Water of Leith Visitors Centre

Helen Brown is the Trust manager of the Water of Leith Conservation Trust. She studied at the University of Buckingham and her previous post was at the Falls of Clyde.

Helen gave the club a forty minute talk on the history of the river, its course and tributaries, its mills, sewage, flora, non native species, birds, fish, mammals, the aims of the trust, the visitor centre and much more.

The river starts at Colzium springs, runs through Harperrig reservoir, through Balerno, where it is joined by the Bavelaw Burn, Currie, Colinton, Slateford, Saughton, Murrayfield, where it is joined by the Murray Burn, Dean Village and ends in Leith. It is 26 miles long and there is a 12 and three quarter mile walkway from Balerno to Leith.

Over the years there have been 70 mills along its course producing a range of  goods including paper, glue, cloth, flour, spices and snuff. All these mills discharged into the Water of Leith which was also the receptacle for a lot of Edinburgh’s sewage.

The talk was illustrated by some wonderful photographs both recent and from the past. Helen showed photos of the Colinton Tunnel mural and also of the flora and fauna.

There are 58 plant species plus some non-native species including giant hogweed and Himalayan Balsam. There are many invertebrates and fish and 78 species of birds including herons, dippers and kingfishers. Mammals include foxes, squirrels, badgers, deer and bats. Helen told us that one bat will eat 3000 midges at night and perhaps we should encourage more bats! Otters returned 12 years ago and since then the numbers of mink have sharply declined because otters do not tolerate breeding minks.

Helen gave an account of the history and aims of the  Water of Leith Trust, the Millennium project and the Visitor Centre. The Trust was founded in 1988 and the Visitor Centre on the site of Slateford School House was opened in 2000. The centre has 17,000 visitors per year. Its focus is on learning for all ages. There are 150 volunteers, who in addition to clearing rubbish from the river, do all sorts of maintenance.

Helen stated that the City of Edinburgh Council’s support has been resolute throughout the history of the Trust.

Helen answered several questions from members and the club’s vote of thanks for a most interesting and superbly illustrated talk was given by Mike Latimer, who could not resist a plug for the re-opening of the railway line for trams.