The Edinburgh Reporter February 2024

99

Pain and no gain for some at Shawfair

A selection of films for anglers will

add to the excitement of the new season

By STAFF REPORTER

ON 1 FEBRUARY the River

Tweed opens for the 2024 salmon

fishing season, and will be

accompanied this year by the

inaugural River Tweed Film

Festival at Ednam House Hotel.

The festival will span two days

and feature a captivating selection

of handpicked films curated by

Fishing TV, a renowned global

film hub for angling enthusiasts.

The film Festival lineup includes

titles such as “Paul Young Hooked

on Fishing,” “Our Wild Salmon”

from Fisheries Management

Scotland, and the much-

anticipated Tweed premiere of

“Mending the Line.”

The latter boasts an outstanding

cast, led by Golden Globe winner

Brian Cox (Succession, Troy) and

Sinqua Walls (Nanny, White Men

Can’t Jump), delivering powerful

performances that bring to life a

compelling narrative about

universal themes of trauma,

resilience, and finding purpose.

Director Joshua Caldwell and

Mending the Line screenwriter

Stephen Camelio said: “It speaks

to universal themes of trauma,

resilience, and finding something

to live for, and strikes a chord with

audiences from all walks of life.

We are incredibly excited to bring

this film to audiences on the river

Tweed, Scotland.”

Jamie Stewart, Clerk to the

River Tweed Commission,

emphasised the importance

of celebrating the Tweed’s

fishing heritage.

PETER STUBBS who has died aged 78

joined the Royal Photographic Society

(RPS) in 1993. He was awarded the first

ever Fellowship for a website in 2005 in

the Research category. The site was a

monumental achievement exploring the

history of the Edinburgh Photographic

Society (EPS) and its members from its

foundation in 1861 to 1999. The website

showed that good research did not always

need to be presented in book form. Peter

continued to expand the scope of the

website until recently. As a member of the

EPS for over thirty years he became the

memory of the Society through his

diligent research into its formation and its

progress from its inception.

Peter also produced a fascinating

record of the nineteenth century

photographic businesses in the city,

particularly in Princes Street, of which

there were a large number. He formed the

view that Robert Louis Stevenson was

aware of the Edinburgh studio scene

when he wrote his novel Jekyll and Hyde.

Edinburgh was very much the focus of

Peter’s photographic interests and over

the years he created an archive of industry

in the city. His major contribution to

photography in the city is contained in

the website edinphoto.org.uk. It is a huge

combination of photographs of people,

places and activities in the city both

historic and recent. This shows how the

city has developed over an extended

period, including what has physically

changed and what has remained the

same. The website remains live, although

some links are now broken.

Peter was an actuary by profession,

which probably explained his capacity to

organise such an extensive project. He has

left an important legacy for the city, for

Edinburgh Photographic Society and for

photographic historians more generally.

His enthusiasm for photographic

history did not extend to using old

fashioned plate cameras. Once on a cold

spring day on Rannoch Moor, as a fellow

member was demonstrating the use of his

newly acquired half-plate camera and

taking forever to do so, he observed that

he never wanted to use a camera like that.

Indeed, as a member of the hillwalking

group ‘All Year Ramblers’, he recorded

their walks with his iPad.

Words by Douglas J May FRPS and

additions from Dr Michael Pritchard FRPS

and originally published on

http://www.BritishPhotoHistory.ning.com

OBITUARY

Peter Stubbs FRPS

(1945-2023)

Line up for

River Tweed

Film Festival

Phil Wilkinson

Jamie Stewart, CEO

the River Tweed

Commission

By ARCHIE STEPHEN

A NEW DAVID Lloyd gym at Shawfair near

Dalkeith has come in for a slew of criticism by

furious members, with some claiming they

have stopped going because it is too busy.

The gym opened in August and boasts

luxury gym, pool, spa and recreational

facilities but for many members the initial

shine of joining the plush club has worn

off with a rash of complaints on social

media channels.

The litany of issues include being unable

to park, with visitors using a nearby Park ‘n’

Ride facility and walking to the club, abuse

of parking spaces reserved for disabled

guests, overpriced food, queues to use the

spa, overselling memberships and a packed

gym area which makes its difficult to train at

peak times.

David Lloyd management say some of the

issues are down to the post-Christmas January

peak demand and they are addressing matters

by introducing a waiting list to manage

capacity, while some members blame the

complaints on “whingers”.

However, in an unscientific poll posted by a

member on Facebook, only 56% of those who

answered said they would renew their

memberships, with 10% saying “cheerio” to

David Lloyd, while the remaining 34% were

“on the fence” about continuing as members.

The majority of unhappy members say

local staff at Shawfair are excellent but

blame corporate greed on signing up too

many members to boost revenues at the

expense of user-experience.

Jay Bee, a member since the gym opened,

said: “I haven’t used the gym for the last four

months as it’s just too busy now and not

enjoyable. My husband and I are just waiting

for our 12 months (membership renewal) to

be up, then we will move on.

“We were told the cap would be 3,

members but this clearly was a sales tactic,

more fool us. The staff are great but the

corporate greed has ruined the place.”

Michael Bryant added: “What was a 5-star

facility is now overwhelmed with numbers

and has been for months (not January bump)

yet still registering members daily. The club is

becoming overcrowded, overused and also

needs maintenance already.

“Worst of all is the daily and constant

abuse of disabled parking that the club

management don’t deal with. Greed over

member experience it feels.”

Ryan O’Donovan complained that

memberships have been oversold, saying:

“Majority of times the club is packed, you’re

unable to get a parking space let alone

use the facilities. This is all despite assurances

they would keep membership low to ensure

it was not too busy. Not worth spending

£150+ per person per month if you can’t use

the facilities.”

And Sasha Bey was reprimanded for

bringing in her own food to the club. She said:

“Absolutely ridiculous. A health club with a

restaurant where the food isn’t even remotely

macro friendly and is so overpriced for what it

is. Maybe work on fixing your food options

and pricing before telling people not to eat

their own healthy meals in a health club.”

However, member Scott Allan defended

Shawfair, saying: “I think 90% of the ‘issues’ are

folk just being unreasonable whinging melts.”

David Lloyd said they are assessing car

parking at the club and will be introducing a

ticketing system to address the complaints

around disabled parking, while extra group

classes have been added to the timetable in

response to high usage.

A spokesperson for David Lloyd Clubs said

“January is our peak season, and we’d like to

thank our members for their patience during

this time. We’ve put measures in place to make

sure our members have the best experience

possible during the busy period.

“There is a waiting list at the club to manage

capacity. We’re currently assessing our options

for car parking, including more spaces in the

future and encourage visits during off peak

times where possible. We’re also now hosting

extra group exercise classes at quieter times

for members. We’d like to remind members

that our club General Manager is always on

hand to discuss any member concerns.”