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Issue 27 : Nov 2020 - Jan 2021 THE NEWSLETTER OF NEWHAVEN HERITAGE Canmore.org.uk/collection/1437634 Above: Western Harbour and Newhaven aerial photograph taken facing West. Photo courtesy of Canmore IN THIS ISSUE . OUR FOND FAREWELLS / NEWHAVEN PAGEANT / MULBERRY HARBOURS / DAVID MACKENZIE / OLD SCHOOL TIES / PRECIOUS GIFTS / A SUNNY DISPOSISH / 2021 NEWHAVEN CALENDAR / WARDIE BAY BEACHWATCH / NEWHAVEN GARDENS GROUP - SHIP SHAPE / TIME & TIDE/ FACEBOOK FOOTNOTES . and more NEWHAVEN HERITAGE CENTRE is recognised as a Scottish registered charity No. SC044837 1 OUR FOND FAREWELLS THE WEATHER DRAWS in with longer nights and shorter days, and lockdown (in some form, likely wherever you are in the world) returns. The water seems blacker in the harbour and the decorative lighting in the streets seems somehow chiller, with a lack of people on the pavements By Dr J J “Jeff” Liston FLS, beneath it. 2020 has been a tougher year, not just with COVID, but the Chair of Newhaven Heritage people taken from us in this time, whether relatives, colleagues or friends (or even former milkmen from Fountainbridge). Not least among these is David Mackenzie, a dedicated researcher and member of our committee, for whom an obituary can be found elsewhere in this issue. His understanding of archives and the information that could be gleaned from them and online to aid the restoration of a proper Newhaven Museum to the area was utterly invaluable in the last year, and he will be sorely missed. A further loss is my Vice-Chair, the redoubtable Heather Yang. As well as a ‘chairship’, we have some things in common: most bizarrely, Heather and I have both worked in Kunming in Yunnan Province, China. Less surprisingly, with time lived in Newhaven, we take a joy from the village and environs being beautified. She came to the village over a decade ago, joining the Newhaven Heritage committee in 2015. One can see her manifesto for what she went on to achieve in her own words: “my objective has been to make Newhaven pretty with loads of colour and less weeds”. Her lead on the mural program in the village, as well as her floral beautification across the community, has been truly transformative, and will be a difficult legacy for us to live up to. Her departure before Christmas will leave a void in a village made more grey by her absence, and I know that I speak for all of the other members of the committee without exception when I express our great indebtedness to her for all the tireless work that she has undertaken to selflessly fight the good fight for Newhaven, in all ways and at all levels. Inasmuch as the loss of the unique talents of David and Heather are a source of considerable sadness to us, we have new members on our committee, whom I hope to have the opportunity to say a little more about in the near future. Until then, for the dark months ahead with their winds of winter, I include this picture from the cherry blossom festival in February 2014 in the Kunming Botanic Gardens where Heather once stayed, as a tribute to her for some hope of a dream of spring. LIKE US ON facebook /NewhavenOnForth 2 VISIT US on www.newhavenheritagecentre.org.uk In celebration of 177 years of service of Victoria N e w h a v e n Primary School and the P A G E A N T new tomorrow for the community of Greater Newhaven 2021 SINCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT of a new school for Newhaven was made in 2016, Newhaven Heritage recognised that a celebration of the service given to the generations of Bow-Tows by Victoria School was richly deserved. As a result — and taking the lead from our forefathers at the time of the school’s Centennial in 1944 — this was thought best to be in the form of a Pageant. The theme will be "The Road to the Sea" with the intention of highlighting the harm humanity is causing to the oceans and thereby our general ecosystems. The underlying purpose for the Pageant, however, will be to help towards building a sense of community in what we can now term as "Greater Newhaven", i.e. the old and the new Newhavens, for in recent years the village has grown into a small town which will eventually have a population of about 20,000. With the bright dawn of a COVID-secure environment now increasingly likely, the tentative date, Sunday August 15 (the weekend closest to the new school’s inaugural term) will be an opportunity for much joy. Thanks to the generosity of the Forth Ports Authority which has given us permission to use the well- manicured Lighthouse Park beside the Leith Docks lighthouse, the event will begin with a grand pageant led by pipers which will proceed from Newhaven Lighthouse along the sea path towards Leith