Council appointments – Torness – New Boss at Portrait Gallery – Festival of Museums – Music in Edinburgh this week – and news of a free gig!

Although the council does not meet till next week to ratify all the various conveners’ appointments the Edinburgh Labour Group have already published their nominations. Our article here shows them off to you…

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Did you know that one of the reactors at Torness nuclear plant was shut down on Sunday? Well you are not alone if this news passed you by.

Alison Johnstone, Green MSP for Lothian, is calling on nuclear operator EDF to learn lessons from this week’s unplanned reactor shutdown at Torness.

The first information about Sunday’s fault was via the media on Monday evening with EDF failing to place any details on their website or on Twitter.

Scottish Greens understand a letter to local liaison committee members in East Lothian is being issued by EDF, citing a fault with electrical protection equipment.

Alison Johnstone said:-

“While it’s a relief the shutdown did not result in any apparent power outage or environmental damage it’s baffling EDF did not seek to inform the public any earlier. Incidents such as these reinforce the view that the nuclear industry has a culture of secrecy.

“Scotland’s energy future is clearly in renewables and I look forward to the day we don’t need to worry about problems at nuclear plants on our doorstep.”

As well as Torness, EDF runs nuclear power plants at Hunterston B in Scotland, and Hartlepool, Heysham 1 & 2,Sizewell B, Dungeness B and Hinkley Point B in England.

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The Portrait Gallery has a new boss. The Scotsman has explained how his focus will now be on high achieving Scots. We have been to the Portrait Gallery many times and there is a Hot Scots exhibition of photos which we love. What do you particularly like? (apart from the scones….?!)

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Scotland’s museums and galleries hold an eclectic mix of inspirational cultural events from Aberdeen to Ayrshire and Dundee to Skye and Stirling next weekend and this year there are almost 90 events confirmed.

From 18-20 May, Festival of Museums will celebrate Scotland’s wealth of culture with exciting and innovative day and night events in museums and galleries throughout the country. Many of the workshops, talks, concerts and exhibitions are FREE. The Festival, organised by Museums Galleries Scotland, coincides with other Europe-wide celebrations of the many eclectic cultural experiences offered to visitors by museums and galleries, including Museums at Night.

There are loads of events in Edinburgh, and you can have a look at all the events at www.festivalofmuseums.com

Here is one of the events taking place:-

Event Name: Prawns, Parrots and Paintings! Discover the Art of Harpsichords!

Venue: Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments (EUCHMI) – St. Cecilia’s Hall Museum

Address: Cowgate, Edinburgh, EH1 1NQ

Telephone for publication: 0131 650 2805

Website: www.miayf.org

Date and time: Friday 18May 6.30-8.30pm/Saturday 19 May 10am-4.30pm and 5-7pm

Price: Free

Description: Discover the art of musical instruments at Edinburgh University’ s Musical Instrument Museum and get creative at the same time!This year, Festival of Museums at St. Cecilia’s Hall promises to be a colourful explosion that will keep people of all ages entertained. Get inspired by the painted decorations of our musical instruments, create you own soundbox, enjoy tours from an expert and take part in exciting family trails! Join us on Friday or Saturday evening for an entirely new Museums at Night experience! Tours will be running half hourly taking visitors on a journey of discovery into the world of harpsichord art.

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Music afficionados in Edinburgh will already know about Song, by Toad which is a great site to source the Edinburgh music scene in Edinburgh. But we have had news of a free gig tonight at The Malmaison in Leith at 6pm and 8pm. Doors open at 5. And you will hear a new single before it is released next month..

 

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.