View
of Leith Custom House as shown in the classic print of 1829 The
Campaign for a Leith Museum gathers speed
Over
twenty orgamisations, businesses and community groups now support the call
for a Museum. The
most favoured site is the Leith Custom House which can be found at The Shore
end of Commercial St. It is a magnificent and well preserved building, and
is on good bus routes. It is within easy walking distance of many bars and
restaurants. The campaign is backed and chaired by Edinburgh North & Leith's MP, Mark Lazarowicz and MSP (pictured right), and strongly supported by Malcolm Chisholm, Leith Councillors Gordon Munro and Rob Munn, and Green MSP for Lothians, Robin Harper, while local organisations such as John Arthur's Persevere Portal and Leith Local History Society, are taking a lead and gathering support from other groups such as Leith Open Space along the way.
The
campaign is delighted to have secured the support of leading businessman and
prominent Leither
Sir Tom Farmer, DL, CBE, (pictured left at the lighting of the Leith Xmas tree
last year). Sir Tom has agreed to be the Patron. Sir
Tom said: "The
history of Leith is also central to the history of Edinburgh and of Scotland,
and deserves a home where its story can be told. As someone who has benefited
from being born and brought up in Leith, I welcome the widespread support for
the current campaign. I hope that local and national government will work with
the local community to make the dream of a Leith museum a reality.”
The Campaign's strategy is to put together a group of experts who will prepare a feasability strategy for the proposed museum. In the short term the group aims to give Leithers a taster of what might be in the museum and to show how valuable a museum could be. They are preparing plans for a series of short films about some key events in the history of Leith and to create an exhibition which could tour community centres, local schools and venues such as the Ocean Terminal.
There is also a petition which is being considered by the Scottish Parliament's Petitions Committee with a view to giving National support and backing to the Campaign.
There's an online petition to sign, which was started by Mark Lazarowicz at www.ipetitions.com, and a lot of information on the Campaign for a Leith Museum web site, which has a very informative piece by John Arthur the leading local historian. We also warmly recommend the web site of Leith Local History Society www.leithlocalhistorysociety.org.uk. You can also read news on the Campaign for a Leith Museum blog.
For more, read the Evening News article and visit the www.marklazarowicz.org.uk, to read about the MP's efforts. Leith and North: Have Your Say on a Museum for Leith
Here
at Leith and North, we're keen to do our bit. If you'd like to "Have Your
Say", then please click
here to make your comments. I'd be interested to know the following:Should we have a Museum for Leith? If not, why not?
What do people think should be in it?
Should it cover the bad as well as the good side of Leith's history?
Where should it be?
What sort of events could we have there?
If you want to dive right in and check out what people are saying, then please click here to read what people have to say. The classic print of 1829 by Thomas H. Shepherd