Forest Café
The Forest | |
---|---|
General information | |
Status | Closed |
Address | 141 Lauriston Place, Tollcross EH3 9JN Edinburgh |
Coordinates | 55°56′38″N 3°12′11″W / 55.9438°N 3.2031°W |
Opened | 2000 |
Closed | 2022 |
Website | |
https://blog.theforest.org.uk/ |
The Forest, also referred to as Forest Café, was an independent
Background
The Forest organisation itself started in August 2000[6] with a venue in West Port, off the Grassmarket in Edinburgh's Old Town.[3] Relocation to the Bristo Place premises started in September 2003 and The Forest Café opened there in October 2003. After leaving in August 2011, The Forest Café reopened again in Tollcross in August 2012.
West Port
Bristo Place
The building at 3 Bristo Place was constructed during 1899–1900 to a design by
The space was organised through multiple
Free events were held throughout the building regularly, including workshops and skill-shares, music, film, poetry, theatre and readings. There was a community darkroom catering to black and white, alternative and historic process photography. During each summer the venue ran the 'August Forest Fringe', a theatre and alternative arts programme as an alternative complement to the mainstream
In 2004, the Forest Café became one of only four internet cafés in the United Kingdom to have won a highly recommended citation in the Yahoo! Mail Internet Café Awards.[6]
A volunteer guide booklet called Don't Panic! was drawn up to record and spread information about how The Forest worked.
The Edinburgh University Settlement - the charity that owned the Bristo Place building - went bankrupt in October 2010, and it was announced that the premises were to be sold.[12] The Forest launched a campaign to raise £500,000 to try to buy the building, or buy or rent another property elsewhere in Edinburgh.[13][14]
Pipe organ
The upper floors of the Bristo Place building are the former church, the centre piece of which is a
In 2008–2009, Project Waldflöte (English: "Forest Flute") was initiated, a musical experiment to control sections of the mechanical musical keyboard via an electronic MIDI interface from a computer. Waldflöte is the designation of one of the organ stops available and was chosen because of the connection of the word "forest". The argumentation of the keyboards was undertaken by Dorkbot Alba without any long-term modification of the original organ.[15]
Squatting
The old Forest building was squatted on 30 November 2011 by a group of local residents protesting against the closure of several of the city's independent arts spaces including The Forest, though the protest itself was not affiliated to it. The activists stated that they wished to reopen the building to the public.[19] In its new guise, the space played host to several events and affiliate groups before being finally evicted.
Tollcross
The Forest moved to 141 Lauriston Place.
Café
The café served
Activity
Due to local noise restrictions the café was no longer able to provide late night music or loud entertainment, however during the daytime the café was often host to free performances by local musicians, poets or artists. All events were always free of charge and were never ticketed. The renovated basement was home to a pop-up art gallery space which rotated exhibitions on a twice monthly basis.
Community
The Forest maintained close relationships with other alternative community spaces and socially oriented projects in the local area such as the Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative, and the Swap and Reuse Hub (SHRUB).
References
- ^ a b c Lyn Gardner (7 August 2008). "Lyn Gardner meets the two theatremakers behind the Forest Fringe | Culture | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Kate (9 November 2011). "Forest, 3 Bristo Place, Edinburgh. Music - Time Out Edinburgh". Timeout.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Fire-hit charity converts church - News - Scotsman.com". Edinburghnews.scotsman.com. 25 August 2003. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Michael MacLeod (15 August 2012). "Forest Cafe moves to Tollcross, 'the Times Square of Edinburgh' | Magazine | Edinburgh | STV". Local.stv.tv. Archived from the original on 24 August 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "2022 update". forestcafe. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ a b [1] Archived 31 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ David Goold. "Dictionary of Scottish Architects - DSA Building/Design Report (November 28, 2012, 11:41 pm)". Scottisharchitects.org.uk. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ a b Historic Environment Scotland. "2, 2GF and 3 Bristo Place, Seventh Day Adventist Church (Category B Listed Building) (LB47341)". Retrieved 21 March 2019.
- ^ "CoStar SPN". Scottish-property.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "Financial overview 2003-04" (PDF). Annual Review 2003–04. National Museums of Scotland. 15 December 2004. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
Bristo Church was sold, raising an additional £600k
- ^ "Bristo Place Adventist Church | Flickr - Photo Sharing!". Flickr. 22 August 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "BBC News - Job losses as Edinburgh charity collapses". Bbc.co.uk. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "Forest Café, ReForestation". Forestcafe.tumblr.com. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Michael MacLeod (15 November 2010). "Forest Cafe campaign update | Edinburgh | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ a b Edwards, Gareth (2009). "Computer Interface Makes 19th-Century Pipe Organ Rock" (PDF). Xcell Journal (67). Xilinx: 44–49.
- ^ Jackson, Ian (28 June 2007). "Debconf - trip report".
- ^ "Tore Repairs an Organ" (PDF). Eighth Annual Debian Conference, Final Report. Debian. 7 December 2007. p. 13. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
- ^ McMillan, Andrew (19 June 2007). "X.Organ". Archived from the original on 30 October 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
- ^ "Protesters stage sit-in at community arts centre | News | Edinburgh | STV". Local.stv.tv. 1 December 2011. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ "Cafes, Restaurants, Bars" (PDF). Edinburgh Fair Trade Outlets. Edinburgh City Council. 31 August 2009. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2009.