The Stockbridge Spotlight Issue 122 May/June 2024

STOCKBRIDGE SPOTLIGHT

Welcome to this latest issue of the Stockbridge Spotlight. Wow have I had a very busy few weeks getting this issue together. The purpose of the Spotlight has always been to bring to you a range of businesses advertising products and services which you might need to run your everyday home and family life. I am always looking for other services that I don't have that I think would be a useful addition to our pages. And this issue there are quite a few new additions. From Travel Services, Gardening, Care At Home and Beauty Therapists to Windows & Doors, Electricians, a local Bike Shop and a local Opticians. Have a look for them all as you read through this issue. And if you contact them please remember to say you saw them in the Stockbridge Spotlight so they know where their new customers found them.

But these were my thoughts on what would be good additions to the Spotlight. So my question is - what else would you like to see featured on our pages? It might be a particular trade or service we currently don't have. Or you might like an article on a topic I haven't run so far. Please do get in touch and let me know - I will do my best to try and source any requests.

On a different note, Foodies Festival is returning to Inverleith Park again this August. If you have not got a ticket yet, we have a special discount offer for Spotlight readers - check out the information on our centre pages. And keep your fingers crossed for sunshine that weekend.

I hope that you enjoy this issue. Whether you are a local resident, an advertiser or someone who maybe picked up a copy in a coffee shop or from the library thank you for supporting the Stockbridge Spotlight

Until the next issue ...... Simply scan the QR codes to visit our websites for future publication dates and booking information.

Stockbridge Spotlight Trinity Spotlight

rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. All artwork is accepted on strict condition that is it legal/ copyright free and permission has been given for use in this publication. The views and opinions by contributors to this magazine may not represent the views of the publisher. The Stockbridge Spotlight magazine takes no responsibility for claims made by advertisers in this publication”

HARD SUDOKU

HOW TO PLAY

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through to 9 with no repetition!

Thats all there is to it.

You solve the puzzle with reason and logic - there’s no maths involved and no adding up.

Its fun. Its challenging Its addictive. (Soln on pg 42)

An Update From Councillor Hal Ostler

February is budget time for the Council. There are huge challenges facing the City, so it is vital that whatever the Council chooses to spend money on it does so wisely and on things that residents want. Sadly, according to many who write to me, this is NOT one of the Council’s strong points.

Each political Council group produces a budget and these can be viewed on the Council website. Ultimately due to the present political make up it takes three parties to agree to get a majority budget passed, which can be seen as a good thing if it drives discussion and collaboration across political divides.

Poor state of the Roads, Pavements and Path Network – a huge number of emails to my inbox concern the poor state of our infrastructure. £11.5m extra towards this was agreed at last year’s budget and that has been increased to £12.5m for this year and the next two. This is badly needed as there has been huge underinvestment for a number of years.

Investment in Education – in recent years schools have borne a heavy brunt in terms of cuts and Covid added greater challenges. More cuts were scheduled this year but not only were those reversed but an additional £2m was added to the school budgets.

Flood Prevention and Biodiversity – this is something that I have been pushing for a while and I am delighted that agreement was reached to put an additional £0.75m into this for the next three years, on top of the £5m that was already agreed last year. This enables us to progress many projects which should reduce flood risk and improve the quantity and quality of our local parks and greenspaces.

Road/Path Safety – more focus on delivering some of the many outstanding road safety projects that residents have actually asked and campaigned for. In addition monies were agreed for looking into how to make the off-road path network safer as however you choose to travel you should be provided with a safe way to do it.

Toilet Facilities in Inverleith Park – after many years of campaigning new accessible toilet facilities will be arriving this summer, not only for Inverleith Park but the Meadows and Leith Links too, these will be open all year-round. I know more are needed across the city and I will keep working to get them delivered.

Water of Leith pathway Investment – This is a much-loved and well-used pathway that we are extremely lucky to have in our city. Like the rest of our transport infrastructure it has suffered from long term under-investment. When I first stood in 2017 I committed to making sure that the pathway would be reopened below Dean Path. All told this took 10 years to happen but it did eventually open. I am determined that we invest in our off-road path network similarly to those along our road network as these are vital links that residents use daily to go about their daily business.

This is a brief and local overview of the City’s budget, much more detail can be seen on the Council website. I hope this has reassured you that the Council is starting to listen and invest in the City.

