have been little mini-deadlines, just falling as I didearly whenmorning I was a delighted to see snow magazine editor.Day. Maybe everyone this? on New Year’s I stood at ourdoes glass patio door and watched as sleet turned I used to be very proud of the fact that I to big white snowflakes thatI was quickly covered rarely missed a deadline. pretty good ourjuggling. gardenHowever, and bedecked trees. It was a at in morethe recent years wonderful illustration of the “it’s all fresh and I’ve sometimes stared down that diary date. new” theme. There are times in life when a date has to be moved a time whenwas we a have Signingorup for aadjusted, Pilates class newto thing for meabout at thesomething beginningweofhave 2024. And it renegotiate agreed haswhen beenthe a positive I maytonot to, deadlinechange. is not allowed bebe theas proficient in the class, struggle tyrant that itasis.many Sometimes, it’s for Ithe sake ofto do some the stretches because… ofand a knee our health.ofSometimes life happens we issue,grace. and I sometimes have a hard time need resisting dancing to the background music Iwhen remember onebe such time very well. We were I should listening to the instructor. in the Denver, Colorado airport and needed But I know the exercise is doing me good. to our flight. eight-year-old I’mget nottosure what But newour thing(s) I will do/ daughter was not coping with extreme encounter this year, but I willthe keep my eyes heat. It was making her sick. So, when we and ears open for them. should have been dashing to our gate, I was in When my ladies’ eldestroom, daughter washer in primary an airport holding forehead. school, she decided to try something new. I Nevertheless, as soon as we could, the family heard about it from another mum, who had and I hurried to the gate. It was closed. been at the school to watch her daughter Though I knowdancing how tough airline employees do Highland in an assembly. “I can be,know I explained to did the woman behind the didn’t your girl it too,” she said. desk that my little girlshe wasdidn’t, not well, and asked So I explained that although she if wascould in a ballet strange,” we pleaseclass. board.“That’s She said simply,said “No, my gate friend. “At the assembly children who the is closed.” There wasthe a deadline. took Highland dance lessons were invited At this point her colleague came over, looking to go to the centre of the floor and perform. I with compassion at our child. “I think we are thought your daughter did rather well.” going to make an exception,” he said. “Let Later board.” I asked my child why she had done them this. “Oh,” she said. “I thought the teacher These daysallI still think date timelike deadlines said, “Will children whoand would to do are important – they make sure things run Highland dancing please come forward smoothly help us get things done. But now? So and I went.” experience has taught me that sometimes they Do something new this year. need to be adjusted. Andnew that’s not a failing. real LIFE is contributed by Suzanne Green. real LIFE isa contributed by Suzannelives Green. Suzanne, freelance writer/editor, in Suzanne, a freelance writer/editor. She is Balerno and writes regularly for Konect. She is married Andy and theytwo have two married to Andytoand they have adult adult daughters. daughters.
OCTOBER SUDOKU
Could your child design Colinton’s next community building?
As work continues on the new Colinton Village Hub in Spylaw Park, local children have been given the chance to put their own ideas into the mix. The Colinton Lego Building Challenge is inviting children in two age groups — P1 to P3 and P4 to P7 — to design and build their vision of a community building. Lego is ideal, but children can use whatever they have at home. All they need to do is take two or three photographs of their finished creation and tell us a little about it. The idea was conceived by Hub architect David Moore of MDA Studio and is the first challenge to emerge from the Colinton Challenge, launched by Elaine C. Smith at our Creating in the Park fundraiser in August.
The crossword puzzle can be found on page 13. See page 37 for solutions.
Entry costs £5 per model, with every penny of the entry donations going towards the completion of Colinton Village Hub. There are Lego vouchers to be won in both age groups, including a £50 Friendly Planet Building Prize. And if you’re a parent, grandparent, friend or neighbour, you can get involved too by sponsoring a brick and helping us towards the final stages of the project. Entries must be submitted by 18th OCT 2026.
Enter the challenge: form.jotform.com/262483638913062 Sponsor a brick: www. crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ colinton-lego-buildingchallenge-1
The Lego Building Competition is being run by Colinton Village Enterprise SCIO, Scottish Charity No. SC049496. THE DELL | 33
The Map of S tenhouse I
S till Carry
As children, we learned Stenhouse through our feet long before we understood formal maps. My world spread outward from our house on Stenhouse Drive: the triangle of grass, the wee park and the big park, the burn, the black bridge, St Aidan's, the school, the shops, drying greens and coal bunkers. It was a small geography, but to us it could become anything. Paths became racetracks for bikes and skateboards. Grass became a football pitch. Washing poles and coal bunkers shaped games of hide and seek. A patch of land that looked ordinary to an adult could become a meeting point, a boundary or the beginning of an adventure.
