Author: pencaitland

Pencaitland Community Council exists to represent the views of local residents about local issues that matter to them. This involves close liaison with other groups in the community and helps to develop a more coherent and dynamic village environment.

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East Lothian Courier seeks local views on axed bus routes

The East Lothian Courier newspaper is seeking the views of people in villages across the county who will be directly affected by the cuts planned by First bus this June.

Some of the growing list of comments on the East Lothian Courier's Facebook page.

Kirsty Gibbins, the paper’s Editor, wrote on it’s Facebook page, “We’d like to hear comments and views from people in East Lothian affected by the significant cuts to First bus services across the county from June 10. We will be running a selection of quotes from the public in the paper so please send your reaction/letters to kgibbins@eastlothiancourier.com with your name, age and home town/village attached.”

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Evening News features story on axed buses

The Edinburgh Evening News did a follow up piece on axed bus routes in today’s paper which highlights just how much upset it will cause to rural residents of East Lothian.

Bus users face misery as First axes vital services - click to read Evening News' story

However, in a small section marked ‘analysis’, the paper sought the ‘expert’ view of former Lothian buses chief Neil Renilson. He said, “The impact on the majority of passengers will be modest or slight, as most of the services being wound down parallelled Lothian Buses’ services, and I have no doubt that on the routes where First Group are simply copying Lothian’s services, Lothian will provide any extra seats needed.”

This so-called analysis totally omits the fact that Lothian buses do not operate competitive services to Ormiston, Pencaitland and other villages in East Lothian. Any axing of First’s services will leave villagers, without access to private transport, totally cut off.

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News Notices

More snow & freezing a possibility

With snow already falling and the potential for more forecast we thought it would timely to remind the residents of Fa’side about the Community Council’s store of snow shovels.

Nothing is melting as it's just way too cold.

In the event that today’s snow doesn’t melt overnight, you can now borrow a shovel supplied by East Lothian Council to the community by calling 340 641 or 340 115. You do not need to leave a deposit — just your name and a means of contact.

But we do ask that any borrowed equipment is returned once any snow has melted, so it can then be stored for community use in future winters.

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First bus slashes services again – route to be axed

If some bus users were under the impression there wasn’t a lot left to cut from the remaining routes operated by First… you’d be wrong! It seems the bus company plans a further round of route cuts in a few months which will lead to further misery for people lacking private transport in rural East Lothian.

First kills bus route covering Pencaitland and Ormiston - click for the Edinburgh Evening News story

Members of the local community have been contacted by the Edinburgh Evening News tonight, seeking their views on an announcement from First that it intends to kill the existing bus route covering Pencaitland and Ormiston.

This development could not happen at a worse time for the current ELC administration as many community members have previously expressed frustration at the lack of action from the controlling SNP/Lib Dem alliance over poor public transport policy and implementation.

Look out for the full story in tomorrow’s paper or read it here.

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News Photos

Pencaitland kids put on play about Florence Nightingale

Kids from the local primary school put on an impressive performance of ‘The Lady with the Lamp’ for their parents yesterday, based on the life and ground-breaking work of Florence Nightingale.

The Lady with the Lamp - click to see more photos

Children from the P3 class put on the 30 minute performance detailing how the wealthy family of Florence Nightingale disapproved of her wish to become a nurse. However, this didn’t stop her and she went on to gain fame for her pioneering work in the Crimean War.

Today she is best remembered as a nurse at a time when only women from poor backgrounds would be considered suitable. But it was her statistical research which, through the use of at the time, novel pie charts (see the famous chart here) she was able to prove to Parliament and civil servants that the lack of sanitary conditions was a bigger killer than battle-inflicted injuries.

You can see a selection of snaps from the afternoon performance on the Pencaitland Facebook page.

More on Florence Nightingale on Wikipedia.

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Edinburgh International Science Festival starts today

Just in case you’re at a loss as to what to do with yourself (and the kids) over the next two weeks of the easter break, you may be interested to discover that, as well as lots of events for adults, the Edinburgh International Science Festival offers a range of activities for children.

Edinburgh International Science Festival 2012

For general information on all events go to the What’s On section of the EISF website. For all the activity based stuff go here.

Edinburgh’s International Science Festival was founded in 1989 and is an educational charity that encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to discover, “the wonder of the world around them”.

The two-week event places an emphasis on giving audiences amazing experiences that inspire and confidence-build. It is also about communicating the excitement and benefits of science in innovative and engaging ways throughout the year, and to bringing science to life.

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Look out for Pollington’s van in Pencaitland this Thursday

Michael Pollington returns with his fine food and drink van to Pencaitland tomorrow — now a regular Thursday stop in the heart of the village.

Pollington's van makes it's first regular Thursday stopover in Pencaitland

Look out for the mobile specialist in Wester Pencaitland each Thursday between 10am and Noon, close to the Mercat Cross and bus stop.

For a current product list visit the website at www.pollingtons.com where you can also email an order to have ready to collect upon arrival.’ Tel: 07411 432922 Email: info@pollingtons.com

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Winton House plans open day 15th April

Winton House is in celebratory mood. To mark the beginning of Spring it is planning an ‘open but once a year to the public day’.

Winton House opens to the public on Sunday the 15th of April from twelve noon to 4.30pm.

Winton House

Look out for the very first Friends, Family & Farmers market, in amongst Dog & Duck Herding, Historic House Tours, Bouncy Castle, Face Painting, Café Winton & Whisky Tasting, all set amongst the backdrop of Winton House and gardens, which at this time of year will be bursting at the seams with daffodils.

All monies raised on the day will be donated between Maggie’s Centre & Scotland’s Gardens. So pop a note in your diary and head on down to say hello to the whole Winton Team.

For further details on any aspect of the Open Day contact Kerry McCabe, General Manager for Winton House on 01875 340 222 or email kerry@wintonhouse.co.uk.

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A Bike’s eye view of Pencaitland’s Fun Run

Here’s a different view of last Saturday’s Fun Run. On the day two off-road cyclists inadvertently joined in the Fun Run and captured the course for about the first minute of the video below.

Don’t forget to send any photos you’d like to share to website@pencaitland.org or simply post it on the Pencaitland Facebook wall.

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Great turnout for PTA Fun Run

The slightly overcast and misty conditions were ideal for the more serious runners in the 10km race held today in Pencaitland village.

The Fun Run was organised by the Parent and Teachers Association of Pencaitland Primary School with the aim of raising funds for both the PTA and Pencaitland’s Playgroup. Turnout was higher than expected with plenty of entrants for all three routes. There was a 5km and 3.5km route on offer too.

When the numbers have been added up we’ll provide details of the winning times and funds raised. Meantime you can see snaps from today’s event below…

NOTE: We hit a limit on how many pictures we can host on Flickr above, so we’ve uploaded Saturday’s snaps to the Photos section of Pencaitland Community Council on Facebook.

And a little video of the warm-up…

Look out for further pictures from around the course which we hope to be adding later. If you’d like to send one for inclusion email it to website@pencaitland.org.

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