New mural officially unveiled on Cuddies Lane

A new mural by artist Chris Rutterford, designed to create part of an art trail linking Colinton Tunnel to the village, was officially unveiled on Friday morning.

Doing the honours Sue Webber Lothians MSP, who is “almost a local resident”, and Scott Arthur MP for Edinburgh South West performed the ceremony in front of a large crowd of locals on Cuddies Lane which links the village to Spylaw Street. The short cut has until now been a “grim gully” in the words of the Colinton Community Association (CAA).

The mural has been the work of the artist along with his 82-year-old “laddie” Eddie Banks, but the planning and fundraising behind it was led by the CAA.

Tim Lawson, CAA Chair, said: “It was back in 2020 that the CAA decided that we would try to help the businesses in Colinton which were starting to suffer a little bit – probably a process that has occurred nationwide. Small businesses that were offering village services tended to disappear with more offices taking the place of shops. One of the things we wanted to do was that with people walking up and down the Water of Leith we wanted to somehow entice them in. So many of the things we have been doing since then have had that background.

“We have worked quite hard in the upgrading of Spylaw Park, the Robert Louis Stevenson Walk and the statue and the upgrading of Phoebe Traquair’s railing. These cultural and heritage things were very important – we thought – to give Colinton this feeling this sense of place so the people who live here can be really quite proud of it.

“With the amazing success of the Colinton Tunnel project we are very well known now. It is a major tourist attraction pulling people in so we resurrected our idea that if we could somehow cast a line out and reel these people in we might get them up into the village here for everybody’s benefit. This particular project here is phases one and two along with the site of The Old Smiddy.”

Mr Lawson thanked the various funders including The City of Edinburgh Council, Sustrans, local people and businesses.

Chris Rutterford

Artist Chris Rutterford explained that the project began about two years ago. He completed the teaser panel at the site of the old Smiddy last year, setting a different tone from the work in the Colinton Tunnel which is quite playful. He said this site demanded something a little more sedate. He is depicted on the mural and was today wearing a pair of dungarees in honour of his grandfather who ran Woodhall Nursery nearby and that is what he wore every day. (He said he thinks he inherited his sense of graft.) Chris used to buy sweets when Dantes Restaurant was a sweetie shop – particularly soor plooms which he favoured.

He said: “We’re in historic Colinton village here, a 600-year-old village, and it was really important that this was, I’d say “buttoned up”, but just the appropriate tone for for a historic heritage village. I got input from the local heritage society. I got a photo from the archive which showed kids on their Sunday School picnic. The cart was decorated and the horses had flowers. It was quite a blurry photo so for me I needed a bit more detail. What we ended up doing was getting a lot of the ladies and children from the Redeemer Church and a lot of them are now in the carriage. The two chaps in front are Mike and Eddie Banks who put a lot of effort in on behalf of the Colinton Amenity Association. But I whacked a couple of fake moustaches on them because that was in the photo!”

Chris explained that the bottom of the mural is a homage to the acclaimed artist, Phoebe Traquair, whose designs can be seen on the nearby railings.

Sue Webber MSP recalled that she used to frequent this part of the village, coming up through Spylaw Park to run up to the doctors which was in a nearby house. She said: “I am delighted to see how art is going to connect the various parts of Colinton, from the container up in the park all the way down to the tunnel on the Water of Leith Walkway. Chris has done a tremendous work making that theme and that thread that connects the various parts of Colinton. There are communities all over the place and and all over the city, but Colinton is a little bit special. You’ve just got that extra bit of sparkle that brings you all together, and you all stick together, and you work that little bit harder to bring that sense of community together.”

Scott Arthur MP said he was a councillor in the area when elected in 2017 and was complimentary of the sense of community in the village enjoying the common sense of history. He remembered first of all having a meeting with Mike and Eddie at Colinton Library about the tunnel which he admitted today he had been very sceptical of ever happening. He said: “When we first discussed this project we met for a coffee in the Spylaw with Cllr Val Walker who was Culture Convener. She came along because we knew getting it through planning was going to be difficult. She sadly died a few months ago, but it’s actually fantastic to see that Chris has done such a good job of reflecting her personality in one of the characters in the back of the cart.”

William Wood who attended the ceremony told us that he worked in the Smiddy when he returned from National Service in 1959. He remembered several names of the people who worked there including Willie Oliver who was near retiral age, Davey Webster who had been in the RAF and was a technician (“he was more or less in charge down here”), Willie Hogg a plumber, Willie Scott who had served his time in the blacksmiths, and who left to join British Rail as a bridge inspector. He said he worked there for five years serving his time and he really enjoyed his time there.