The area was quieter than people might imagine. Many neighbours were older, and there were stretches of stillness broken by pockets of childhood activity: someone arriving on roller skates, a football appearing, or a voice calling from a gate. We knew which dogs barked, where the ground dipped, which windows people watched from and which shortcuts saved time when you were trying to catch up with your pals.
The map changed as we grew. A park that seemed enormous at five became familiar by ten. The road towards Edinburgh changed from the edge of the known world into a regular route towards school, shops, work and teenage freedom. Yet memory keeps every version at once. I can still picture the Stenhouse of early childhood overlaid on the place I know as an adult.
That is one reason I eventually wrote STENHOUSE: Growing Up in Edinburgh and Beyond. I wanted to preserve the everyday details that rarely make official histories: how children used a place, how neighbours gave a street its character, and how a few roads could feel like a complete universe before the internet began changing ordinary life. If I close my eyes, the old route is still there. Out of the house, down towards the triangle, across the familiar paths and on towards the parks. Stenhouse was not only where I lived. It was the first world I learned to navigate, and the first place that taught me what belonging meant. Michael Judge writes as Bill Rectangle and is the author and independent publisher of STENHOUSE: Growing Up in Edinburgh and Beyond. Further information is available at www.whitehatmedia.org 34 | THE DELL
HALF TERM ACTIVITIES AT THE WATER OF LEITH VISITOR CENTRE £7 per child, accompanying adult free. Suitable for ages 5-10. 1.30pm to 3.30pm. More info and booking essential via: www.waterofleith.org.uk/ whats-on TUES 13TH OCTOBER - Branch out! An adventure combining tree identification, nature challenges & finding your way in a woodland. THURS 15TH OCTOBER - River Dipping. Join us to explore the river & find out what lives in the water. SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER Ocean: documentary screening - At TheHub@531. Narrated by David Attenborough, this 2025 documentary explores the health of the world's oceans and their vital importance to the future of life on Earth. We will be joined by Professor Andrew K Sweetman who will host the post-screening discussion. Prof. Sweetman is the leader of the Seafloor Ecology & Biogeochemistry research group and chair or Benthic Ecology & Biogeochemistry at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS). Children are welcome (film PG rated but contains scenes that some may find upsetting) but must be accompanied by an adult. We are a small venue so please book your spaces online using the ticket link at: hub531. appointedd.com TUE 6TH OCTOBER Autumn walk - Join us as we walk four different directions from The Hub
this autumn! Gentle walk led by volunteers, organised by The Hub@531. This walk will be from The Hub@531 to Heriot-Watt. Meet new people, walk for 2-3 miles (over 2-3 hours), have a coffee and return by bus! These walks will best suit people with moderate mobility and fitness, walking at a relaxed pace with stops at points of interest, but will be using off road paths, possibly with rough ground in places. Please book at: hub531.appointedd.com to let us know you are coming. SAT 10TH OCTOBER Clothes Swap - At Currie Library. 10.00am–3.00pm. Bring 3 items, get 3 tokens, take home 3 new-to-you pieces. Please make sure items are adult clothing, clean, good quality and in excellent condition. No suitable swaps? Keep your tokens for our next clothes swap! SAT 10TH OCTOBER Farmers Market - Main St, Balerno, 9.00am to 1.00pm SAT 17 OCTOBER Capturing Colinton - Award-winning nature photographer Charles Everitt TH
and Gillian guide you to Colinton’s most photogenic locations, sharing tips for capturing landscapes, wildlife and heritage.1.30-3.30pm £7, Water of Leith Conservation Trust members free. Meet Walkway Car Park off Bridge Road. Booking essential via: waterofleith.org.uk/events TUE 20TH OCTOBER Autumn walk - Join us as we walk four different directions from the Hub this autumn! Gentle walk led by volunteers, organised by The Hub@531. This walk will be from The Hub@531 to Slateford. Meet new people, walk for 2-3 miles (over 2-3 hours), have a coffee and return by bus! These walks will best suit people with moderate mobility and fitness, walking at a relaxed pace with stops at points of interest, but will be using off road paths, possibly with rough ground in places. Please book at: hub531.appointedd.com to let us know you are coming. SUN 25TH OCTOBER Summer’s End - With the Water of Leith Conservation Trust. Celebrate the turning of the seasons with
harvest traditions, firelight, Celtic heritage, and the spirit of Samhain. Storytelling, Fireside Gathering, Nature Crafts and Samhain Traditions. Start times begin from 3.00pm, and continue every 15mins until 5.00pm (12 people per start time) Tour likely to last around 1.5 hours. £5 per person, book your start time at waterofleith. org.uk/events MONDAY 26TH OCT Colinton Garden Club - Dreghorn Loan Hall starting at 8.00pm. Keith Brand is the speaker and his talk is entitled 'Rise of the Phoenix - The Restoration of a Disused Allotment.' New members are very welcome. 26TH OCT ~ 25TH NOV Pentlands Book Festival - See page 38. SAT 7TH NOVEMBER Charity Crafters Pop Up Sale - In The Welcome Station, Balerno (previously the Balerno Police Station), 10.00am till 1.00pm. Come and do a bit of early Christmas shopping or buy gifts for any occasion. Proceeds of sale go to good causes.
