Café Braw is now open again, and also taking orders! The best way to use this service is to contact Meg who runs the café by text or via WhatsApp on 07436 803521. A weekly menu is available via WhatsApp and is also posted on the café door. Any new menu requests will be greatly appreciated and accommodated where possible. Meg is happy to take orders from the menu, can prepare party food on request and cakes (birthday, special occasion or any other requirement) to order.
Café Braw has just announced that they’re closed but they’re offering to try doing food delivery to those who need it. Facebook post below.
Due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19 the government announced today (16th March) that “now is the time for everyone to stop essential contact etc., etc.” They urged people to work from home and avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other social venues, including also “large to small gatherings”. We have decided that the only option is to postpone all planned events for the immediate future and for as long as this is the recommended course of action. We will soon contact everyone who has bought tickets to upcoming events, in order to arrange refunds.
We’ve also created an unmoderated Facebook group for residents to get in touch with each other to offer/request help as needed: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DeanVillageAssociation
16th March update: On government advice this event has been postponed; we will be in touch with ticketholders shortly.
On the 3rd of April in the Grosvenor Hotel, we are hosting a Dean Village social evening. We invite all residents — past and present — to join!
To book your place, please contact patrickmccole at hotmail dot com (rewrite as a normal email address!), no later than 17th January.
Cost £15.95 per person.
We’ve expanded our online archive of back issues of the Dean Village News, with new scans of 46 issues running as far back as 1981. Have a browse on our Documents page…
UPDATE: the scans have now been updated with an embedded approximation of their text, so you should be able to search them for particular words. The automated OCR (scanned-image-to-text) process isn’t perfect, insofar as it generally fails to recognise that there are two columns present and so badly loses the narrative flow of the newsletters, but it’s good enough for searching and indexing.
DVRL have just published the second phase of their feasibility study on scope and costings for proposed restoration work on the Dean Valley running from Dean Village to Stockbridge. You can find all sixty-seven pages of it (!) on their site here.
Good news: the ramp on the Water of Leith Walk between Belford and the Haymarket steps reopened last week. It feels rock-solid and is wider than its predecessor: no more single file!
Surveyors were seen this evening (4th June) on the closed path section just above the village. Are we about to see some long-awaited progress here too?
The latest on the seemingly interminable river path closures, courtesy of the Water of Leith Conservation Trust:
More information on the Trust’s blog.
The Water of Leith Conservation Trust have recently updated their schedule of forthcoming events; these are many and varied, including talks on watermill conservation, the Pentlands and urban mushrooms; local literary, historical and architectural walks; cleanup events and a plant sale. Those interested can read more in the Trust’s blog.
Previously… Scotland’s History Festival will take place in November.
This year, it celebrates the centenary of the great Scottish heroine Elsie Inglis, who lies buried in the Dean Cemetery. She was a pioneering Scottish doctor, suffragist and founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals.
The Dean Village Association is running several events in support of the festival; they are listed in our calendar. Booking is essential for these events.
More information on Previously… itself may be found at http://www.historyfest.co.uk/.