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Floodwaters fill bend into Wester Pencaitland (Video)

Some locals will already be familiar with a bend on the way into Wester Pencaitland that tends to flood badly with heavy rain. This morning was no different, at one point covering three quarters of the road’s width.

The problem stems from the large field to the immediate north. It forms a large catchment for any downpour which then inevitably works it way down to this poorly drained bend at one point on the road.

If you’ve experienced problems with this stretch of road we’d like to know about it. Comment below or email website@pencaitland.org.

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RELBUS proposes bus users charter for East Lothian

RELBUS, short for Rural East Lothian Bus Users, is seeking the views of bus users in developing an East Lothian Bus Passenger Charter. Got ideas on what you’d like to see in it?

RELBUS proposes bus passenger charter - click to give your views

The Bus Passenger Charter would be a list of commitments that each bus operator would attempt to meet. RELBUS are suggesting the commitments would cover at minimum fare structure, timetables and route information, plus related publicity material including information at bus stops and on buses.

But RELBUS suggest it could go beyond the basics to include commitments to accessibility and possibly a set of standards of service such as, for example, punctuality over and above any statutory obligations. Changes to timetables might also involve prior passenger consultation.

As RELBUS’s Philip Immirzi explains, “We aren’t starting from a completely blank sheet, as I found this over at the Bus Users UK website, but what do others think should be in the East Lothian Bus Passenger Charter?”

If you would like to offer your own thoughts, please visit the RELBUS website and leave your comments.

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East Lothian Library Service offers audio downloads

East Lothian Council Library Service has a new audiobook offering for borrowers, providing a range of popular titles which you can listen to whenever and wherever you want.

East Lothian Library is now providing borrowing of audio books.

In order to enjoy the new service you need to create an account on the dedicated audiobook website.

Click on “Create a new account” and type in your East Lothian Council membership number. This can either be the number on your library card beginning with B, or your Smartcard number beginning with 63354.

Choose your favoured operating system (basically it’s either Windows or the Mac) and then fill out the online form with your details, e-mail address and a password of your choosing. In Preferences choose the option not to make the OneClick digital Media Manager your default player. You should then be ready to download.

If you are an Apple user the best method is to click on the Home tab and choose the link that gives you the option to download an App for your Apple device.

Whether you are using a PC or a Apple device, you’ll need to remember the Login details which you have created to download your books, and to look at them under the “My Collections” tab.

If you are a PC user the files come downloaded in a ZIP format. Save it to your PC and then double click the file to unzip it. Your operating system should allow you to do this. Once unzipped you have a bunch of MP3 files.

Arthur C Clarke's 'The Collected Stories' comes in at 200MB zipped.

These are big files so they may take a while to download. Arthur C. Clarke’s ‘The Collected Stories Volume Four’ came in at 200MB zipped and took about 8 minutes to download. However, once completed and unzipped you can either listen to them on your PC/Mac or put them on your favourite audio player or phone to listen to on the move.

It is as easy to manage your files like this as it is to download the “Clipper media player” from the website. The maximum borrowing time seems to be 21 days.

If you have any questions on the new audiobook facilities you can contact the Library Service.

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Pencaitland’s Spar gets a makeover

The Spar Westend Service Station has just finished its 6th makeover in 25 years.

Best known to many villagers as the local paper and milk stop, the Spar is actually an Aladdin’s cave of goods. It plays an important role in the village for those who can’t, or don’t want to, commute to supermarkets to get their essential groceries.

arim Ali in Pencaitland's recently refurbished Spar
Karim Ali in Pencaitland's recently refurbished Spar

But over and above milk, papers and bread, the shop, run by father and son team Imtiaz and Karim Ali, also provides an off-licence, fuel, dry cleaning, lottery tickets, DVD rental, newspaper delivery (to Wester Pencaitland) and will even take grocery orders over the phone for home delivery or pickup.

As Karim explains, “Originally we were just going to bring in the new refrigerated units but we’ve now done a lot more to the place”.

The Spar is open 7am to 9pm Monday to Saturday and 7am to 8pm Sundays. Click here for more pictures of the upgraded interior.

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Charity Fashion Show for Sick Kids Foundation

Stephanie Malcolm, from equine and country specialists Horse & Outdoor in Macmerry, is holding a fashion show to raise fund’s for Edinburgh’s Sick Kids.

Stephanie Malcolm, from equine and country specialists Horse & Outdoor in Macmerry, is holding a fashion show to raise fund’s for Edinburgh’s Sick Kids.

Taking place on the 29th June at 7pm, it’s being held at Horse & Outdoor located near Pencaitland at 21A Macmerry Industrial Estate. As well as the fashion show there will also be drinks, nibbles and a raffle.

As Stephanie explains, “We do fashion shows twice a year for various charities. We have always done horse charities but felt that the sick kids would benefit from our support. They are celebrating 20 years so felt it a great opportunity to get involved. We do a lot of non-horsey clothing for women, men and kids, so felt that it was a good way to get new faces in to see what we do and support a great cause as the same time!”

