Letters: Fun factor has taken a dip since Waterworld was shut

I have now had the chance to experience the nicely upgraded but much the same Royal Commonwealth Pool with my six-year-old and two-year-old boys.

We had some fun, but after a chat with them, they don’t want to go back as they much prefer Bonnyrigg Pool, Dunbar Pool or Xcite pool in Livingston.

They can’t understand why Leith Waterworld was closed.

Thinking about this, if you want to close a pool to divert money to keep it “afloat”, you would close a similar swimming pool to the “Commie”, for example Glenogle baths.

You would not just go and close the best kids’ swimming pool in miles, even better than the Time Capsule in Coatbridge.

They have closed possibly the best kids’ pool in Scotland!

Alistair Ogilvie, Carnbee Dell, Liberton, Edinburgh

Take care around the brazen birds

THE other day whilst enjoying some rare summer sunshine and the cheery sound of buskers playing by the Scottish National Gallery, I and several others witnessed the bizarre sight of a seagull swooping down and snatching the hotdog from the hand of a man who was eating it!

I don’t know if birds are becoming more brazen and aggressive but this most unusual, comical and alarming of spectacles really had to be seen to be believed.

If our feathered friends are becoming more daring in their hunting methods I would urge everyone consuming tasty snacks in the open to be more wary of airborne hunters and scavengers.

Angus McGregor, Albion Road, Edinburgh

UFOs are product of imagination

LAMB Island is not a “UFO hotspot” (“Geller goes Forth with UFO theory”, News, June 18), because there are no UFO hotspots and no UFOs (except in the sense that people see things in the sky that they can’t immediately explain).

People may indeed have observed lights appearing above the island, but the lights will have a mundane explanation and their source will be much further away. Geller’s UFOs are as imaginary as his mental powers.

Steuart Campbell, Dovecot Loan, Edinburgh

Torch ceremony was amazing

I WAS shocked when I read the negative letter about the Olympic torch parade that you printed with my son’s photograph (June 15).

The day on Wednesday was an amazing event and the schoolchildren and people of Queensferry that walked the long distance to Hopetoun really enjoyed the games, horse-drawn carriages and fireworks topped with the arrival of the torch carried by my son John and two others.

John felt that it was extra special because he was carrying it in his home town. It was not an invitation-only event as long as you walked in, as no cars were allowed.

Also the torch was cycled over the bridge by Mark Beaumont earlier in the day and then the Olympic flame returned over the bridge to Hopetoun by convoy.

John had an amazing day.

Hannah Beaton, Queensferry

Painful progress on our streets

WITH reference to George Cornwall’s comments about poor cobble-laying (Letters, June 18), I don’t think anyone can actually lay cobble-stones any more.

The worst street in town must be South Fort Street. Try going down there on a bike.

If you didn’t have piles before . . .

Barry Gardner, Ferry Road, Leith, Edinburgh