AROUND TOWN | Museums & Attractions
■ HOLYROOD PARK Holyrood Park Road, 652 8150, historic- scotland.gov.uk Open at all times; Holyrood Lodge Information Centre daily 9.30am–3pm. Free. The main entrance to this large royal park, east of the city centre, is flanked by the Palace of Holyrood House and the Scottish Parliament Building. Its main feature is Arthur’s Seat, an 823-foot hill which has a number of smaller peaks and ponds surrounding it.
■ MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD 42 High Street, 529 4142, edinburghmuseums.org.uk Mon–Sat 10am–5pm; Sun noon–5pm. Free. Kids can learn about the toys, clothes and lifestyles of children of the past in this Royal Mile museum. Nostalgia for grown-ups guaranteed. ■ MUSEUM ON THE MOUND The Mound, 243 5464, museumonthemound.com Tue–Fri 10am–5pm; Sat & Sun 1–5pm; closed Mon. Free. Hosted inside the Bank of Scotland’s head office, this museum is all about money. Learn how money has evolved over the past 4000 years or try cracking a safe.
■ NATIONAL MINING MUSEUM SCOTLAND Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange, 663 7519, scottishminingmuseum.com Daily 10am–5pm. £8.50 (£6.50; children free). Nine miles south of Edinburgh, this museum is one of the best-preserved Victorian collieries in Europe. Learn about the life of a miner by taking a tour around the site. ■ NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND Chambers Street, 0300 123 6789, nms. ac.uk Daily 10am–5pm. Free. Renovated in 2011, this national beacon of culture has exhibitions on natural history, science and technology, Scottish history, art and design and world cultures in galleries surrounding a beautiful naturally lit atrium space. Ming: The Golden Empire Until Sun 31 Aug. £10 (£6.50–£8; under 12s and members free). An overview of the legacy of the Ming Dynasty, which ruled China from 1368 to 1644 and which presided over an era of unprecedented national stability. See original artefacts from the Nanjing Museum in the only UK showing of this major exhibition. FREE Scotland Creates: A Sense of Place Until Sun 31 Aug. Young people from across Scotland showcase what is important where they come from, spanning art, music, dance and films. FREE Common Cause: Commonwealth Scots and the Great War Until Sun 12 Oct. To commemorate the outbreak of war in 1914, this exhibition looks at the relationship between Scottish identity and the emerging national identities of the former British Empire.
■ OUR DYNAMIC EARTH Holyrood Road, 550 7800, dynamicearth.co.uk Daily 10am–6pm (last entry 4.30pm). £11–£12.50 (£9.25–£10.50; under 16s £7.25–£7.95; under 3s free). Take an interactive journey through the history of the earth. Go to the tundra or the bottom of the ocean, never being more than a stone’s throw from the Scottish Parliament and Arthur’s Seat.
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58 THE LIST 10 Jul–21 Aug 2014
DAY OUT SCOTLAND’S NATIONAL AIRSHOW National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, near Edinburgh, Sat 26 Jul
‘It’s all about the excitement of the aircraft themselves, isn’t it?’ asks Steve McLean, on the enduring appeal of an airshow. ‘It’s very rare you can get that close to an aircraft because they never fly as low, and at an airshow they really get put through their paces, you get to see what they can do.’
This year, Scotland’s National Airshow will be even bigger and better, says McLean, general manager of the National Museum of Flight along the Forth from Edinburgh in East Fortune. That’s partly because the Red Arrows will be flying overhead, something he’s ‘fantastically pleased about’. The Battle of Britain memorial flight will also be special. ‘We have a Spitfire and a Hurricane,’ he says, ‘and a Lancaster bomber as well, which we haven’t had in the last five years. There’ll also be an RAF Typhoon, as well as a range of helicopters and some aerobatic display teams, including wing-walkers. There wil l also be chances to meet many of those involved on the ground.’