If you have any comments then please do feel free to email me at hal.osler@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Botanics Launches Local Appeal To Help Save The Palm Houses

Local residents are being asked to help save the Botanics’ historic Palm Houses, following the launch of the Inverleith Garden’s public fundraising appeal over the Easter weekend. Loved by generations of locals, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s Temperate and Tropical Palm Houses have been landmarks in the area since the 1900s. Now, at almost 200 years old and, with crumbling stonework, rusting iron and ineffective glass putting the precious Living Collection at risk, the buildings are in urgent need of restoration.

An ambitious restoration programme is now underway to protect almost 400 plant species housed within the magnificent buildings.

Emma Lacroix, Director of Development and Communications said: “We are immensely grateful to the generous support we have received so far from our funders, and we are now asking local residents and members of the community to help us preserve these iconic symbols of the Garden, part of Scotland’s architectural heritage.

“The restoration will help to protect our precious botanical collections, a key resource for our scientists and horticulturists in their fight against biodiversity loss and the climate emergency. We really hope to secure the help of everyone who knows and loves the Garden.Please support our appeal today and Save the Palm Houses for future generations.”

To support the Palm Houses appeal, visit https://www.rbge.org.uk/palmhouses

Visualisation of the restored Victorian Palm House

Book Launch Event – ‘Weight Loss Without Willpower’ Hello all!! Would you like to meet me in person?

By Gillian Dalgliesh

I’m holding a book launch in central Edinburgh and I would be delighted to have you join me to hear about how we can be unconsciously programming ourselves for weight loss failure! I’ll be offering powerful tips, advice & insights on how to programme yourself for lasting weight loss achievement!!!

Most ‘dieters’ don’t realise that their subconscious mind is likely to be the major factor in sabotaging their weight loss endeavours and creating a repetitive spiral of yo-yo dieting.

Date: Tuesday, 28th May 2024 Time: 7pm – 9pm

Place: The Arthur Conan Doyle Centre

Investment: £5 – Event Only, £15 Event & Book

Books can be purchased at time of booking, or at the Launch.

Refreshments provided.

Numbers are limited so please book early to ensure a place! Tickets can be purchased online at bit.ly/24ACD or by using the adjacent QR code.

‘Weight Loss Without Willpower’ is already an Amazon #1 BEST SELLER and it’s all about learning how to harness the power of your subconscious mind for sustainable weight loss success. I’ll be speaking about the techniques I advocate in the book and I’ll also be answering questions about how they work.

Come and enjoy wine & nibbles, or a soft drink, in the magnificent setting of the elegant Victorian townhouse that is the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre and enjoy hearing about how to utilise the awesome capabilities of your subconscious! And the techniques aren’t limited to weight loss, you can use these methods to improve any area of your life!!!!

Gillian Dalgliesh is an acclaimed Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Coach with more than a decade of experience in successfully helping clients to become a sustainable healthy weight.

What you’ll learn in this book:

• How you’ve been unconsciously programming yourself for failure

• How to programme your mind for sustainable weight loss success

• How to re-wire automatic behaviour and break the spiral of yo-yo dieting

• Insights, self-awareness, mind tools and techniques to change your mindset forever

• How to recognise three important WHYsWHY you want to lose weight, WHY you don’t want to lose weight, and WHY you won’t let yourself keep the weight off!

Come along and hear about it! Other than unwanted lbs, what have you got to lose?

Are you struggling to deal with issues in your life?

Weight Loss? Anxiety?

Stress? Smoking?

Phobias? Alcohol?

Confidence?

If so, then hypnotherapy may be the solution.

Find out more about my holistic approach to resolving client’s issues on my website www.gilliandalgliesh.com or call me on 07593 082 349 for a free consultation

Foodies Festival returns to Inverleith Park, Edinburgh from 2nd - 4th August, with brand new features, celebrity chefs and charttopping music stars, including: Blue, Peter Andre and Symphonic Ibiza Orchestra.

The three-day event features live cooking demonstrations from TV celebrities and chefs from MasterChef, Great British Bake Off and Great British Menu. Star names include: Great British Bake Off 2023 winner, Matty Edgell, TV sensation, Peter Andre, National Chef of Scotland and MasterChef: The Professionals champion Gary Maclean and celebrity ITV This Morning chef and star of Great British Menu, Jimmy Lee. In the Chefs Theatre, celebrities create their signature dishes, whilst in the Cake & Desserts Theatre, star bakers whip up showstoppers. In the Kids Cookery School, Foodies SuperChefs make cooking fun, and at the brand new Lumberjaxe Fire Stage, BBQ masters create delicious fire-cooked recipes.

Masterclasses in the Drinks Theatre include tutored Champagne, Beer, Cider, Cocktail and Wine-tasting.

