Edinburgh Castle Olympic rings display blocked
November 23 2011
Organisers of next year’s games had hoped to suspend five giant 8m high aluminium rings from the Castle’s ramparts - but the heritage quango claimed that the installation would interfere with the day to day running of the attraction.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) had hoped to have the rings in place over a nine month period.
In a statement a Historic Scotland spokesperson said: “Following careful consideration it is clear that the proposal would not be suitable for the successful operation of Scotland’s most popular heritage attraction.
“It may well be that there are other more suitable sites in Edinburgh, and the Scottish Government and agencies will work with LOCOG and The City Edinburgh of Council to do what we can to assist with the consideration of alternatives.
“We fully support the Olympic Games and we look forward to hosting the Speed of Light event on Arthurs Seat to combine visual art with sporting endeavour and a number of our sites are on the Olympic Torch Relay route, including Edinburgh.”
It's unlikely that Edinburgh would promote Glasgow's Commonwealth Games in such a way either
The stunt was intended to illustrate the UK benefits of the London event
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9 Comments
#2 Posted by Bella MagLinchey on 23 Nov 2011 at 22:26 PM
Edinburgh is hosting the platform diving events for the 2014 Commonwealth games so it's already involved with Glasgow.
#3 Posted by Bella MagLinchey on 23 Nov 2011 at 22:30 PM
"The stunt was intended to illustrate the UK benefits of the London event"
pmsl.
about 1% of construction contracts have went to Scottish firms with English ones getting almost all of them.
The Cultural Olympiad has allocated Scotland 7 events.........out of 1174. How privileged we are.
London 2012 = the United Kingdom's Olympics which only one nation -- England-- is benefiting from.
pmsl.
about 1% of construction contracts have went to Scottish firms with English ones getting almost all of them.
The Cultural Olympiad has allocated Scotland 7 events.........out of 1174. How privileged we are.
London 2012 = the United Kingdom's Olympics which only one nation -- England-- is benefiting from.
#4 Posted by The Bairn on 24 Nov 2011 at 13:44 PM
'...and sent them homewards to think again!'
and as its free to view on council telly most of us will be content not to pay over inflated ticket prices. We should be grateful we have been given some Olympic footy matches but does not compensate for lack of investment in Scotland which might have boosted our jobs market. Too late to splash the cash now Seb!!
and as its free to view on council telly most of us will be content not to pay over inflated ticket prices. We should be grateful we have been given some Olympic footy matches but does not compensate for lack of investment in Scotland which might have boosted our jobs market. Too late to splash the cash now Seb!!
#5 Posted by Jimbo on 24 Nov 2011 at 14:02 PM
Missed opporchancity for some seriously epic and free worldwide marketing there - how distinctive would this have been in the opening sequence of every Olympic broadcast?!? I can imagine people deciding to visit Scotland from all over the world on the back of that alone – just as London will no doubt be decked out to the nines and making the most of it (and quite rightly)... Maybe they could project the rings onto the castle with lights or something?!?
#6 Posted by The Bairn on 24 Nov 2011 at 14:24 PM
exactly right Jimbo, site fixing 8m high aluminium rings oh deary me...crivens jings help ma boab!! in these technologically advanced times surely 5 differently coloured laser lights or 3D holographic projections can use the Castle rock as a backdrop to provide a classier image as one might expect from this forward thinking modern country we live in.
Just do it Mr Salmond please.
Just do it Mr Salmond please.
#7 Posted by Alex on 24 Nov 2011 at 15:44 PM
I don't think hosting two football matches is something to be grateful for. I'm not an expert, but I understand that football matches are played quite often in Scotland as it is.
Jimbo, I don't want to defend a politician, but I hear being First Minister is quite time consuming; missives on adjuncts to Embra castle may well be delegated to someone with a shared room at the cooncil who gives a stuff.
Also, if you think tourists across the world will flock to Edinburgh on the basis of a three second TV shot of the castle you is a mental. There may be hordes of tourists, but they'd all be in London asking where the big castle is.
Jimbo, I don't want to defend a politician, but I hear being First Minister is quite time consuming; missives on adjuncts to Embra castle may well be delegated to someone with a shared room at the cooncil who gives a stuff.
Also, if you think tourists across the world will flock to Edinburgh on the basis of a three second TV shot of the castle you is a mental. There may be hordes of tourists, but they'd all be in London asking where the big castle is.
#8 Posted by Bella MaGlinchey on 25 Nov 2011 at 08:10 AM
@Alex
Scotland isn't hosting any of the team GB matches so is being stuck with the lesser games. Hardly something to cheer about.
@Jimbo
There's no evidence the Olympic rings on Edinburgh castle would boost tourism. There is evidence however that Edinburgh would be freely advertising tourism for London and this could be detrimental to Edinburgh and Scotland. Further, in light of the appalling way the London 2012/English have treated Scotland over the Olympics, I find this 'effort' to be a little crass.Placing Olympic rings on a castle does not make up for Scotland getting virtually ignored during the Cultural Olympiad, Scots getting shafted over the allocation of construction projects. These games are the UK's and are meant to bring benefits to the UK. They're not.
Scotland isn't hosting any of the team GB matches so is being stuck with the lesser games. Hardly something to cheer about.
@Jimbo
There's no evidence the Olympic rings on Edinburgh castle would boost tourism. There is evidence however that Edinburgh would be freely advertising tourism for London and this could be detrimental to Edinburgh and Scotland. Further, in light of the appalling way the London 2012/English have treated Scotland over the Olympics, I find this 'effort' to be a little crass.Placing Olympic rings on a castle does not make up for Scotland getting virtually ignored during the Cultural Olympiad, Scots getting shafted over the allocation of construction projects. These games are the UK's and are meant to bring benefits to the UK. They're not.
#9 Posted by Jimbo on 25 Nov 2011 at 14:51 PM
Bloody hell, it was only an idea folks!!! It’s no wonder this country lacks imagination and flair as new ideas and trying to look at problems differently tends to result in being shot down by cynical knee jerk reactions such as those above!
Alex and Bella: I didn't even mention the First Minister or say that people would come to Edinburgh during the Olympics on the back of this. One of the main points of big cultural events is to attract post event visits and further investment etc, the so-called ‘legacy’. I think the site of the rings projected onto the castle would be pretty powerful when seen by people watching the games on telly around the world. Some of these people may then decide to visit Scotland, not solely on the back of this idea, but partially and probably sub-consciously. That’s all I was saying. There’s no magic formula to work out exactly how many people or how much investment it might result in!!!
I think this could be my last post on www.mouthy-pessimists.com, I mean the Urban Realm website!!!!!!
Alex and Bella: I didn't even mention the First Minister or say that people would come to Edinburgh during the Olympics on the back of this. One of the main points of big cultural events is to attract post event visits and further investment etc, the so-called ‘legacy’. I think the site of the rings projected onto the castle would be pretty powerful when seen by people watching the games on telly around the world. Some of these people may then decide to visit Scotland, not solely on the back of this idea, but partially and probably sub-consciously. That’s all I was saying. There’s no magic formula to work out exactly how many people or how much investment it might result in!!!
I think this could be my last post on www.mouthy-pessimists.com, I mean the Urban Realm website!!!!!!
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That's strange.
I thought that Edinburgh had already agreed to suspend a gigantic pair of Billy Connolly's Fyffes banana boots from the Castle's ramparts throughout the summer of 2014.