Lighthouse, It will be a fun, family occasion starting at 1pm and finishing at 6pm with music, Scottish Country Dancing, folk- singing, and food with a fishy theme (not just fish and chips) but with some esoteric choices plus catering for vegans/vegetarian, too.) For musical entertainment, it is proposed to have Scottish Country Dancers and band present for community dancing. There is a little-known dance called "the Caller Herrin' " which will be demonstrated and the public's participation encouraged, with other popular Scottish Country Dances to follow for a while. A composer living locally has composed and has agreed to play "The Newhaven Suite". Thereafter, as part of the family fun, the ever-popular Jed and Jo, and no doubt some friends, too, will take the stage to delight everyone with sing-along folk songs and sea shanties. It is planned to erect a covered stage for performers and also a marquee to house a Community Village where stalls will be set up so that (non-commercial) local groups can promote themselves. Newhaven Heritage already has the enthusiastic agreement with many of these voluntary groups with more in the pipeline. This is an important factor in the plans for the project will not only be an opportunity for Bow-Tows, young and old, indigenous and newcomers, to mix and let their hair down but most importantly will, it is hoped, provide the impetus for a new sense of community to be formed. It is imperative that not only the rich heritage of the village is preserved, but that folks living in the area identify with the support systems and mores of how the villagers used to look out for each other in good times and in bad. If the Coronavirus nightmare has taught us anything, this surely must be the lesson. It promises to be a great day as well as a well-needed cathartic experience in the aftermath of the traumas of the coronavirus pandemic. It is intended that the event will be free to anyone living in the postcode areas of Greater Newhaven. There will be significant costs to be met but Newhaven Heritage intends to submit an application to the Lottery Fund with a proposal that will offset to offset this expense. To that end, a dedicated committee will be formed under the aegis of Newhaven Heritage but comprising of representatives from the community groups to oversee the planning of event. As mentioned above, the notional date is Sunday 15th August 2021 and the post-pageant celebration will end at 6pm since it is being planned as a family event so do pencil it into your diaries. The date, however, whilst more likely than, say, a few weeks ago is still laden with caveats — will the public be fully protected by a COVID vaccine by then, will certain mitigations still be in place that could impact on large scale public events, will a cruise ship be tendering passengers to shore using Newhaven Harbour on that day, and so on? Much is likely to be clearer by the beginning of next year. Furthermore, the Heritage Lottery Fund is currently closed to new applications other than providing resilience for charities severely affected by the lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions. But in the meantime, we watch, and wait, and prepare. LIKE US ON facebook /NewhavenOnForth 3 VISIT US on www.newhavenheritagecentre.org.uk MULBERRY HARBOURS , , , and the Newhaven connection By Dougie Ratcliffe ABOVE: IWM Photograph, used with permission. Artificial 'Mulberry B Harbour' at Arromanches (Goosberry 3 )n Normandy, September 1944. Artificial harbours were constructed along the beach shortly after D-Day so that armoured vehicles and heavy guns ould be landed. This aerial photo shows the roadways and spud pierheads of the West Pier, Central Pier and East Pier. THE WILLOW IS the tree that is most associated with Newhaven but this Mulberry was no tree, although like its arboreal namesake, it was very quick to grow into something very important. This story for me started one Saturday morning at the Police Box at the old Market where we sell items for our fund raising and chat to folks who show an interest in what we’re doing regarding a new museum, sharing their memories and for those who had fairly recently moved into the village, why they had made that move and of course the village history. One such Saturday I met Mr Wilson Black and during our conversation he mentioned that as a young boy he remembered seeing a section of Mulberry Harbour being launched in an area that I remembered as being “The Halley”. He was a young lad of around fourteen years old, he lived on Great Junction Street and was out on his bike taking a trip that he often did to Newhaven when he saw this large structure, unlike any ship he had seen before, being launched sideways into the water.