Now the story of a remarkable (but largely forgotten) local hero – a nurseryman who lived and worked in Broughton until his death in September 1924 –  is told in the latest issue of Broughton History Society Newsletter. It’s something of a detective story that involved several local people and many trips to Rosebank Cemetary.

I picked up the trail after Kate Love suggested the story of James Grieve was worth exploring. Julian Siann produced invaluable clues in notes prepared by Jennifer Woods of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society after visiting the (new) Redbraes Community Garden in 2010.

The first few trips to the cemetary came to (sorry but this terrible pun is unavoidable) a dead end.  For some reason both Julian and I thought James Grieve would be easy to find. But there was simply no sign of his grave among the fascinating headstones in the older part of the cemetary running along the wall beside Broughton Road.  That was until my email to Jamie Reece, Support Officer – Bereavement Services at Mortonhall Crematorium, produced a map and a helpful hint.

“The way to find James Grieve’s grave is to look for Robert Sproull at Plot H 77.”

And there it was, surrounded by merchants, candlemakers and shipmasters of Leith, hidden by a holly bush at Section H Grave Plot 76 (according to the cemetery plan).

Just to be sure, I sent Jamie a photograph and he confirmed that this was indeed the right spot. No-one knows when or why the nurseryman’s headstone disappeared. But, if cemetary rules permit, perhaps an apple tree would be a better way to honour James Grieve.

You can find the whole story with some extra detective work by Alice Lauder (and much more besides),  in Broughton History Society Newsletter. Back copies are  kept on Spurtle website along with the programme for a great series of local history talks. The next one is on Monday 14 November at 7pm with David Patterson on ‘”Cocky Nit, Cocky Nit, Come and Buy, Ha’penny the Bit” – Life on the Streets of Old Edinburgh’

This is a marathon race with a difference.  Recycling, running, and constantly exploring innovative new ways to raise money – Leith-based voluntary organisation Multi-Cultural Family Base (MCFB) demonstrates an inspiring determination to maintain vital services despite public spending cuts. Perhaps you also have a story to tell?  Meanwhile over to Becky Robertson office manager at MCFB…

“With tough competition for seemingly ever decreasing pots of funding, everyone here at MCFB has pulled together to try and shore up the money coming into the organisation using the motto ‘every little bit counts’.

With a belief in the value of the projects that we run and work that we do here at MCFB, it feels like a worthwhile effort helping the organisation through these difficult economic times.  In addition to the main funding applications and alongside cost cutting and belt tightening across the organisation, here are just some of the money generating  initiatives we have put in place:

We have started a keen running club (helping with the belt tightening!), who between them have managed to bring in a tidy sum in sponsorship for various events – from running 5k’s dressed as Santa Claus to beating personal bests at half marathons. This has also meant we were able to give something back to one of our key funders, when several of the staff ran a mile for Sport Relief.

We have set up an account with the Recycling Appeal, which allows you to put all your empty toner cartridges & unwanted mobile phones to good use. Through this appeal, every item recycled can earn money for MCFB. Very simple to use, a single phone call or visit to www.recyclingappeal.com (quoting Multi-Cultural Family Base) allows you order a free collection. You can also access this link through MCFB’s website.

We now have an online donation service that can be accessed via the MCFB website (www.mcfb.org.uk) which is run in conjunction with Charity Choice (an online charity directory service) and the Co-operative Bank. This allows any donations to be made easily and securely into MCFB’s account via the Charity Choice website. Again, please let any friends, family & colleagues know who might be interested in this new service.

We are currently in the preliminary stages of setting up a social enterprise scheme selling art cards to help fund our much valued Art Therapy service. With a wealth of creative and artistic resources to hand, we felt this was the perfect opportunity to capitalise on them. So start thinking about your Christmas card order and watch this space…

These are challenging times for everyone, but hopefully they will bring out the best in all of us, revealing hidden talents, abilities and a social conscience along the way!”

Multi-Cultural Family Base (based at 50 Coburg Street in Leith)  aims to enhance the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people and their families directly and through the education and training of students in caring professions.

Now click here to enjoy the film

We are in the kitchen with Mridu Thanki to taste a meal from her first cookery book, Feasts of India.  On a cold Edinburgh day there are tantalising warm spicy smells coming from the pan and we are getting hungry.  But it isn’t time to eat yet.  While Mridu lines up red peppers, green coriander and creamy button mushrooms we are trying to capture the moment on film  – hoping tummies do not rumble above the sound of sizzling onions, cumin and chillies.

Mridu seems undaunted by the cameras. (You have to remember that as a founder member of the World Kitchen in Leith she served delicious courgettes in tandoori masala during torrential rain at Leith Festival in June this year.)  Her infectious enthusiasm for food overcomes most obstacles. “I love  food, I love cooking food and I love feeding family and friends,” she explains in her introduction.

Friends and family love her cooking too. “Why don’t you write the recipes down for us?” they ask and that is how she comes to write a book which she says has been 40 years in the making. After all, cookery books were not part of her family tradition. As a child growing up in North India Mridu  learned by watching and copying her mother and grandmother, absorbing the feel, colours and aromas of recipes which had been handed down for generations. As a mother bringing up two children in Britain she enjoyed experimenting with new flavours and ideas gained from her travels.