For further details you can contact Stephanie on 01875 824 298 or email Stephanie.Malcolm@horseandoutdoor.co.uk. Tickets for the event cost £5 of which £4 will go to the Sick Kids Friends Foundation. For anyone unsure of the exact location, there’s a handy map on the Horse & Outdoor website.

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Summer arts activities in East Lothian

Following on from yesterday’s article about various sports on offer for kids during the summer, we now have details on arts events in the county.

Summer arts activities in East Lothian - click to view brochure

East Lothian Council’s Arts Service has put together a range of activities for kids in age groups 5 to 7, 8 to 12 and 12 to 18 years of age. Activities cover drama, Art Camps, Musicals and Breakdance.

Youth Theatre Summer Schools can be booked via Musselburgh’s Brunton Theatre on 0131 665 2240. All other arts activities are booked through East Lothian Council’s summer activities booking form. Holders of the Leisure Pass Plus card are eligible for lower fees.

For full details of what’s on offer you can view the Summer arts activities in East Lothian brochure [PDF]. It should be pointed out that these are just some of the arts activities this summer, so look out for more details on other courses from East Lothian Council.

RELATED
Kids summer activity programme for East Lothian

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Kids summer activity programme for East Lothian

If you are a parent with a child as the summer holidays rapidly approach you may be at a loss over what to do to keep them occupied for the six weeks+ before they return to school.

ELC's enjoyleisure has a programme of activities this summer - click for more details [PDF]

Fortunately East Lothian puts on a range of activities across leisure centres throughout the county. Better still, from the 1st of July to the 11th of August, between 11am and 4.30pm, kids under 16 can go swimming free of charge in any of East Lothian’s public pools. Kids under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.

The Summer Activity Programme is organised in conjunction with East Lothian Council. All activities have to be booked by completing the East Lothian Summer Activities Brochure Booking Form, which then needs to be sent, along with payment to East Lothian Council. Leisure Pass Plus Holders are entitled to a 50% discount on marked prices.

For the full details of what’s on at different East Lothian leisure facilities view the enjoyleisure Summer 2012 Activity Programme [PDF] or visit the website.

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Fish merchants James Dickson & Son in Pencaitland

Bringing fresh fish to the village, the white van of James Dickson & Son can regularly be seen in Pencaitland. But did you know you can pre-order?

The fishmonger's van comes ot Pencaitland

Anyone keen to order fresh fish before the regular Thursday stop in Pencaitland and Boggs Holdings can contant Yvonne Dickson on 07756 869 437 or 01875 811 301. James Dickson & Son Fish Merchants visits Pencaitland and Boggs Holdings every Thursday between 9am and 1 to 2pm.

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New Hullabaloo music classes planned for August

Many mums, dads and grandparents will already be familiar with Hullabaloo – Fun With Music!. It’s a Pre-school music and movement class that’s run by a local mum, Charlotte McMillan.

Charlotte McMillan of Hullabaloo - Fun With Music!

Classes are already held in Pencaitland and Haddington, but there are plans to provide more classes this August in time for the new school year.

As Charlotte explains, “Both drop-in sessions and bookable blocks of classes are on offer, and everyone gets the chance to try it out for free, so you’ve nothing to lose. Children from as young as a few weeks can come along and it’s a great chance to meet other children and their parents. So please come and have a sing-along with me, my guitar, my instruments and my friends. It’s usually good fun and a great social thing in which to get involved.”

For more info, contact Charlotte via email on the web, Facebook or by phone on 01875 341679 or 07966 434591.

Related
Drama club comes to Pencaitland

Hullabaloo - Fun With Music! Click to visit the website.
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113 bus timetable published but some commuters unhappy

The new East Lothian Bus timetable for the 113 route can now be viewed here [PDF]. However, initial reaction has not all been positive.

Is the new East Lothian Bus 113 Timetable going to work for you? Click to view [PDF]

According to commuters who regularly use the current service, buses used to leave from Pencaitland roughly 20 minutes past the hour and this broadly worked for those that hadn’t already given up on using First Bus or were driving to Tranent to catch a bus in to town.

However, according to the newly published timetable the 113 will leave at erratic times beginning at 6.35am, 7am, 7.25am, then nothing for an hour and twenty minutes when there is an 8.45am bus. It then runs hourly thereafter.

According to some commuters this is not optimal and they would prefer buses that operate at 6.20am, 7.20am and 8.20am from Pencaitland.

If you use the current First bus service, or would like to use the new East Lothian Bus from June and have concerns over the timetable contact customer services.

According to the East Lothian Bus website, “Your first point of contact is our dedicated Customer Services team – give us a call on 0131 554 4494 and select option 2. Most comments and queries can be dealt with immediately over the phone, however occasionally we’ll need to investigate your comment which can take a little longer. Our Customer Services department is open to calls from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays); 08:30 to 17:00 and all calls may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.”

BUS SURVEY: Pencaitland has joined forces with Humbie, East & West Saltoun and Bolton, Gifford and Ormiston Community Councils to find out what you want from the bus service. Register your views online now.

Related
East Lothian Bus Update: the 113 & 44 routes

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