OPEN LIST
WHY iT’S HARD TO CROSS WAVERLEY BRIDGE WITHOUT STOPPING
Opening times Mon-Sat 8.30am - 2.00am Sunday 8.30am -11.00pm
NOW OPEN TO 2AM.
FULLY LICENSED
ACANTHUS CAFE BAR
Travel Around the World and 350 million years back to the past with your personal audio guide at your side.
The new Soundalive audio tour of the famous plant houses at the Royal Botanic Garden can take you on a trip to the tropics and back in 40 minutes without even leaving Edinburgh.
Available from the Plant House Reception 3
Area loam-5pm ‘Daiiid Bellamy Only $1 (50p children) Takes (1 T our"
SOUNDALIVE AT THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, EDINBURGH
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Friday 4
I The Atrican Connection: Scottish Collections From The Dark Continent Lecture Theatre. Royal Museum Of Scotland. Chambers Street. Edinburgh. info: 225 7534 ext 219. 2pm. Free. lan Bunyan with his second and final Wealth Of A Nation contribution.
Monday 7
I island-Hopping: Scottish Collectors From Further Atield Lecture Theatre. Royal Museum Of Scotland. (‘hambers Street. Edinburgh. info: 225 753-1 ext 219. 2pm. Free. Olive Duncan gives her final address for the everything-you-ever-wanted-to- know-about-Scottish-collectors series. Wealth ()f A Nation.
Tuesdayst & 8
I Menopause Well Woman (‘cntre for (iorgie Dairy. 9 ('aledonian Place. Edinburgh. 337 5543. 7.3l)--9.3l)pm. Free. A regular support group for older women in (iorgie Dairy.
Wednesdays 2 & 9
I Summer Break Well Woman (’entre for (iorgie Dairy. 9 ('aiedonian Place. Edinburgh. 337 5543. 7.3(L-9..‘s(lpm. Free. New ways of coping with summer stress.
Thursdays 3 8.10
I Women‘s Sessions With Free Creche Well
Woman (‘entre for Gorgie/Dairy . 9 (‘aledonian Place. Edinburgh. 337 5543. 10am-1pm. Free. Programme details still to be arranged — call Centre for details.
OPEN EXTRA Saturday 29
I Pilot Media Convention Queen Margaret Union. (iibson Street. Glasgow. 9.30am—10.30pm. £4. A get~together for Science Fiction and Fantasy freaks. with filtns and videos from Outer Limits to the latest Star Trek movie. quizzes. fancy dress competition and a mysteryguest. Details from Michelle Drayton. 31 (iraham 'l'errace. Bishopbriggs. Glasgow 064 1N].
Saturday 5
I Claymore '89 Adam llouse.Chambers Street. iidinburgh. [nor-1430358. “lam—4.30pm. £1. Organised by South liast Scotland Wargames Club to raise funds for the Scottish National institution for War Blinded. (‘laymore '89 is a major event on the Scottish wargamer‘s calendar: last year's conference was attended by 1-100 people. and raised over £1500. Activities include board wargaming. fantasy role-playing games. computing. modelling and painting competitions and a bring and buy sale. where small metal llobbitsand authentically painted 110:00 Napoleonic guardsmen will change hands at highly competitive rates.
Marta Sebestyen at the Bear Fair
The Bear Fair, Neidpath Castle, Peebles on Sat 5 and Sun 6. See Outdoors listings.
A very wide assortment at traditional (and less traditional) entertainments and crafts take place at the Bear Fair, a
' new event which has risen from the
ashes otthe annual Traquair Fair, which outgrew its venue and last took place in 1986. The title should not dismay animal lovers, who may perhaps envisage traditional bear-baiting and other inhumane activities. The Bear part derives from the ornamental bears which stand above Traquair’s gates, and always used to feature in the Fair’s publicity. The new name also has the advantage of being moveable, in case the initial venue at Neidpath Castle, Peebles proves unsuitable.
In tact, the Bear Fair has something 01 an environmentalist slant to it, though organiser lshy Scholield says ‘it wasn‘t deliberate at all. I only realised a couple at weeks ago how much everything tied in that way.’ She had already arranged tree exhibition space and a share of any proiits for Greenpeace, Friends Of The Earth and Scottish Wildlile (as well as Amnesty International), when a chance meeting
BEAAFFAIR
with actor Roy Hutchins led to a booking tor his one-man Heathcote Williams adaptations, Whale Nation
and Falling ForA Dolphin.
Also ore-arranged was a pertormance by Dance Stages, a local group led by proiessional dancer Susan Crowther. Dance Stages will be presenting Dancing Pandas, a sequence lrom the environmentally concerned piece Sinking Ark, by Malcolm Le Maistre, a former member of the Incredible String Band. And then there is Skinning the Cat, a trapeze troupe, whose name is a protest against the use at live animals in circus. The animal connection continues with the Traquair Sheep Poets, who have taken it upon themselves to present song and verse in praise ot sheep.
There is a very wide range of non-animal-related entertainment, with music as diverse as Wray Gun and the Rockets‘ tea-chest skittle, Critterhill Varmints’ cajun hoe-downs, and Hungarian talk from Vujicsics, featuring the lovely Marta Sebestyn, who wowed Glasgow during Maytest and is due to appear on the Edinburgh Fringe. Forturther details, see Folk paneL
And there are a number at (human) circus acts and workshops, with plenty lor children, including Magic Bob and Mr Boom, Jugglers Wild and Hatrick the Clown.
But Traquair Fair, which began in 1976, was always craft-oriented, and over forty crafts will be demonstrated at the Bear Fair, including basket weaving, glassblowing, clogmaking, pottery, beekeeping and knitting. ‘A lot of craft workers missed the iair,‘ says Scholield. This year's lair, it seems, is not to be missed. (Andrew Burnet)
32 The List 28July— 11) August 1989