Now, adding a pinch of salt to the pan ( “to draw liquid from the mushrooms”) she describes how the idea for the book finally took shape in 1997 when she was running cookery classes for women in Latvia and sending recipes home to her daughter Priya and son Rahul.

The result is Feasts of India which is being launched at McDonald Road Library on Saturday 12th December at 12 pm.  Beautifully illustrated by Sandra de Matos and designed by Calum Ross, it has the look and feel of a handcrafted book and the friendly conversational tone of a natural cook who simply wants to share the vegetarian recipes that she enjoys cooking. Like the delicious creamy mushroom dish we tucked into – along with the rest of the meal Mridu prepared earlier to demonstrate the nutritional balance of an Indian meal: black eyed beans with okra,  white rice fragrant with whole spice, beetroot salad and minty raita of yoghurt and cucumber.

And the film?  Well, that is on its way and will be nicely cooked by the beginning of January when fresh, healthy vegetarian food will be exactly what the doctor ordered. We will make sure you are the first to join us ‘in Mridu’s kitchen’. Pardon any rumbles!

illustrations by Sandra de Matos

FEASTS OF INDIA is published by Jaggnath
£17.99 + £2.00 PP

For more information contact:
jaggnath.recipes@googlemail.com

On night patrol Simon Daley sometimes turns on the blue light simply to reassure people that a police car is in their neighbourhood.  By day he often thinks he is invisible.

Not today. On a sunny summer morning, the Community Beat Officer for Broughton (Leith) seems not just highly visible but very well known. People of all ages stop to talk to him on our shortish walk from McDonald Road Library to Scotland Yard Adventure Playground by way of Redbraes Community Garden.

If you ever wonder what community looks like maybe this is it: white van drivers, primary school children, mothers with prams, older women with shopping trolleys, school teachers and shop keepers. People wave, call out or stop for a chat and Simon knows each of them by name.

We decided to begin our new series on community by taking a look at the work of our local community police officer. By coincidence we met him at the end of Neighbourhood Action Week when combined forces of police, fire officers, council workers and Wombles (Wombles?  See also, environmental officers in disguise) knocked on doors in streets off Leith Walk to listen to local concerns and show people they were taking action.

Visibility matters. Being seen and reassuring the public are part and parcel of being a bobby on the beat. “This is a very safe area,” says Simon, “the crime statistics are low but public perception tends not to be the same as reality.”

Changing public perception is a long task but Simon does not seem daunted. “I quite enjoy challenging stereotypes and prejudices,” he says with a broad smile. Which is why you  find him visiting the local Mosque,  leading police colleagues in discussions about Islam, facilitating workshops of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender groups and joining  local school children for role play sessions about personal safety.  And why he went to Downing Street in January this year to receive an official ‘thank you’ (recommended by our local MP, Mark Lazarowicz) for his work in building relationships between Polish and Scottish communities.

The Polish war memorial at Redbraes was installed in November 2008

It’s the work with young people that makes most news. Simon is often quoted for his robust defence of young people. “I like kids,” he says, “I don’t just see them as some sort of nuisance to the rest of society.”  The former head boy of Trinity Academy who was suspended for having his hair cut too short remembers what it is like to be young. On days off, he spends much of his time with his eight-year-old daughter Erin (often at Redbraes). On duty he got fed up moving young people on and being asked, “But where will we go Simon?”

A recent survey of local people listed a lack of things for young people to do among their top concerns – along with anti-social behaviour, litter and dog fouling. Which is why we are on our way to Scotland Yard via Redbraes to see a side of police work that challenges quite a few stereotypes. Simon has been a leading force in the development of Redbraes Community Garden [reported elsewhere on our blog], working closely with the committee chaired by Davie Thomson to raise both money and team spirit in the creation of an amazing urban oasis.

Simon stops for a chat with Davie Thomson at Redbraes community hut

An outdoor classroom and garden plots for local schoolchildren are there to encourage young people  to take part in healthy outdoor activities – “and discover that food does not grow in packets”.  The garden also aims to build a sense of community so at the entrance Simon created a Polish war memorial made from stone which he helped to pay for from his £500 community fund available to all community police officers (though the fund has been frozen this year).

At Scotland Yard the mouth of the old railway tunnel is still closed but soon Simon hopes it will open to reveal  the vision he has for a creative space where young people will want to come.  Characteristically the police officer is hoping to introduce some razzamatazz to the open day on July 30 when an event to mark the start of work on the tunnels will include teenagers from Drylaw, in North Edinburgh cycling from Glasgow to Edinburgh – reaching Scotland Yard by the new cycle path along the Water of Leith. Expect lots of other imaginative touches to attract media and more good news.

In a two hour walk we have travelled less than a mile but covered far more ground than we can squeeze into this blog. What’s more, we have run out of time to follow Simon on his regular Friday visit to the Mosque because he must now rejoin the Neighbourhood Action Team, led by Police Sergeant Andrew Harborow, to complete their week of team work. But you can be sure he will be back to Scotland Yard very soon. Visibly.

Through the new tunnel to Scotland Yard.

Pictures by Nick Gardner, words by Fay Young