‘Persevering’ will cover the history of Leith's industrial past; what was made here, what remnants are left and where to find them, and new ways we can interact with this history, as we traverse the post-industrial cityscape. After giving context of what Leith used to look and feel like when it was an industrial hub, listeners will be asked to consider bigger questions; what would happen if we treated our industrial past like we do our ancient one? Where does the invested toil or labourers go when the work is over? And how can we find tangible, or intangible, traces of industries, if they have been demolished, paved over and forgotten?

This is the inaugural session of EMBASSY’s semi-regular Sunday lecture series - information about forthcoming events will follow soon. All of our lectures are free and open to all, we’d love to see you there.

Rosie Shackleton is a Bradfordian, museum curator, historian and poet, living and working in Scotland. She currently works as Assistant Curator at Summerlee Museum, and is Coordinator of the network Industrial Museums Scotland. In her own research, she has specialised in memorial and industrial landscapes; how we interact with them, how they hold into memory and how they can be used to tell stories. 

Image: Leith Glassworks during demolition (1912), Francis Chrystal. Copyright: City of Edinburgh Council – Edinburgh Libraries, Capital Collections www.capitalcollections.org.uk.