The Calders - Izeria

The Calders is a residential neighbourhood in Edinburgh, Scotland – not to be confused with the Calders of West Lothian aka West Calder, Mid Calder and East Calder, three separate villages. It is sometimes considered to be part of Wester Hailes or Sighthill, larger developments to its south and east respectively. From 2007 to 2017, it fell within the Sighthill/Gorgie multi-member ward of the City of Edinburgh Council administration along with Sighthill, but following a boundary change has been in the Pentland Hills ward since then, along with Wester Hailes. To the west of the neighbourhood is the A720 Edinburgh city bypass road, with Heriot-Watt University's main campus at Riccarton beyond. To the north, the Calders borders the A71 Calder Road, which at that point is a dual carriageway leading off the city bypass towards Gorgie and the city centre; on the other side of the A71 is the large Bankhead industrial estate. The Union Canal passes through the area, marking its western and southern boundaries. Pedestrian underpasses connect the Calders to Bankhead under the A71, and to Sighthill under the B701 Wester Hailes Road, also a dual carriageway. The presence of the three main roads and canal surrounding the area on all sides gives it a somewhat isolated character, and a roughly square territory. The Calders contains the Wester Hailes Education Centre. The bulk of the housing stock is council owned, and the area contains some of the remaining high rises in Edinburgh (Cobbinshaw House, Dunsyre House and Medwin House, all 13-storey 'slab' blocks). The majority of the other buildings are four storeys high (some in a tenement style with a common stairway serving two flats on each floor, others in cube-shaped structures with four flats on each floor off a central stairway, with a small percentage of two-storey tenements and some of the cubes built on a slope towards the canal featuring a fifth floor). All were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s to an angular design, primarily of grey concrete with dark brown features; before they were constructed, the area contained prewar prefabs.

1. References

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Wester Hailes Education Centre

Wester Hailes High School is a mixed non-denominational high school in Wester Hailes, in the South-West suburb of Edinburgh. The current principal is David Young and the roll is about 303. In addition to the school on the site, there is a swimming pool and fitness centre which are open to the public, and a youth work programme.

School

National Collection of Aerial Photography

The National Collection of Aerial Photography is a photographic archive in Edinburgh, Scotland, containing over 30 million aerial photographs of worldwide historic events and places. From 2008–2015 it was part of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and since then it has been a sub-brand of Historic Environment Scotland. Many of the aerial reconnaissance photographs were taken during the Second World War and the Cold War, and were declassified and released by the Ministry of Defence. The collection also contains over 1.8 million aerial survey photographs of Scotland, during and in the years after the Second World War, as well as post-war Ordnance Survey, over 4 million photogrammetric images, and over 10 million aerial survey images of international sites as part of The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives (TARA). The collection contains both military declassified and non-military aerial photographs from over a dozen different national and international organisations. NCAP’s historical aerial photography is primarily used to locate unexploded Second World War bombs by European bomb disposal companies and in historical, archaeological and climate change research. It is also used for documentaries and dramas on television and in film.

Historic Site Landmark

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Sighthill, Edinburgh

Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area is bordered by Broomhouse and Parkhead to the east, South Gyle to the north, the industrial suburb of Bankhead and the Calders neighbourhood to the west, and Wester Hailes to the south. It is sometimes included in the Wester Hailes area, while the Calders, Bankhead and Parkhead are sometimes considered parts of Sighthill. Administratively it has formed a core part of the City of Edinburgh Council's Sighthill/Gorgie ward since 2007.

Industrial Neighbourhood

Bankhead, Edinburgh

Bankhead is a non-residential area of western Edinburgh, Scotland. It borders the Edinburgh City Bypass (A720) and Hermiston Gait (M8 motorway terminus) to the west, the Calders neighbourhood to the south – accessed via a pedestrian underpass, Sighthill to the east, and South Gyle/Edinburgh Park to the north. It is mostly occupied by a large industrial park. Amongst the companies here, Royal Mail and Burtons Biscuits have a large presence. Ethicon also had a plant here, but it has closed, and will reportedly be replaced by a sports facilities. Edinburgh College, the former Stevenson College and the Sighthill campus of Napier University are just to the west.

Industrial School