Browse in the Shopping Village, meet producers in the Artisan Market and taste new dishes in the Feasting Tent – featuring a mouth-watering range of world street food.

Other features include: TV Chef battles, Cook School with experts, Silent Disco, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, Chilli Eating competitions and fairground.

Extended opening hours until 10pm on Friday.

Tickets from £4 (child) £21(adult). Under 6 go free Use code Spotlight for 30% off tickets www.foodiesfestival.com

The Formula For Learning A New Language? You + Confidence.

This summer, Speak in a Week is back! Language confidence in one week with Speak Out’s popular summer intensive course. Choose from Spanish, Italian, French or German and get yourself holiday-ready!

There are 3 language levels: Speak in a Week for beginners will teach you the practical language skills you need to communicate confidently abroad. Improvers is for those who already grasp the fundamentals and want to develop their conversation and vocabulary. Intermediate is for nonbeginners who wish to build confidence and fluency. Contact us at hello@speakoutwithconfidence.com or on 07825 597056 and we’ll help you find the right level

Speaking a foreign language with confidence is easier than you think. Whether you’re a beginner or have prior experience, our lessons have helped over a thousand students learn a new language in a way that is easy, friendly, and relaxed.

Speak in a Week is £180 per person. Places are limited to 8 per group. This enables quality instruction and a friendly environment, ensuring you get the maximum amount of speaking practice.

Speak in a Week sells out quickly, so get in touch today to register interest hello@speakoutwithconfidence

07825 597056

Spotlight On Wine by Diana Thompson

May/June 2024 - Spotlight On Hungary

Producing something for everyone from white, red, rosé, sparkling and sweet wines Hungary deserves more than a spotlight on the world’s wine stage. Look out for these exciting wines - here are just a few I’d recommend;

Sauska, Sparkling Brut NV – The Fine Wine Company £18.95

Superb sparkling wine with great personality. Ripe, juicy citrus combined with a touch of tropical fruit and a long creamy finish together with a hint of almonds. No wonder it’s scooped up numerous awards - great value too.

Carpinus (dry) Tokaji Hárslevelu – Lidl £9.99

Aromatic with citrus and lychee characters giving a perfect balance of refreshing acidity and ripe fruit. Full of character. Enjoy with shellfish or flavoursome summer salads.

Sebestyén Rosé, Szekszárd – WoodWinters £13.50

Full of freshness with bright red fruits which dance across your palate. Beautiful rosé, deliciously elegant and calling out to be enjoyed with friends in the garden.

Schieber Kekfrankos Trilogia, Szekszárd – Great Grog £13.15

Fresh, ripe black cherries with lively acidity and a pinch of spice giving complexity. A great summer red, try slightly chilled and enjoy with a BBQ.

www.WineEventsScotland.com

@WineEventsScot

Inverleith

Ferranti Bowling Club

7 Arboretum Place

Edinburgh, EH3 5NY

Tuesdays 9.00am

Tel: Anne 07821 273666

Inverleith

Ferranti Bowling Club

7 Arboretum Place

Edinburgh, EH3 5NY

Tuesdays 5.30pm

Tel: Anne 07821 273666

Granton

Granton Parish Church

55 Boswall Parkway

Edinburgh, EH5 2DA

Thursdays 6.00pm

Tel: Anne 07821 273666

Granton

Granton Parish Church

55 Boswall Parkway

Edinburgh, EH5 2DA

Fridays 9.30am

Tel: Anne 07821 273666

An Article From Deidre Brock MP

It’s official - Edinburgh is the greenest city in the UK! Almost half of the capital’s urban expanse is green space, perhaps no surprise when there's a whopping great volcano in the middle of town.

Besides making Edinburgh such a beautiful place to live, we all know how much connecting with nature can lift our spirits and boost our wellbeing. This is a fact increasingly recognised by health professionals who have partnered up with RSPB Scotland to offer ‘nature prescriptions’.

Stockbridge is particularly blessed, with a couple of the best loved green spaces in the city right on the doorstep – the beautiful Inverleith Park, diligently and lovingly conserved by the Friends of Inverleith Park, and of course the Royal Botanic Garden.

I visited the Botanics recently for a catch up with Regius Keeper Simon Milne and the wonderful team leading their major restoration and renewal works, and was lucky enough to get a peek behind the scenes at the ongoing restoration of the Victorian Palm Houses, both originally constructed in the 1800s.