PENTLAND MEN’S PROBUS CLUB EVENTS - Meet in Edinburgh Pentlands Parish Church Hall, Lanark Road from 10.00am - 12noon. New members welcome. Further details from Club Secretary John Muir on 0131 259 0560 or jandjmuir17@gmail.com
• WED 7TH OCT - “The Cockpit Intrusion on Flight 2069” (Part 2) an illustrated talk by Bill Hagan. • WED 21ST OCT - “A day in the life of a paramedic” an illustrated talk by Neil Malcolm. • WED 4TH NOV - “Founding the Lost Shore, Ratho” an illustrated talk by Andy Hadden. WANT TO INCLUDE YOUR EVENT HERE? COMMUNITY AND NOT-FOR-PROFIT LISTINGS ARE FREE OF CHARGE. EMAIL EDITOR@KONECT.SCOT BY 15TH OF THE MONTH FOR FOLLOWING MONTH’S ISSUE. THE DELL | 35
SPORTS, HOBBIES, LEARNING, SUPPORT GROUPS & MORE...
BARRE SCULPT - Fitness class for all levels. Barre is a strength workout using low impact, high intensity moves integrating Pilates, yoga and ballet. Done to upbeat music, using body weight, light handheld weights, Pilates overball and blocks. A combination of cardio, controlled movements and pulses designed to tire out specific muscle groups. £12 drop in, or block booking at discounted rate available. Dreghorn Loan Hall, Colinton, Mondays 9.30am10.15am. Join our friendly group! Bookwhen.com/barresculpt barresculptedinburgh@gmail.com Facebook @barresculptedinburgh ST CUTHBERT’S ART-REACH monthly, seasonally-inspired craft group meeting in St Cuthbert’s Episcopal Church, Westgarth Avenue, Colinton. All materials and refreshments provided. Second Thursday of the month 10.00am-12noon. E: artgroupstcuthberts@gmail. com to reserve your place. GLENLOCKHART PROBUS CLUB - For ex-business men and women. We meet to hear talks, mostly by outside speakers, on a wide range of subjects. The venue is Mortonhall Garden Centre, at 10.30am. on the last Thursday in the month, January to November. Occasionally there are additional outings. Contact: E. glenlockhartprobus@outlook.com ORIAM WALKING FOOTBALL CLUB - We run a local Walking Football Club, established in 2015, for women aged 40+ and men aged 50+. Our sessions, which are very much mixed ability, take place at Oriam Sports Centre, Heriot-Watt University, EH14 4AS, on a Mon and Fri 12.30-1.30pm, and Wed at 12.00-1.00pm and 8.30-9.30pm We’d love to see new teammates coming along. Sessions are priced at £4.62 but we do have monthly membership schemes 36 | THE DELL
available. Please contact Alan Davies on 07568 723303. Email: alan_davis@live.co.uk OXGANGS WRITE AWAY! WRITERS' GROUP - Whether you are a beginner or not, would-be novelist, journal-writer or poet, come along and share, learn, be inspired or simply listen. We meet at Oxgangs Library every 2nd Wednesday of each month at 6.00pm - free tea/ coffee and biscuits too! For more information, contact: Robert. Carroll@edinburgh.gov.uk or katiemoon7754@gmail.com REDHALL WALKING GROUP A gentle walking group exploring areas such as the Union Canal, Colinton Dell and the Water of Leith. Improve your health and wellbeing and meet new people. Meet at Redhall Walled Garden entrance on main road at 97 Lanark Road. Mondays 10.00am - 11.30am Fun, friendly and free. Contact: emily@elgt.org.uk or 07943 530806. Facebook @GreenspaceTrust ST CUTHBERT'S PLAYGROUP - 10.00am - 11.30am - Every Monday during school term time. £2 per family. Toys, snacks and a fun songs! St Cuthbert's Church Hall, Westgarth Avenue, Colinton. Contact Rev Nicki McNelly for more information: stcuthbertsrector@gmail.com FORGET ME NOTES - The Forget Me Notes Project is a charity that uses music to build community and combat isolation in a variety of settings On the first and third Monday of each month - 2.00pm - 4.00pm in St Cuthbert's Church Hall, Westgarth Avenue, Colinton. Join us when you can, for an hour of music and memories, followed by refreshments. All welcome. Please contact Rev Nicki for more information: stcuthbertsrector@gmail.com (www.forgetmenotes.org.uk) COLINTON FRIENDLY BRIDGE CLUB - Colinton Cottage Homes’ Hall every Monday from 2.00pm to 5.00pm. Please contact Jan Osinski on 07484 657913 for more information. TEA AND TOTS - Stay and play for ages 0-5 with their parent/
