WW2 ARP MURAL on the ARMOURY

Launch: Lord Provost Cllr Frank Ross unveiled the mural on Sunday 1st Sept 2019, 80 years after the beginning of WW2.

The mural was painted by Zap Graffitti Arts with help from local people and celebrated the construction of the building as an Air Raid Protection centre and the work of the volunteers who kept us safe during WW2.The launch picture features (from R to L): Cllr Frank Ross, Margaret Smith (whose dad was a Warden here), John Shand (in the wheelchair- who had been a messenger boy) with his friend, and Pete Gregson, FoRP Chair.

INTERPRETATION

What does the mural mean? On the left hand side, the “W” on the helmet stands for “warden” or fire warden. They ran the show inside the Armoury, co-ordinating messages and action by the emergency services when the city was bombed and were either too old to fight or were volunteers from the “reserved occupations” (eg police). On the right hand side, you can see the messenger boy (usually aged 14-17), who had an “M” on their helmets; their role was to take paper messages to and from the bomb sites.

The top part of the mural shows the streets these youths would travel along; on the left, Corstorphine, on the far right- Haymarket. The road joining the two is the A8. Roseburn is right in the middle of these, above the Armoury door.

Underneath is the cityscape the messenger boys would have seen, as they entered the park from the West, near what is now the ice rink (although during the war that was a munitions dump).

The text at the bottom spells “The message must get through”, which was the motto of the message boys cycling back and fore between wardens and bomb site. It is intentionally illegible in places, showing the challenge of doing just what it says during wartime. A film of the same name was made in the park in 1941-42 and can be seen at https://movingimage.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=1396&search_term=Roseburn. It was this film that inspired the mural.

BACKGROUND

Roseburn Park (by Murrayfield Stadium), is so central to the city that during the war it became one of the five locations for the city’s Air Raid Protection against Nazi bombs. Germany dropped over 650 bombs on Edinburgh and the surrounding area and the “Armoury” was built at the beginning of the war to keep us safe. The name was an anomaly, for in reality it housed not weapons, but the volunteers of the City’s civic defence force. Its central location, combined with its easy access from all directions by bicycle, made it the easiest place to get to by messenger youths, sporting a steel helmet, cycling at speed, to relay paper messages from any bombsite to the Armoury, from where the emergency services of ambulances and fire brigade could be co-ordinated.

The work of these civil defence volunteers is commemorated by this mural which was developed in 2019 by Friends of Roseburn Park (FoRP). It is inspired by a short propaganda film made during the war called “The Message Must get Through” that illustrates the teamwork of the messenger youths  (who carried the messages on bikes from all corners of the city when bombs fell) and older men and women inside the Armoury, volunteers who worked in reserved occupations or who were too old to be called up to join the armed forces.

The mural came about when FoRP set out to brighten up their austere windowless Armoury building, which now accommodates them, along with Roseburn Primary School football team, the Murrayfield DAFs Cricket Club and the Edinburgh Wanderers Rugby Club. The Armoury was recently awarded Grade B listed building status on account of its unique heritage- for it is an extremely rare surviving example of a WW2 civil defence building. It also sports, on the north wall, a mural celebrating the diverse users of the Park; that mural too, was painted by Zap back in 20011 with help from local children. [More on that here ]

This time FoRP set out to involve both old and young; following two local screenings of the film, several over-50s participated in the June design workshop and on the 29^th, 30^th and 31^st of August they were joined by pupils from Roseburn Primary, Tynecastle High and Craigmount High schools.

FoRP wanted the mural to celebrate the people who helped keep Edinburgh safe through that terrible time, the deadliest conflict in human history. The new mural was funded through a Council grant from the “Local Event Fund” and has involved local residents in its design through screenings and workshops.

NOTE: The Armoury one of the five  purpose-built  area ARP Report Centres in the city,  almost all of them located in parks.  They were designed by the City Architect and built by James Miller & Co following instructions in 1941 from the Ministry of Civil Defence, after it became obvious that what had been done at the outbreak of WW2, converting parts of schools for the purpose,  wasn’t working.   It is the only surviving example of any form of WW2 ARP centre in Scotland; there are also only one or two of this type left in England.

