Leith Walk’s beloved bronze pigeons have returned to their original home 17 years after they were removed as part of the original tram project in 2006.
The unique sculptures made their long-awaited return this morning (July 27) as part of the Trams to Newhaven project’s public realm improvements which are set to be completed by the end of August.
During their near two-decade sabbatical, the pigeons have been refurbished or completely recast by Powderhall Bronze in time for today’s unveiling where they were welcomed back to Elm Row by artist Shona Kinloch, transport convener Scott Arthur and council archaeologist John Lawson.
The unique sculptures made their long-awaited return this morning (July 27) as part of the Trams to Newhaven project’s public realm improvements which are set to be completed by the end of August.
During their near two-decade sabbatical, the pigeons have been refurbished or completely recast by Powderhall Bronze in time for today’s unveiling where they were welcomed back to Elm Row by artist Shona Kinloch, transport convener Scott Arthur and council archaeologist John Lawson.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 [Sounds of people talking]
00:24 It is absolutely lovely to have them back. I have missed them, not that I live in Edinburgh, but I have missed them being there. It's just lovely to see them.
00:35 Can you tell me about the commission you got back in the mid-90s? What were you asked to do and how did you come up with the creation of the pigeons?
00:45 Well, in the corner of Elm Road there were some invisible steps and people fell down the invisible steps. So what they wanted me to do was make a sculpture that would stop people from falling down the stairs.
00:59 And so when I arrived to look at the site, a wee flock of pigeons had turned up and so that's what happened. And the wee one that's in a huff, he was specifically put on right on the edge so that people took a big detour around the steps so they didn't fall down.
01:21 The rest of them are really just getting on with their day. And the one that's in a huff, there's always one that sits off to one side and curies in. Probably not in a huff, but it looks like it. So I've left him on his own again, even though it's a new site.
01:41 I love these statues anyway. The piece of art is fantastic. I love them. But it's really important to the local community. In Edinburgh, they were iconic for this part of the town. So putting them back was really important for us.
01:54 Part of our job is public engagement and community engagement. That's what archaeology is all about, public benefit. So not only do we dig stuff up, this is really the modern heritage of the Trams and Leith Walk as well.
02:06 We've done a lot of stuff with the archaeology you've seen before. We've put the pilgrim grills up. But these are fantastic. We went away so we want to put that back. So it's actually part of that whole process that we're trying to do.
02:20 I'm hoping that folk won't trip over them because that was another problem. And they're up a step now so if you want to trip on them you have to actually physically get there yourself to trip over them. Hopefully not.
02:34 [no audio]
02:59 [no audio]