carer - all are welcome! Toys, crafts, refreshments, song-time and more. Every Thursday during school term time, 10am-11.30am at Redeemer Church, 64 Bridge Road, Colinton, EH13 OLQ. FREE. E: admin@redeemeredinburgh.org T: 0131 441 7327 ST CUTHBERT’S BADMINTON CLUB - The Club was formed about 1946 and meets in the Church Hall in Westgarth Avenue, Colinton on Monday evenings at 8.00pm between September and Easter. It is noncompetitive. For details, call Julia Roberts on 07904 813145. PENTLAND BRIDGE CLUB Come and play duplicate bridge in a friendly atmosphere. We meet in St Margaret's Court, Juniper Green on Thursdays at 6.45pm. Table money £4. Less experienced players made very welcome. For further information see www.bridgewebs.com/ pentland or email mthkjb@gmail.com. COLINTON LITERARY SOCIETY - Meetings start with coffee, tea and wine at 7.30pm and are held at Dreghorn Hall, 22 Dreghorn Loan, EH13 0DE. Full programme details are at edinburghpentlands. church/church-life/church-andcommunity-groups/colintonliterary-society/ COFFEE, CAKE AND COMPANY - Drop in for a free coffee between 10.30am and 12pm on Mondays at Redeemer Church Edinburgh, 64 Bridge Road EH13 0LT. We are mostly retired people, but all ages are welcome! More details at: redeemeredinburgh.org/ccc THIS WOMAN RUNS - We are a small group of local women who support and empower each other to be healthier and happier. We meet Wednesday’s at 7.30pm at the bottom of Thorburn Road, or Sunday’s at 8.00am in Spylaw Park for a quick warm up, 30-minute run at the pace of chat/your pace, and then a gentle cool down. We’d love to see you there! All free, run by friendly local volunteers www.thismumruns.co.uk/ join-a-local-run
-2.00pm) or some delicious WAVERLEY SPEAKERS home baking (available all CLUB - Meets in day). We welcome groups Morningside Parish Church, fortnightly on Tuesdays and if you would like to book at 7.15pm. Our aim is to a table, please contact 07514 SOLUTION TO SEPTEMBER improve members’ public 689258. There are glutenCROSSWORD speaking skills in a supportive free, vegetarian, vegan and atmosphere. Each evening dairy-free options. Under 12s has three prepared speeches are invited to enjoy a children's of eight minutes, evaluated menu. Sit in or take away. We constructively by another look forward to welcoming you. member. Eight impromptu COLINTON LOCAL HISTORY short speeches follow, also SOCIETY - Want to know evaluated. New members about local history? will be made most welcome. W: www.colintonhistory.org Contact: Douglas.Lothian@ E: enquiries@colintonhistory.org lenlothian.com COLINTON GARDEN CLUB LOCAL FLORAL ART - Club members share their CLUB - Sit back and enjoy love of gardening, gardens relaxing evenings watching and nature, and work together a floral demonstration with to preserve and add value lively & interesting chat. You ACROSS: 7. Digest, 8. Eroded, might even win one of the 9. Clog, to our quality of life here in south-west Edinburgh. Monthly 10. Yachting, 11. Robbing, 13.at Fiend, arrangements. We meet The members’ meetings on a 15. Minus, 16. Request, Eighteen, Braidhills Hotel from 18. 7pm to Monday, in the upper Hall, 19. Iced, 21. 