Mural Production Team

Around 55 people were involved in this project and its production over one month in August.  They were: (with ages- it was intergenerational, and spanned from 11 to 75)

Artist Kieran Gorman, Zap Graffitti Arts (18-50)

Design Paul Harding (50+), Jane Wood (50+), Pete Gregson (50+

Base Coat Dorothy Farrar and husband (50+), Alex Dickson (18-50), Maureen McEvoy (50+) and grand-daughter Marie (17)

Top Coat  Rory O’Connor and 29 other pupils from Roseburn Primary School P7 (11-12), Dylan Robertson (13), Craigmount High school, Martin and 5 pals from Tynecastle High School S6 Art Class (16-17), Alex Dickson (18-50), Isabelle (50+), Uel Morton (50+), Penni McCallum (50+), Jenni McGill (50+), Jane Wood (50+), Val Forbes (50+)

Paint Supply Kim Rowse

Harling Repairs Archie Thorburn of Thorburns Roofing

At the launch  With help from Richard Gregson, Laura Howarth, Barbara Knowles, Jennie O-Reilly, Saughton Rec (for the Gazebo), Murrayfield Dafs and Edinburgh Wanderers (for use of their Armoury rooms, electricity, Urn), Cllr Frank Ross, Lord Provost (for cutting the ribbon)

Funding  Susan Lanham, City of Edinburgh Council Local event Fund

Media Coverage Evening News Sat 31^st August  and in the Edinburgh Reporter Sun 1^st September in the morning  and after the event, in the afternoon

How it was done

Background

The survey on what residents wanted for the mural was run in April & May- the results are available. Click here to view them The design workshop took place on June 15th.

Here is a picture of the workshop group at the armoury exploring the options, against the west wall, which will see the major work taking place. On the left is Jane Wood, Keiran Gorman of Zap Graffitti Arts and Paul Harding. (Other participants, not in the picture, were Alex Dickson and Pete Gregson).

Background

The Armoury in Roseburn Park was built as a signals report centre for WW2, as part of Air Raid Protection (ARP) measures for civilians against Nazi bombs. Its history came to light a few years ago when Friends of Rosebun Park (FoRP) uncovered a documentary made during the war featuring the building. The film, entitled “The Message Must Get Through” shows how the Armoury served as the nerve centre for squaddies on bikes coming from all parts of the city. In pre-internet days, when even the telephone service was relatively new, messages were carried by hand. Cycling found huge favour in the 30s with cycling clubs established throughout the land and so it was only natural that it became the most reliable and economical way for soldiers to bring messages of bombs hitting Edinburgh, the better to co-ordinate emergency measures. Rosburn Park, then as now, was easily accessible by bike and this location was the natural choice to build a report centre for ARP measures. It may be that this particular site was chosen under the trees to help protect it from Luftwaffe spyplanes and bombers.

The Armoury is of national significance, because it’s the only surviving example in Scotland of an ARP HQ building.

Why a Mural?

The survey FoRP carried out in 2016 is available here. It asked residents what they wanted to see in the park, and FoRP have been addressing those suggestions which found favour. Twelfth on the list was “Sculpture trail or other improvements along the river “corridor” from Roseburn to Saughton Park” – this drew 67% who loved or liked the idea, with 26% saying they didn’t mind it. Only 7% doubted or disliked the idea.

When the Council announced it was seeking bids to its local events fund in January, FoRP thought a mural like this would reflect the building’s uniquely well-documented history. A grant was secured of £3,000 for a mural on the Armoury wall(s), to be produced by ZAP Graffitti of Liverpool. The artist, Kieran Gorman, did the FoRP mural on the north Armoury wall with young people back in 2012. He is from Livingston and lived in Roseburn before moving south. Kieran worked in August 2019 with both old and young on this project (with the accent being on those aged 50+). The design was based on the survey results (see above).

The Film Screening

The film can be seen on the National Library of Scotland Museum of the Moving Image website here. FoRP organised a local screening on Sunday 12th May at the Masonic Lodge of Brotherly Love,  5 Roseburn Gardens, EH12 5NJ. Art et Facts at 19 Roseburn Terrace assisted in giving out tickets.

There had been a previous outdoor screening in December at our carol singing event.

The Mural – consultation

FoRP consulted the community as to which walls on the Armoury should be muralised and what the designs should feature. The detail was then worked out at a brainstorming workshop to be held in Roseburn, on Sat 15th June.

