Pages From the Past

This week we’re going back 33 years to March 1980 to see what was going on in Wester Hailes.  The headline story gives details of a new initiative focused on creating a greener environment for the area.  Workers from a local project and local volunteers were planting trees and shrubs in Clovenstone and Calders.  Pupils from Clovenstone Primary School were also involved  leading to the school setting up a gardening project.  Other stories include

• Who does What- a response to a then common issue on whether the Edinburgh District Council or the Lothian Regional Council were responsible for the footpaths and internal walkways.
• A report on new efforts to set up tenants’s associations in Clovenstone and Westburn
• News that Rolf Harris was going to film 2 shows involving children from Sighthill and Davidson’s Main schools.
• Concern that the issues raised by the tenants of Dunsyre House had still not been resolved satisfactorily.
• News from around the areas including information about a youth exchange with Munich for young people from Clovenstone.
• Cilla’s Kidz Column with a variety of stories, including a couple of tales that show their young authors’ abilities to put a gory twist in the most unlikely subjects!

You’ll find all these stories and more by clicking here.

Small Change: Big Difference

25 years of Comic Relief will be celebrated tomorrow as the 2013 Red Nose Day gets underway.  Despite the many issues and difficulties facing Wester Hailes, the local community responded generously and enthusiastically to initiatives such as Comic Relief and the history of the event over the years can be traced through the editions of the Sentinel.

In 1988, the year Comic Relief was launched, patients and staff at Sighthill Health Centre raised £46 with a spontaneous event held on the day.  By 1991, more local residents had been affected by red nose fever, raising money for Comic Relief with a variety of events and stunts.  WHEC students ran a school radio station for the day, broadcasting live to the school, and playing requests for 50p a time.  Meanwhile young people on YTS took to the streets in fancy dress to raise money while children at the Wester Hailes Child Care Project held a Hawaiian beach party.

1993 saw all the local schools involved with children being allowed to come to school in fancy dress if they paid 20p.  Westburn School went for sponsored silences which raised a quiet £150.

Numerous events were held to raise funds in 1997 including a football tournament where 16 teams battled it out at the Sighthill Pitz.  The eventual winners were the WHOT Shop who beat Kristopher’s Hertz 6-5 in the final.  Other events went for a fancy dress theme with Sighthill pupils wearing specially made hats for the day.  They also held a mini sale and their final total was an impressive £350.

As well as Comic Relief, Wester Hailes took part in numerous other fundraising initiatives.  In 1985, as part of the Sentinel’s celebrations to mark its 100 edition, the Sentinel team coordinated fundraising efforts for the Band Aid Ethiopian Appeal.  This led to Bob Geldof visiting the WHEC to meet pupils who had raised £675 for the appeal.  He was full of praise for their efforts and for what the wider community was doing in response to Band Aid.  He said

 “Keep going, don’t stop now.  To know that people over here care about them and are doing things really helps.”

Surprise Delivery!

Many people have been hooked by the stories and characters portrayed in Call The Midwife.  With the programme generating huge viewing figures, it looks likely to hold onto its prized prime Sunday evening slot.  As a nation, we seem to love stories about new babies and unusual deliveries.  Today we’re able to bring you just such a story from the pages of the Sentinel.

We were contacted on the Facebook page a couple of weeks ago about a story from the Sentinel featuring an unexpected guest.  Back in June 1989, Mary Stewart who was nine months pregnant was on her way home with her friend Rena.  She had just got to her front door when she realised her baby was well on the way.  There was no time to take off their coats, let alone call an ambulance, and Rena realised that in the absence of any midwife, she would need to step into the role.  So she rolled up her sleeves and calmly delivered Mary’s baby girl.  Mary told the Sentinel reporter

“There can’t be many women who can say they had their baby with their coat on.”

You can read the story in full by clicking here.

Creating The News

In 2013, the way we keep up to date with what’s going on is changing.  There’s now an online world just a click away and lots of us prefer to get our news and information through the internet and social media.  Current, instant and relevant, the huge range of online sites has something for everyone.  For extremely localised news, there is space for all sorts of issues and information that is of huge interest to those in the immediate neighbourhood but would have little significance to anyone beyond the area.