Beyond the wealth of interesting things going on in the sky, there’s plenty happening on terra firma, with a family fun-day atmosphere including circus and community events, a pipe band and a bouncy castle. ‘What’s also great is that you have a team of expert commentators,’ says McLean. ‘They’ll tell you what the plane is doing and what the pilot’s thinking, and that’s a big aspect of the museum’s work, to show people what flight is about and what it’s like to fly. We’d all like to be up in that Typhoon, we know it would be fantastic fun.’ (David Pollock)
■ PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE Royal Mile, 556 5100, royalcollection. org.uk Daily 9.30am–6pm (last entry 4.30pm). £11.30 (£10.30; under 17s £6.80; under 5s free; family £29.40). The official Scottish residence of the Queen, this baroque palace was once home to Mary, Queen of Scots and now houses the great artworks and tapestries of its regal residents. Poetry for the Palace: Poets Laureate from Dryden to Duffy Until Sun 2 Nov. Exploration of the relationship between the poet and the monarch, with original manuscripts and images of poets including Dryden, Wordsworth, Tennyson and current Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.
■ REAL MARY KING’S CLOSE 2 Warriston’s Close, High St, 0845 070 6244, realmarykingsclose.com Daily 10am–9pm. £12.95 (£11.45; children £7.45). Beneath the Royal Mile lies a warren of hidden closes where citizens of Edinburgh lived and died in the 16th and 17th centuries. The underground tours are led by guides in the character of real people who lived in the close. ■ ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN EDINBURGH Inverleith Row, 552 7171, rbge.org.uk Daily 10am–6pm. Free; glasshouse entry £5 (£4; children free). These gardens, founded in the 17th century, cover over
70 acres and are just one mile from the city centre. There are glasshouses and cafés within the grounds, as well as high- profile art exhibitions at Inverleith House. ■ ROYAL OBSERVATORY VISITOR CENTRE Blackford Hill, 668 8404, roe.ac.uk/ vc Entry by arrangement or at Public Astronomy evenings (weekly, Fri 7.30–9pm). Public Astronomy evenings £4 (£3). See the stars through the research centre’s magnificent copper domes at weekly astronomy evenings.
■ ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA Ocean Terminal, Leith, 555 5566, royalyachtbritannia.co.uk Daily 9.30am–4.30pm. £12.75 (£11.50; under 18s £7.75; under 5s free; family £36.50). Take a guided tour of the ornate floating royal residence (and the naval quarters below) and learn about life aboard the yacht, which served the royal family for almost 50 years.
■ SCOTCH WHISKY EXPERIENCE 354 Castlehill, 220 0441, scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk Daily 10am–6pm; entry is as part of a tour. Tours £12.75–£52 (£10.25–£26; under 18s £6.50). Learn more about Scotland’s tastiest export with a tour and tasting session. There is also a bar and restaurant if you need a few more drams to help decide which is your favourite. ■ SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT Horse Wynd, 0800 092 7500, scottish. parliament.uk Opening hours vary according to whether Parliament is in session, see website for details. Free. See Spanish architect Enric Miralles’ magnificent (and controversial) Holyrood building, take a tour of the interior, sit in on a debate or look at the artwork on display. The Great Tapestry of Scotland Until Sep 2014. Potentially the world’s longest tapestry in the world (at 143m), it tells the story of Scotland’s history from the geological formation of the land to the re-convention of the Scottish Parliament in 1998.
■ SCOTT MONUMENT Princes Street Gardens East, 529 4068, edinburghmuseums.org.uk Daily 10am– 7pm. £4. Commemorating Sir Walter Scott, this is the largest monument of any writer in the world. Take all 287 steps to the top for a great view of the city, plus occasional exhibitions. ■ SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE AND JOHN KNOX HOUSE 43–45 High Street, 556 9579, scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk Mon– Sat 10am–6pm; Sun noon–6pm. Free entry to SSC; John Knox House £5 (£4; children £1; under 7s free). A stylish contemporary building appended to the 15th century home of Protestant reformer John Knox, housing materials relating to Scotland’s rich oral culture.
EVENTS Events are listed by city, then type. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication by using our ‘Add an Event’ service at list.co.uk. Listings compiled by Jaclyn Arndt. ✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
GLASGOW Activities & Events East End Social Thu 10 Jul–Fri 8 Aug, times vary. prices vary. Various venues, eastendsocial.com Part music showcase, part community-engagement project, East End Social brings a diverse range of music to Glasgow’s East End venues, as well as tea dances, a gala day and music workshops. Part of Culture 2014.