One thing Edinburgh has in abundance is large parks and greenspaces for dog walkers to walk their pets, children to play with their friends, and to socialise over a cold one during the summer.
What if we were to go dancing down memory lane all the way to 1908, when one of the capital's most popular parks, both past and present, was consumed by a giant water chute? Yes, really.
During the Scottish National Exhibition's six-month long festival within Saughton Park, one of the many activities that children, or indeed adults, could get involved in was climbing to the top of an enormous tower and clamber into a wooden boat to be launched down a slide by a sailor and into splash into a pool of water.
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It was something that had people queuing for hours to be involved in, and thousands stood by and watched their children have the time of their lives. In fact, the exhibition was so popular, that drunken mobs supposedly gathered in frustration when the festival concluded at the start of Autumn.
The forgotten water chute formed the centrepiece of a huge amusement park. Something that the annual fairground at The Meadows comes the closest, yet the farthest, from resembling these days.
It is reported that an astounding 3.5 million visitors flocked to Saughton Park that summer, with a figure of eight rollercoaster, live music and a mini village bursting with excitement being the hallmark of one of Edinburgh's finest summer's to date.
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It is also understood that the preferred site for this summer festival was indeed The Meadows. However, in 1908, what is currently Edinburgh's busiest greenspace, was not available. A special railway station was even erected at the junction of the Corstorphine branch of the North British Railway and every day, visitors poured out of trains to make their way to Saughton.
To put into context how long ago this was, the whole project cost around £10,000. Children saved their 2d for the epic water chute. Pictures from the event show just how huge the tower was, and can put into perspective the thrill of being released and thrusted forward down the slope and finishing with a dunk in the water.
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