Meeting of the Parliament 31 January 2017
I, too, warmly welcome 2017 as the year of history, heritage and archaeology and I welcome the opportunities that it will provide to celebrate Edinburgh Northern and Leith’s vibrant history and heritage and to raise the profile of the area that I represent and of Scotland as a whole.
Edinburgh Northern and Leith makes a significant contribution to Scotland’s profile and its strong reputation as a world-class tourism destination. Whether people arrive in Leith on a cruise ship at the waterfront, which is a growing trend among visitors, or whether they travel from the town centre of Edinburgh into the area, Edinburgh Northern and Leith is replete with superb attractions for visitors from all around the world—attractions of key historical significance that are a key part of our shared national heritage.
From the fishing communities of Newhaven to the industry of Granton, from the internationalism of the old port of Leith to the influence of imperial commerce and the slave trade in the residential development of Inverleith and Trinity, the history and heritage of the constituency that I have the privilege to represent are varied and complex and are bound into our wider stories and the achievements and mistakes of generations past.
The most famous attractions in my area are the royal yacht Britannia, which has been settled in Leith docks for several years, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, which was established in 1670 as Scotland’s premier civic garden and is the second most important botanic garden in the UK. It moved into Leith in 1793 and in 1820 was relocated to Inverleith, where it is now. I pay tribute to all the efforts of the Royal Botanic Garden to conserve Scotland’s biodiversity and reduce climate change.
As well as those famous examples, there are many less well-known attractions and sites of historical significance in Edinburgh Northern and Leith. Granton harbour is where Queen Victoria landed in Scotland in September 1842. Today, it is in the process of being rejuvenated as a waterfront attraction for our country. National Museums Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland have collection centres in the north of Edinburgh and are considering making those fantastic facilities more accessible in order to display more of our heritage to the public.
There is rich heritage in Leith, from the old docks to the civic journey of Leith itself, and from the legacy of Leith’s democratic journey to products that we associate with our everyday lives that were invented in Leith, such as Rose’s lime cordial, Glayva and the grain spirit that was key to the development of London dry gin. Also associated with Leith are modern cultural phenomena such as “Trainspotting”. We are all excited to see “Trainspotting 2”, if we have not seen it already.