Castle Attractions In Newtown St Boswells

Places to see in ( Edinburgh - UK ) Portobello Beach

Places to see in ( Edinburgh - UK ) Portobello Beach

Portobello is a coastal suburb of Edinburgh. Once known as a beach resort, Portobello Beach is located three miles (5 km) to the east of the city centre, facing the Firth of Forth, in eastern central Scotland. Although historically Portobello was a town in its own right, and is often seen as such by its inhabitants, it is now a residential suburb of Edinburgh, with a promenade fronting on to the wide sand beach. Portobello Beach lies between the suburbs of Joppa and Craigentinny.

The 21st century has seen a visible change along the Promenade: the kayaking and sailing clubs hold annual skiff races, beach volleyball is well established outside Portobello swimming baths, and the beach is home to occasional art installations by arts group 'Big Things on the Beach', while the now iconic 'Cressida' octopus sculpture is a permanent feature that is submerged every high tide. Amongst other examples of the changing nature of Portobello are August's Big Beach Busk and Portobello Village Fair, as well as the monthly Portobello Market in Rosefield Park. Most recently, in October 2016, Portobello became the first urban community in Scotland to register a Community Right to Buy after the 2016 expansion of land reform to cover urban areas too.

Portobello is served by Lothian Buses, which provides eleven services to the area, continuing towards Joppa and Eastfield, or down Brighton Place to the Jewel or Royal Infirmary, or from Kings Road to Craigentinny. Portobello's first railway station was initially served by the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. The Portobello (E&DR) railway station operated from 1832 until 1846, when it was replaced by the Portobello (NBR) railway station operated by the North British Railway. The station closed in 1964 as a result of the Beeching cuts.

The building of Portobello Lido in 1933, and of a pool equipped with the first wave-making machine in Scotland three years later, helped to revive the area for a while. Portobello Sands were used at that time by the Edinburgh Light Horse for drill practice. Walter Scott was their quartermaster, and in 1802 while riding in a charge he was kicked by a horse and confined to his lodgings for three days.

( Edinburgh - UK ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting the city of Edinburgh . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Edinburgh - UK

Join us for more :

Scotland's Secret Cold War Bunker

On a windy October afternoon we visited Scotland's Secret Cold War Bunker. With the fall of the Soviet Union and the decline of the Cold War, this once secret underground bunker became obsolete and is now a tourist curiosity. Hidden in the Scottish farmlands for 40-yrs, this would have been the seat of Scotland's Government in the event of a nuclear event.

Check out Jag Betty and his Strange Places in Scotland Channel

Dorset: 13th Chideock Ploughing Match

Action from several angles of the 13th Chideock ploughing match held in West Dorset on Sunday, 20th October 2013, on land at Doghouse Farm rented from the National Trust's famous Golden Cap estate by the Chideock thatcher Dave Symonds. The annual contest began as a way for local ploughmen - and ploughwomen - to have a go at competing without the pressures of taking part in a much bigger event. The first year saw 10 entrants. This year there were 41, and 38 turned up on the day. It's possible the missing three were put off by the weather forecast, which was for heavy rain and great gusts of wind all day long. As it turned out, three downpours round about the middle of the day did mean that ploughing had to be stopped early. But still, quite a lot got done and there's some fine tractors to be seen at work in this video.

The match was judged under Society of Ploughmen rules, with points awarded for Opening, Start, Seed Bed, Firmness, Uniformity, Finish, Ins & Outs, General Appearance and Straightness of the whole plot.

Among the contestants was Dave Symonds' nephew Mark Symonds, who appears at the end of the video discussing his chances in the Open 3 & 4 Furrow competition.

We were keen to catch up with Mark, partly because he was willing to have a GoPro camera attached to his head and his tractor, but also because he is Captain of the Bells at the church of St Candida and Holy Cross in Whitchurch Canonicorum. Dave Symonds is Captain of the Bells at St Giles' church in Chideock.

In the background, you can hear the hymn 'We Plough the Fields and Scatter', which was sung during the harvest festival celebrations in the church at Whitchurch Canonicorum at exactly the same time as the ploughing match, and recorded there simultaneously.

All of this footage was filmed as part of the A Tale of Two Bell Towers project, which is documenting the year after bell restoration projects took place in both Whitchurch Canonicorum and Chideock. You can find out more about the project on this YouTube channel: