Portobello Online - news update

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 07 Jun 2009, 12:58

Recent and planned activity includes:

Home page - we now link directly from the home page to Talkporty, Portobello Sailing and Kayaking Club, PEDAL, POD and BTOTB. Email links now fixed.

New sections - Portobello Amenity Society page coming soon. Also an archive section to make it easier to find at a glance all the pdf documents currently hosted on Portobello Online and linked from Talkporty.

Planning section - hope to get this up and running again. It breaks every time they change things at their end.

Gallery section - I have tidied this up a bit by creating new categories and sub-categories. Hope it makes sense. It's a bit clunky as Coppermine doesn't allow the creation of sub-albums. We hope to update to the latest version soon, which may add some new features. Commenting currently disabled as I got fed up with the spam.

Reporter archive - no progress as yet on digitising the older editions but still working on it!

Portobelly Telly - we plan to let YouTube take care of the hosting and bandwidth issues and embed the videos on our own site.

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 01 Jul 2010, 22:00

One of my current projects is to scan all of the Portobello Amenity Society newsletters and add them to the PAS section on Portobello Online. PAS started out back in 1979 as the Abercorn Amenity Society. Their very first newsletter is available to read here:

AAA Newsletter no. 1

More to be added soon.

I'm also scanning some newly-discovered items relating to the original Portobello Amateur Rowing Club but they won't appear for a few weeks yet. As a teaser, however, here is one side of a postcard posted in 1885, which is the most exciting find thus far.

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 04 Aug 2010, 21:54

And the reverse, one of 27 new images I have added recently.

The postcard was sent by Andrew Melrose Morrison, the great uncle of Bill and Derek Morrison who provided me with much of the material in the Portobello Amateur Rowing Club gallery.

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 09 Aug 2010, 20:59

Another 9 images added to the Portobello Amateur Rowing Club gallery today, including this relatively new one from 1954. Some of these guys will almost certainly still be around. This photo has been taken inside the clubhouse and, interestingly, in the background you can see some of the other photos that are included in the gallery.

Along with the cups and medals and minute books that have survived, and even some of the original boats, it's a remarkable archive.

This is some of the feedback that Ali Grant compiled from an illustrated talk that I gave recently on the history of rowing:

“it was great to see and hear the older generation talk about the rowing”

“Fascinating to see so many wonderful pictures and artifacts – and hear about the history of rowing in Portobello for over 125 years. Really good project for bringing the community together and linking past with present, young with old”

“Fantastic story. It’s really great to hear about Portobello’s heritage and the connection with the sea. It’s inspiring that there is a resurgence in rowing in Portobello and that as a consequence, generations can connect”

“Very much enjoyed seeing the old pictures and articles and especially the memories of the original rowing club members. I will look forward to looking at the pictures on Porty online and send my friends the link”

“Very entertaining and informative talk on the rich history of rowing in Portobello. Great to see some of the members of the original clubs present. Having a historical perspective will provide another dimesion to my involvement with RowPorty”

“Thanks to all those who have joined together to make this new project possible.Amazing to hear about the history of rowing in Portobello since 1885. I know some of the history of the rowing club but it was very scanty. I have lived in Portobello on and off since 1965 and the rowing clubhouse was a very familiar and important building on the seascape of Portobello. “

“A fascinating talk with well reseached materials. It was a huge bonus to have so many of the original rowing members present at the talk adding to the history. A truly amazing start to the new project”

“Brilliant! Great to hear about the history of rowing in Portobello. Also, good to bring together the old and new generations of rowers”

“It was good to hear the history of rowing in Portobello. Now the new rowing project has been put into context for me”

“Really great to hear a bit about the history of rowing in Portobello. Talk was great. Pictures amazing. Lovely that some of the original members could be there”

“This is a great idea to resurrect a part of Portobello’s past that many people are unaware of. “

“Really enjoyed the talk and learned a lot. It’s great to know the sport has been revived and so much interest shown by Portobello folk and others not so lucky to live here. Enthusiastic too”

“Very interesting and informative. It was well presented in pleasant surroundings. As an old oarsman member of EARC I was delighted to bring back old memories” (Tom Forsyth – Eastern Amateur Rowing Association)

“It was most interesting to find out the history of rowing in Portobello and how popular and important it was to the community. A lot of work has obviously gone into the research undertaken. I wish every success to the new rowing venture and hope it is as successful as its forebears in bringing Portobello into the spotlight”

“It was fascinating to find out about Porty’s rowing heritage. Particularly the input from the older rowers”

“Wonderful and very informative”

“Fantastic. An inspiring insight into how things were done from the 1800’s to 21st century. Some of the things they did are the same e.g. fundraising concerns. Hope to learn their lessons and take rowing forward”

“Fantastic talk. Thank you very much”

“Congratulations for bringing back the tradition of open water rowing to Portobello. Icebreaker has created an enormous amount of interest”

Bob Jefferson · Post by **Bob Jefferson** » 26 Aug 2010, 21:37

I am currently transcribing the EARC and PARC minute book of the joint regattas held between 1898 and 1903. I also have the membership book covering the period 1927 to 1957 and the cash book for 1919 to 1958.

Apart from this, there is a collection of rowing-related silverware that I would like to photograph and I think I could probably use some advice on the best way to go about this.

Some sort of local museum would also be useful.