The ambitious Edinburgh Biomes project is the biggest and perhaps the most important in their history. It’s an unimaginably complex job with diligent work underway to repair the heritage ironwork, sandstone and a complete replacement of the glass. Each pane is unique and has been individually replicated in plywood as part of the restoration process, so the new replacements are an exact fit. Restoring these iconic A-Listed buildings to their former glory will preserve an important part of Scotland’s architectural heritage.

The Biomes project is also crucial to the Garden’s role in protecting the world’s biodiversity. Restoration of the glasshouses will avoid the catastrophic loss of 6,000 plant species in its internationally important collection, some of which are extinct or threatened in the wild. There will be a new plant health hub too, providing a controlled space where plants can be monitored and protected from pests, diseases and other threats.

That’s vital because biodiversity is declining at a frightening rate - faster than at any point in human history. Two-thirds of plant species are now threatened with extinction, while the number of animals living on Earth has more than halved just since 1970.

In Scotland, we’ve already lost nearly a quarter of our wildlife; the most recent RSPB ‘State of Nature' report found that 16% of species assessed across the UK are at risk of disappearing for good, including native species like the Scottish wildcat, the capercaillie, and the Scottish primrose.

However, Scotland through bodies like the Botanics and Nature Scot has been taking action to protect and rebuild our natural habitats – planting trees and vegetation to revitalise our woodlands and forests, and restoring dried-out Scottish peatland.

As someone with a keen interest in environmental issues, I take great pride in serving a constituency which is home to a leading scientific institution which plays such a pioneering role in biodiversity and nature restoration.

It’s also heartening that our city lends its name to the Edinburgh Declaration, an international call for bold actions to halt biodiversity loss.

While there's no denying the scale of the challenges, it really is inspiring to see the efforts being made by talented people right here in Edinburgh to protect nature for our future generations.

Mindful Walking

By Tracy Griffen

When you walk, how do you walk? Often we rush, ear glued to mobile phone. Look around at how many people are wearing headphones, it’s almost as if we can’t just ‘be’ as we walk – we feel the need to multi-task.

Well, what if you did nothing when you walked? Nothing, that is, except noticing your surroundings. Noticing your body’s movement, the sound of birds, the thoughts that come to your mind, the sky. Just walk and observe. In a hectic news-saturated world, sometimes just switching off is the most powerful thing you can do. And walk. Not drive. But use your legs and appreciate the spring in Edinburgh. You see a lot more of Edinburgh when you walk. Exploring closes, following the Water of Leith, or just sight-seeing in your own town, going for a walk is free and one of the best forms of exercise you can do.

Even better if you can use it as a bit of brain downtime. Mindful walking is a bit like meditating on the move. Technically you need to sit still to meditate (I’ve asked monk Gelong Thubten whether it is possible to meditate when running and he answered most certainly not, as you might bump into a tree). So it’s not meditation, but simply just letting your mind rest in the present. Appreciate the feel of the wind, the sound around you and the ‘essence’ of the day. The Botanic Gardens is a wonderful place to meander and gaze at the changing season.

However even a mundane walk to the local shop can be more interesting if you pay attention. I like the idea that walking through a landscape somehow connects us. We notice more, and it’s good for the blood pressure. It’s true, if you’d like to lower your blood pressure and stress levels, going for a walk is one of the best things you can do.

Navigate towards a greenspace and have a perambulation in the park. Just try it, you’ll feel better for it. If you’re already a mindful walker, feel free to put this magazine down and go for a wander. I’ll check in with you again next issue…

Tracy Griffen runs a private fitness studio on Balfour Street (next to the tram stop).

Telephone/ text / WhatsApp her on 07743741088.

Community Spotlight

General Knowledge Crossword

EDINBURGH FLORAL

ART CLUB MEETINGS

The club meets at Blackhall St. Columba’s Church hall, Queensferry Road, the second Friday of each month from 2pm to 4pm

Future Meetings

May 10th

Regina O’Regan from Kinross

Title ‘Celebration’

June 14th

AGM

Speaker Karen Buckley

Title ‘Mary Quant’

Membership for the year is £47 and new members and visitors are always welcome.

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS

Quick Crossword

Across: 1 Lots, 4 Impetigo, 8 Neuritis, 9 Opus, 10 Inane, 11 Vintner 13 Breeze15 Lackey 17 Mittens 19 Coven 22 Hope 23 Roulette 24 Teaspoon, 25 Yard.

Down: 2 Ocean, 3 Syringe, 4 Iota, 5 Pastille, 6 Trout, 7 Gruyère, 12 Leonardo, 14 Rhizome, 16 Cookery, 18 Teens, 20 Ester, 21 Quin.