It feels a world away from how printed newspapers used to be produced.  In March 1985, the Sentinel celebrated its 100^th edition.  As part of its anniversary edition, it ran a detailed article on how the Sentinel was produced from 20 empty pages to the printed paper.  Once the copy had been produced, stories went to the sub-editor’s desk where copy was marked up ready for typesetting.  The sub editor set aside space for photographs, edited the copy and wrote the headlines.  This was then put through the typesetting machine which turned the written words into “gallies”.  These were then cut up and pasted down on special grids by graphic artists.  Meanwhile, photographs for the paper were developed in the dark room and then pasted down with the typeset gallies.  This was a long process with each page taking hours to paste-up. The “camera ready” copy was then picked up by the printers and used to make plates and negatives to print the paper.  You can read more about producing the Sentinel by clicking here.

The way printed newspapers are now produced has moved on completely with the development of IT and associated technology.  And most newspapers now have an online presence that is as important as their printed paper with layouts designed to be highly interactive and “clickable”, with readers able to comment instantly.  Online versions are now specifically designed for smart phones, tablets, e-readers as well as PCs so that readers can access them easily wherever they are.  Meanwhile regular tweets through Twitter alert subscribers to breaking news, directing them to the site for further details.

The Digital Sentinel is an idea developed as part of the new digital Totem Pole.  Recognising that producing a printed newspaper requires substantial on-going resources, the plan is to have an online site where news, information and opinions can be shared locally.  Whilst the online development is the immediate priority, it is also recognised that not everyone wants to or is able to use internet access.  There are potential options to ensure that everyone can access key news and information.  And there is also an aim to help more people get online, particularly as the introduction of Universal Credit will move benefit claims to an online system. It is more important than ever that people feel confident about using the internet, have the skills to access the sites they need, and  the resources to make this access easy.

Over the next few months there will be a series of workshops organised by WHALE Arts Agency to bring together local residents who are interested in learning more about digital media.  They will be looking for people who might want to become citizen journalists, learn more about using online media, or have a view on what the new online site should be featuring.  The sessions will be designed for all levels of experience.  Crucially, these sessions will also be designed to encourage local residents to become part of an editorial team so that the site is community led.

The Digital Sentinel might seem very different to the old printed Sentinel in some ways, but in the emphasis to create a democratic online space, run by community members it is firmly connected to the values associated with the original community newspaper.  The Sentinel was owned by the people of Wester Hailes who took on all the management functions of newspaper ownership.  Local residents were also the main contributors, producing content for the paper on a voluntary basis, writing articles but also submitting cartoons and photographs.  It was therefore in all senses a community led newspaper and this community emphasis is one those involved with the new Digital Sentinel are keen to put at the heart of the new project.

If you live locally and you’re interested in being involved in the Digital Sentinel look out for details over the next few weeks.

Pages From The Past

This week we’re taking a look back at February 1984, 29 years ago.  The main story features two local boys heading for jobs as acrobats with Cottle’s Circus.  Both boys had trained with local clown Haggis and been members of the Wester Hailes Children’s Circus.  Other stories include

• Greenham Women For Peace: a report on the recent protests at Greenham Common
• The cost of combating dampness at Hailesland Park worked out to be £4,000 per flat.
• News from Westburn Hut and efforts in Clovenstone to start a skills exchange
• An interview with George Chisholm
• Views and Reviews of the latest music and record releases at a time when record shops sold vinyl.

You can read all these stories and more by clicking here.

Gale Force Damage

High winds are causing havoc in parts of the country today. Back in 1986, Wester Hailes was hit by westerly winds that ripped off the roof of the new Murrayburn Community Centre.  Wester Hailes has had its share of bad weather damage over the years, with snow, flooding and ice creating damage on buildings and roads.  With its particular location, high winds can create damaging effects.  The new centre had only been open for  a week before the damage caused it to shut for three days.  You can read more about this story by clicking here.

Pages From The Past

This week we’re going back to 1989 to see what was happening in Wester Hailes 23 years ago.  Much of the front page is given over to the mascot chosen by the Wester Hailes Employment Initiative.  There’s also details of the repair and improve package agreed by the council for Wester Hailes Park and Drive, and Clovenstone. Other stories include

• Rival bids for Hailesland creating tough competition for the development of Hailesland Park
• Below The Breadline: the difficulties facing young people trying to find work and facing cuts to benefits.
• End of An Era: the dismantling of the original Venchie
• A Family Centre For Wester Hailes being proposed by the Parents Support Group
• Development of the Greenway: Simon the community planner was looking for feedback on suggested improvements.

You’ll find all these stories and more by clicking here.