Oxgangs

For the ancient unit of measurement, see Oxgang.
Oxgangs
Oxgangs
 Oxgangs shown within Edinburgh
Population Unknown
Council areaCity of Edinburgh
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Edinburgh
Postcode district EH13
Dialling code 0131 (441, 445)
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentEdinburgh South West
Scottish ParliamentEdinburgh Pentlands
List of places
UK
Scotland
Edinburgh

Coordinates: 55°54′29″N 3°13′16″W / 55.908°N 3.221°W / 55.908; -3.221

Oxgangs is a suburb in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. It is named for an oxgang, an ancient Scottish land measure.

Surrounding districts include Caiystane, Dreghorn, Redford, Fairmilehead, Colinton and Swanston and Colinton Mains. The post code area for Oxgangs is EH13.

History

The building of the area started in around 1953/54; before that (with the exception of Colinton Mains) there had only been a number of prefab houses and several farms but it had been mostly farmland and was basically considered to be part of the countryside. The area consists of large public housing schemes aimed at low to middle income groups, ranging from private bungalows to Edinburgh City Council-owned high rise tower blocks (although these have now been demolished).

Colinton Mains Grove, a street which lies in the neighbouring housing scheme of Colinton Mains

A significant majority of former council-owned properties in Oxgangs have been bought by tenants under the right to buy scheme leaving approximately 659 properties in council ownership thus making it extremely difficult to be allocated a council home in the area.[1]

Amenities


There are two small shopping areas at each end of Oxgangs known locally as the "top" and "bottom" shops. The top shops (Oxgangs Broadway) are larger and feature a small convenience store called "Premier - Broadway Convenience Store" known as "Dennis'" after the owner of the shop. Other shops in the top shop area include a newsagents named Day-Today express, a breakfast/lunch shop (called Tak a Break), two barbers and a hairdressers, a bookies, two take aways (a chip shop and a Chinese). There is also a post office and a pharmacy. Located in and around Oxgangs and adjacent areas are a police station, a medical practice, a public library, a nursery, three primary schools and a high school, and a pub. There are three churches in the area: Church of Scotland, Scottish Episcopal Church and Roman Catholic Church. Recently a Kingdom Hall was built in the Oxgangs Green area.

Surrounding Oxgangs are three large supermarkets. A Tesco next to Firrhill High School, a Morrisons near the Swanston area and a Scotmid in Colinton Mains.

AC Oxgangs

AC Oxgangs are a community football team that were founded in 2001. They currently operate 14 teams selected from a total player pool of around 200 youngsters which range in age from 7 to 18 years old. They play their 7-a-side and 11-a-side home games at Colinton Mains Park just beside Oxgangs Road North where a brand new clubhouse has just been erected. Younger members occasionally play 4-a-side games at the Saughton Sports Complex off Balgreen Road, but also play 7-a-side games at Colinton Mains Park.

Recent changes

Oxgangs tower block demolition on 26 November 2006

In 2003, after years of campaigning by residents the council took the decision to demolish and redevelop Oxgangs high rise flats. In April 2005 longstanding tower block Capelaw Court was demolished to make way for new housing. Capelaw was one of three high rise flats built in Oxgangs Crescent in 1961 and 1962. The other two buildings (Caerketton Court and Allermuir Court) were demolished in November 2006. The demolition of Capelaw Court was filmed and featured on the National Geographic Channel, which interviewed residents of Oxgangs and community leader Heather Levy.

Two neighbouring primary schools situated on Oxgangs Green (Comiston and Hunters Tryst) were recently merged and renamed Pentland Primary. At first the Comiston pupils moved into the building formerly known as Hunters Tryst alongside current Tryst pupils while Comiston was renovated and a year later all staff and children moved permanently into the refurbished Comiston building, now known as Pentland Primary.

Public transport

Public transport is frequent with Lothian Buses operating chartered services. Bus routes 4, 5, 16, 18, 27 plus night service N16 all serve the area.

Notable Residents

Scott William Dunlop (Skeets). Singer/song writer and founder of Edinburgh psychedelic rock band The Valkarys.

See also

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.