Local Facilities
This information is intended to provide newcomers to the area with a basic guide to local resources. Names of businesses and shops etc have been included because they are in the immediate vicinity of the Blacket area, not because they are “recommended”! The list does not include tradesmen, but your local Committee member or neighbours may be able to provide personal recommendations.
Banks/Building Societies
There are a number of bank and building societies branches situated in the main shopping streets in the roads running north to the centre of Edinburgh.
Buses/Transport
The area is served well by buses from Minto Street and Dalkeith Road. Bus services are operated by Lothian Region Transport and First Group. For further information see Lothian Region Transport: 555-6363 www.lothianbuses.com or First Group: www.firstgroup.com.
Churches/Places of worship
Church of Scotland
Mayfield/Salisbury Church
1A Mayfield Rd
667 1522
www.mayfieldsalisbury.org
Priestfield Church
2 Marchhall Pl
667 2105
www.priestfield.org.uk
German Speaking Protestant Church
1 Chalmers Cres
667 1619
Independent
Edinburgh City Fellowship
37 South Clerk Street
668 2662
Methodist
Nicolson Square
63 Nicolson Street
662 041
www.nicsquare.org.uk
Mosque & Islamic Centre
50 Potterrow
667 1777
Orthodox Church (Greek, Roman etc)
2 Meadow Lane
667 0372
Roman Catholic
St Columba
7-9 Upper Gray St
447 2502
Scottish Episcopal Church
St Peter
Lutton Place
667 6224
www.stpetersedinburgh.org
Society of Friends
Quaker Meeting House
7 Victoria Ter
225 4825
Synagogue
Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation
4 Salisbury Rd
667 3144
www.ehcong.com
University Chaplaincy
Edinburgh University Chaplaincy Centre
Edinburgh (Next to Potterow Students Centre)
650 2595
general enquiries:chaplaincy@ed.ac.uk
Dentists
Parkside Dental Practice
1 Parkside Terrace
667 0500
Dalkeith Road Dental Practice
173 Dalkeith Road
667 1352
General Practitioners
Southern Medical Group
10 Minto Street
667 1628
Newington Surgery
14 East Preston Street
662 4400
Dalkeith Road Medical Practice
145 Dalkeith Road
667 1289
Osteopathy
Edinburgh Osteopathic Surgery
187 Dalkeith Road
667-1234
www.osteos.co.uk
Funeral Directors
H & W Harkess
77 South Clerk Street
667-3636
Thomas Marin Funeral Directors
64 St. Mary's St
556 6874
www.thomasmarin.co.uk
William Purves Ltd
106 Whitehouse Loan
447 5858
www.williampurves.co.uk
Garages
Hendry & Macdonald - Repairs
20 Duncan St
667 5067
BP Petrol Filling Station
2-40 Ratcliffe Ter
668-4090
24 hour opening. Has car wash. Useful for milk/papers/basic groceries
Sainsbury’s
Cameron Toll Shopping Centre
Open: 7:30am-10:30pm Mon - Sat, 8:00am-8:00pm Sun.
Hospitals (Accident & Emergency)
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
51 Little France Crescent
Old Dalkeith Road
536 1000
Buses: 8, 33, 49, 86
www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/hospitals/rie
Royal Hospital for Sick Children
9 Sciennes Road
536 0000
Leisure Facilities
Royal Commonwealth Pool
21 Dalkeith Rd
667 7211
www.edinburghleisure.co.uk, and follow links
With adult swimming, diving and children's swimming facilities, plus work-out gym and aerobic and other exercise classes.
Pool opening times: Mon to Fri: 6.00am - 9.30pm, except Wed: 6.00 - 9.00am and 10.00am - 9.30pm; Sat: 6.00am - 7.45am and 10.00am - 4.30pm; Sun: 10.00am - 4.30pm.
Gym opening times: weekdays - as for the swimming pool; Sat: 6.00am - 7.00pm; Sun: 9.00am - 7.00pm.
Libraries
Newington Library
17-21 Fountainhall Road
529 5536
newington.library@edinburgh.gov.uk
Opening Hours: Mon to Thurs: 10.00am - 8.00pm. Fri: 10.00am - 5.00pm. Sat: 9.00am - 5.00pm. Sun: 1.00pm - 5.00pm
Central Lending Library
George IV Bridge
242 8020
central.lending.library@edinburgh.gov.uk
Opening Hours: Mon - Thurs: 10am - 8pm, Fri: 10am - 5pm, Sat 9am - 1pm, Sun: closed.
The Central library also houses the Reference Library which has a comprehensive stock of books, periodicals and newspapers covering business, literature, science, education, careers and many other subjects on a current and historical basis, plus the latest on-line and CD-ROM databases.
242 8060 or central.reference.library@edinburgh.gov.uk
Music Library
9 George IV Bridge
242 8050
central.music.library@edinburgh.gov.uk
Opening Hours: Mon - Thurs 10.00am-8.00pm, Fri: 10.00am-5.00pm, Sat: 9.00am-1.00pm, Sun: closed.
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge or Causewayside Building
33 Salisbury Place
623 3700
www.nls.uk
Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 9.30am-8.30pm; Sat: 9.30am-1.00pm; Sun: closed.