The mural was produced over the summer and launched on the 1st September, to mark the 80th anniversary of the declaration of WW2 and the 74th anniversary of its conclusion, six years later. We wanted the mural to celebrate the people who helped keep Edinburgh safe through that terrible time, the deadliest conflict in human history. That is, what they did in and around the Armoury – and why and how they did those things, to help us survive the air raids. Read more about Air Raid Precautions in the UK in WW2 here

Mural Survey – location and design

Consultation was done primarily through a survey of views, both online and using paper forms. The big questions were – which wall(s) do we want the mural on? Do we want it in black and white, sepia or in colour? Do we want several discrete images or one big image or a big image with different parts (like the existing mural)?

The survey ran from 19th April and closed on the 12th June and for the results, click here to view them . They were published  on the 14th June on the FoRP website, on our Facebook page, at the workshop and at the Murrayfield Community Council meeting on the 25th June.

OLD TREES In March, the Council lopped the top off the beech tree by the NE entrance. We knew it was going to happen. The tree has love hearts, etc carved on its trunk and because we asked, the Council has left most of the trunk standing. Also, we wanted it left as a habitat for river wildlife..

NEW TREES The Council have been putting in new trees. One is special.. for into the ruins of the old beech tree by the ping-pong table, we’ve got the Council to plant a Serbian Spruce.

In a few year’s time, it will be somewhere to sing our Xmas carols under… It’s A TREE IN A TREE

FoRP was granted £700 by the West Edinburgh Neighbourhood Partnership which has allowed us to make temporary repairs to the toilet block. We have had the leaking water main fixed, which has caused ponding this past 5 years; this will prevent further deterioration. We gave boarded over the roofing felt and collapsing roof with waterproof board and removed the trees growing out of the roof. And we hace replaced a rotten fascia panel.

These works will make the building wind and watertight as we work to get quotes and funding for its refurbishment into a cafe.

Toilet block now

We put in two stepping stones for kids to get into Roseburn Park today. They’ll be able to get over the wall from the school to the new playpark in a short cut from Roseburn Av. We were worried about them crossing the road at number 32 Roseburn Place because it’s a bit of a blind junction there and many speeding cyclists. It’s taken us 3 years to negotiate this with the Council. Thanks to a local resident for providing and transporting the stones

We only got 20 people rather than the 60 we were expecting (we got 60 last time, two years ago). We shall need to explore why turnout was so poor; it may not be worth doing it again. But those who came enjoyed it. Some asked for the link to the film online; to see it, click here

The Lord Provost, Cllr Frank Ross  cut the ribbon to launch the long-awaited Roseburn Play park on 7th Dec 2018. Costing £90,000 and almost 10 years in development, the playpark had been held up by the flood defence works. The old playpark catering for a small age range – kids up to 6 – was worn out and was cold in the shadow of Murrayfield stadium. And the flood defences left it isolated and cut off from the rest of the Park. The new one is at the east entrance of the Park in an open sunny spot, has much more equipment and caters for children up to age 12.

It’s taken a long time and almost didn’t happen. In 2016, the then convener of the Council Environmental Committee, who oversaw the £23M Flood Prevention scheme at Roseburn, Cllr Leslie Hinds, fought to ensure that Roseburn did not lose out in the face of the austerity cuts that were crippling the Council. The West Edinburgh Environmental Sub-Committee stepped in to ensure the playpark was built. Council staff David Sinclair (local Environment Manager) and Ritchie Fraser (Parks officer) worked with Sub-Committee Convener, Cllr Robert Aldridge after the Friends of Roseburn Park (FoRP) made a successful plea for funding to the Sub-Committee in January 2016, to ensure the project went ahead. Council playpark design staff James Galloway and Alan Grevers then worked with Friends of Roseburn Park who brought in the schoolchildren at Roseburn Primary School to help shape the design.

Now, two years on, the work of many has come to fruition and the Friends of Roseburn Park extended a warm wintery welcome to children and their parents to try out the swings and roundabouts on a cold Friday afternoon at 2.30pm. The police were there to stamp bikes with ID badges to help trace them if they get nicked; there were prizes for the quiz asking which bits of the design were from the local kids. MW Groundworks Ltd of West Calder have been working on site for over two months on the build and were pleased with the finished product.