22. Ornate.of 8.45pm onFamous, the 1st Monday Dreghorn Loan and start at DOWN: 1. Dill, 2. Neighbourhood, the month from September. In 3. Staying,and 4. Mercy, Contributions, 8.00pm. We are a friendly October only5.for October 6. Remnants, 12. Original, and thriving club and new we are at Marchmont St Giles 14. Reunion, 17. Cease, 20. Eats. members are very welcome, Church .Trial first visit in Sept plus outings and events. The or Oct only £5! Wine/tea/ SOLUTION TO SUDOKU annual subscription is £10.00. coffee available in the hotel. ON PAGE XXRutherford per household. Contact: Joyce For more information see: 0131 443 2536 or joyce. W: colintongardens.org.uk rutherford@btinternet.com E: membership@ COLINTON SCOTTISH colintongardens.org.uk COUNTRY DANCE CLUB LUNCHCLUB - Every Come and join us on alternate Wednesday 1pm – 3pm, Thursday evenings from 3 courses £4. Spaces are September to March for an limited, first come first served. evening of fun dancing to Oxgangs Neighbourhood live music. We meet in St Cuthbert's Church Hall Colinton Centre, 71 Firhill Drive, EH13 9EU. Please visit: from 7.45pm to 9.15pm. oxgangsneighbourhoodcentre. Dances are called but as this org.uk is not a teaching class some knowledge of Scottish Country PARENT AND TODDLER Dance steps and figures is GROUP - Tuesdays, am session beneficial. For further details and pm session for two age Disclaimer: The publisher cannot accept phone 07751 186359 or 07483 groups (all under 5s). Oxgangs responsibility for loss or damage caused 814988. by error in the printing of an advertisement. Neighbourhood Centre, 71 Firhill Drive, EH13 9EU. THE - Tuesinto We do SWING not endorseCAFÉ any advertisers this publication. All material isPlease accepted T: 0131 466 0678 Sat 10.00am-2.00pm. for publication on the understanding it is come for breakfast (10.00amE:oxgangsneighbourhoodcentre copyright free. No part of this publication 12.00noon), lunch (12noon @gmail.com
SOLUTION TO SEPTEMBER CROSSWORD
ACROSS: 7. Digest, 8. Eroded, 9. Clog, 10. Yachting, 11. Robbing, 13. Fiend, 15. Minus, 16. Request, 18. Eighteen, 19. Iced, 21. Famous, 22. Ornate. DOWN: 1. Dill, 2. Neighbourhood, 3. Staying, 4. Mercy, 5. Contributions, 6. Remnants, 12. Original, 14. Reunion, 17. Cease, 20. Eats.
SOLUTIONTO TOSUDOKU SUDOKU SOLUTION XX ON PAGE 33
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PENTLANDS BOOK FESTIVAL Pentlands Book Festival 2026 runs from 26 October to 25 November from Colinton to Balerno. All events are free but please donate what you can. The programme is here pentlandsbookfestival.org, summarised below.
Kate Atkinson, three-time Whitbread/ Costa winner, and creator of Life After Life and Jackson Brodie novels, makes a rare appearance. While Jenni Fagan, novelist, poet, screenwriter, artist, brings her distinctive voice to discuss The Delusions, which imagines an afterlife run by cosmic and comic bureaucracy. For readers drawn to history and social memory, Alistair Moffat, founder of the Borders Book Festival, has decades of expertise in Scottish history and journalism; Brian McGeachan discusses trade unionist Jimmy Reid; Kate Stephenson explores clothing and social history; Helen Graham brings historical fiction set in the world of theatrical artists. Crime and mystery take centre stage with Elaine Thomson, whose historical crime fiction includes her recent ghost story Saltwater, and James Oswald, known for his Inspector McLean and Constance Fairchild series.
IMAGE: Chris Boland
Debut and local talent are spotlighted: Mark Baillie’s novel Salvage explores Scotland’s
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Gypsy Traveller history through a missing person mystery, while Kate Mayor and Jonathan Findlay share a session showcasing local authorship. The festival also welcomes writers working in poetry, memoir, and adventure: Esa Aldegheri, author of Free to Go, and Anne Pia, with poetic responses to two icons of French culture Charles Baudelaire and Georges Brassens. Adding a curious note, Pete Lamont explores magic, psychic phenomena, and critical thinking. Beyond author talks, Pentlands Open Studios presents an artists’ talks event, giving local visual artists a platform. We close in contemplative mood at the Library of Mistakes, reflecting on lessons from history. Tickets for all events are essential, available on Eventbrite from 1st October.
Join our committee of volunteers for PBF2027 – your skills, especially in sound and audio-visual, are needed!