Parking
Parking is restricted from Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 5.30pm. Residents wishing to leave their cars on the streets during these times must purchase a resident’s parking permit from the City of Edinburgh Council, and park their car in one of the designated permit holder’s bays. This area is Zone 7. In Blacket Place (either north of Blacket Avenue or at the top of Blacket Place) and in Mayfield Terrace (at the south end of Blacket Place and also in the middle of Mayfield Terrace) there are further parking bays available where visitors can purchase a ticket for a stay of up to 4 hours. After 5.30pm and at the weekends anyone can park on the single yellow lines. For further information contact
City of Edinburgh Council
City Chambers
High Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1YJ
tel: 200 2323 or www.edinburgh.gov.uk
Pharmacists
Alliance Pharmacy
28-30 Newington Rd
667 3008
Open 9:00am-5:30pm Mon - Fri, 9:00am-5:00pm Sat; closed Sun.
The dispensing part of the shop closes each day between 1:30 and 2:00pm.
Boots
21 Cameron Toll Shopping Centre
666 1111
Open 9:00am-6:00pm Mon - Wed, 9:00am-7:00pm Thurs and Fri, 9:00am-6:00pm Sat, 10:00am-5:00pm Sun.
Police
Lothian & Borders Police
14 St. Leonards St
EH8 9QW
662 5000
www.lbp.police.uk
See also Neighbourhood Watch Information
Post Offices
Main Post Office
Newington Post Office
41 South Clerk Street
EH8 9NZ
662 5000
Sub Post Office
Grange Road Post Office
17 Salisbury Place
EH9 1SL
0345-223344
Domestic refuse collection
Normal Refuse collection
Tuesday - Wheelie bins to be placed at your gate before 7am
Recycling
The nearest recycling bins are at:
- Homebase, St Leonard's Street
- Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, Lady Road
Kerbside recycling collections
There are fortnightly collections of newspapers, glass, cans, textiles, paper and cardboard, including drinks cartons.
Blue (for glass, cans, textiles and paper) boxes and plastic bags (for newspapers) and red (for cardboard) boxes, supplied by the Council, are collected
on alternate Wednesdays.
Garden waste is collected fortnightly on Tuesdays, between March and November, in the brown wheelie bin. Boxes and wheelie bins to be placed at your gate before 7am.
For more information see www.changeworks.org.uk
Larger items
It is possible to arrange a special uplift from the Council, which will collect larger items (such as fridges, furniture etc).
One free uplift of up to six items will be provided to each household per year. The charging year runs from 1 August to 31 July.
Any further uplifts will be charged at £17.20. To book an uplift either fill out the Special Uplift form which can be downloaded from the Council website www.edinburgh.gov.uk (follow links to environment, rubbish waste and recycling)
or phone 529 3030 during office hours.
The Civic amenity dump site in Old Dalkeith Road (just past Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, open: April to September: 10.00am-7.30pm Mon-Fri, 10.00am-6.00pm Sat and Sun; October to March: 10.00am-4.00pm) is extremely useful for the disposal of larger items.
Schools
The Blacket area falls within the catchment area for Preston Street primary and Borough¬muir secondary schools. Currently it is possible to send your child to a school outwith the catchment area. To do this, forms have to be submitted to the Education Department in the autumn prior to the beginning of the academic year. Allocation of places is carried out purely on a numbers basis - if there is space available there is the opportunity to enrol your child in a different school. For further information, Pupil Support at the Education Department will be able to help, or www.edinburgh.gov.uk/CEC/Education/menu
State Nursery Schools
St Leonards Nursery School
l6 West Adam Street
667-4674
Hope Cottage Nursery School
Cowan’s Close
East Crosscauseway
667-5795
Private Nursery
Strawberry Hill Nursery
13 Minto Street
668-3300
www.strawberryhillnursery.co.uk
Open from 8.00am - 6.00pm daily; places are available for children aged from 3 months to 5 years.
State Primary Schools
Preston Street Primary School
Dalkeith Road
667-4208
St Peter’s RC Primary School
10 Falcon Road
447-5742
Prestonfield Primary School
Peffermill Road
667-1336
Sciennes Primary School
Sciennes Road
667-1243
State Secondary Schools
Boroughmuir High School
26 Viewforth
229 9703
www.boroughmuir.edin.sch.uk
James Gillespie’s High School
1 Lauderdale Street
447 1900
www.jghs.edin.sch.uk
Private schools
The nearest is St Margaret’s School, East Suffolk Road (668-1986). The senior school is girls only, but the nursery school and the early years of the primary school are co-educational; boys are taken until the age of 8. www.st-margarets.edin.sch.uk.
There are a number of private schools on the Southside of the city including:
George Heriot’s School
8 Lauriston Place
229 7263
www.george-heriots.com
George Watson’s College
67-71 Colinton Rde
446 6000
www.gwc.org.uk
Both of the above schools are co-educational.
Other information
“Edinburgh for the under fives” is an excellent publication by the Edinburgh branches of the National Childbirth Trust, which many parents with young children use as a constant source of reference. www.edinburghforunderfives.co.uk
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