The playpark includes a UniMini Apista climbing frame for kids to age 6, a sand pit, a play mound, a tunnel, a Uniplay Ipex climber for older children, cradle swings for toddlers, a basket swing for tweenies, normal swings, a picnic table, a tunnel, a balance beam, stepping logs, a cone net rotating climber, play boulders* and a stilt walk – all surrounded by a new beech hedge. Residents organised by FoRP have been out planting 5,000 bulbs by the playpark and everywhere else and refreshing the nearby planters to help make the park look beautiful come the spring. The school’s new Head Teacher, Natalie Borrowman, has worked with FoRP and the contractor to get local children involved, the better to create a sense of ownership by the area’s young people, who must help care for the new playpark in the future.

FoRP Chairperson Pete Gregson said “Thanks to the Council, children from Roseburn, Riversdale and Murrayfield now have a new place to go and have fun, get fit and make new friends. This is a key element in helping the area recover from the flood prevention work. It will bring new faces to the park over the years to come. And their parents will have somewhere new to gossip. The Council and the West Neighbourhood Partnership have worked hard with everybody to make this project work. We are truly delighted.”

The children who got the quiz answers right were Lucy Booth, who observed the design was changed to add the tunnel; Lucy has won tickets to the ice rink.

The other big winner was Max Kevios who noted the “birly Thing” aka the cone net rotating climber, was added after various school suggestions; Max won a box game.

.*The Play Boulders were left out due to financial pressures; FoRP are exploring whether they might supply these themselves

Here is the promotional flyer:

Here is one more photo:

Please help local student Luke out by completing this survey on noise pollution in the area “Community Noise Survey Murrayfield, Roseburn, Balgreen & Corstorphine.”
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/TXJ5W3F

The research he is  conducting is part of his postgraduate thesis in Environmental Health.

Specifically, he is looking at noise from Murrayfield stadium. There is essentially 2 parts to it. The first is to physically measure noise from the stadium to see if it meets the required licensing conditions and legal requirements. This also includes measuring noise from sources associated with the stadium which is not subject to specific regulation e.g. crowds going to the stadium.

The second part is to see how this noise actually affects the local residential population. The perception and effects of noise are affected by individual and situational factors. This is what he is measuring via the survey.

The results will be available next year

The notes for the meeting are here

Notes of Meeting Cycling in RP 081018 Final

What to do with the toilet block?

Toilet block now

Our problems with the block are outlined here and here as well

Our survey of local preferences, over a 1-month period and closing on the 16th Sept, was advertised widely – on 200 flyers in shops, on the toilet block itself, at our public events to around 200 people, on Facebook and on our website. It drew 74 responses.

83% were in favour of leasing it commercially as a cafe with toilet attached. 15% said to demolish it.

We believe that this high level of support indicates we should work with the Council to market this dilapidated property.

Given the enormous challenges and expense of refurbishment, with a building at permanent risk of future flooding, we propose the Council leases it on terms akin to those that were originally offered to FoRP, at a peppercorn rent of £1 a year for 25 years, with the permission to sub-let.

This proposal will require Council Committee approval, but we would like to get the ball rolling on this, so are discussing the way forward with the Estates team.

Another great bake-off! Thanks so much to all the brilliant volunteers and bakers. We made £160 profit today; maybe we only got 100 folk instead of the usual 200 and 9 cakes instead of the 30 we got last time because the school had a bake-off on Friday to say goodbye to the Head.. But the Friends made some lovely new friends!

We were helped by the FoRP Committee, Patricia Simpson, Laura Howarth, Declan Egar, Jane Stevenson, Lynne Schyma and James Kinnear, Scott Douglas, Mary McHugh, George Randall and PC Sam Davison (+ colleague) who was doing free Bike ID stamps. And Michelle from Fallen Tree Workshop in Perth who did hot drinks. Roseburn Primary School, Murrayfield DAFs and Murrayfield Wanderers helped by loaning us kit. Judges were Nic from Buna and Brendan from Fishers. Ritchie Fraser from Edinburgh Council helped us get the grass white-lined for races.

Prizes for cakes and the raffle came from Roseburn traders: House of Hound, Thallon Soullis, Art et Facts, Roseburn Café, Simon Smith Collectibles, Roseburn Bar, Brendan Haddock, Roseburn Shoe Repairs, Tescos, Eat’n’Joy, Buna, Delta Takeaway, Cafe Colpamia, Right Medicine, Ice Rink; Murrayfield Indoor Bowling, Vigo’s

Baking winners were Alix Dickson, Jasmine Flynn, Judith Lamb, Dan Ratcliffe, Grace Ratcliffe, Emile Poedke, James Kinnear, Zoe Lamb