Nostalgia: City enjoys decades of park life

Published on 16/06/2012 13:40

Inverleith Park was the scene of a dramatic rescue recently, when some of its most famous residents were wrapped up and carried to safety.

The local swans, under threat from protective parents guarding their new cygnets, were carried to the safe haven of Musselburgh, with experts saying they would fly back naturally over time.

Despite the tranquil surroundings, the park has never been short on excitement over the years.

In 1978 it was mobbed with eager athletes keen to take part in the Evening News Fun Run, and it has also hosted pipe bands, keen boaters and even a fully-fledged talent contest.

One of its biggest attractions of course has always been the swans who have called it home for decades.

But the park hasn’t just been a place for relaxing – in 1972 it was the scene of an extraordinary community effort.

Students from Edinburgh University were joined by helpers as they took an axe to some of the trees in the park and set about chopping logs to help provide some of the city’s elderly population with firewood. The work was to help them heat their homes during the power cuts that had been caused by the miners’ strike.