With the recent opening of Wester Hailes' much-anticipated AirThrill inflatables adventure park, we look back to a time when the area was home to makeshift 'thrill' attractions that would leave modern parents horrified.
In the 1970s and 1980s, a series of outdoor adventure playgrounds, or 'Venchies' as they were affectionately known, sprang up all around Wester Hailes.
Constructed from basic materials and brightly painted in all of the colours of the rainbow, the Venchies were built by the local community in an effort to provide a free dose of healthy outdoor fun for the area's youngsters.
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The first Venchie appeared at Murrayburn in the late '70s, with similar play parks built at Clovenstone, Dumbryden and the Calders.
While the timber-built playparks were rather ramshackle by modern standards, with cuts and bruises not uncommon, for a generation of children living in the post-war urban jungle that was Wester Hailes this was their 'Alton Towers'.
As recalled on the Hailes Matters website, at the Venchie there was the opportunity to indulge in adventurous play with sand, water, building materials and climbable structures. Young kids could let their imaginations run riot and pretend they were the captain of a pirate ship on the hunt for buried treasure, older children had a proper gang hut to play with.
The makeshift playgrounds could even be customised and altered on a regular basis in response to children's comments and suggestions. Adult supervisors were also on site to ensure that children played safely.
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But despite always being packed with kids the Venchies soon disappeared due to a lack of funds for maintenance. One-by-one the structures vanished, with the last Venchie dismantled by 1990.
While they are long gone, the Venchies are certainly not forgotten. In a thread on the Lost Edinburgh Facebook page, Wester Hailes locals recalled their glory days at the legendary adventure playgrounds.
Trudie Lawson wrote: "Spent hours there mastering the squiggly pole! The smell is ingrained in my brain, the noise from the guard dogs in cages and the almost daily ambulances turning up - what a childhood! More of this and the type of playparks we grew up with in the 70s and 80s - who needs cushioned floors and walls."
Brian O Reilly said: "I remember the Venchie well, 1975 I was nine years old and lived in Wester Hailes Drive. Good memories."
Fiona Maciver commented: "We used to go to the venchie from Broomhouse in the 70s. It was great fun until someone had dog poo on their shoes!"
Diane Blackwood said: "It was our Alton Towers, but the splinters were a nightmare."
Kevin Wright recalled: "Awesome place where you left with splinters, cuts, bruises and plenty of laughs with your mates."
Pauline Balloch added: "Loved the Venchie spend many hours playing tig all over it with mates as kids. It would be seen as a health and safety nightmare now - kids cant have free fun like this anymore."
For further reading on the history of Wester Hailes, we recommend picking up a copy of Wester Hailes, 1979: Life on the Wester Hailes housing scheme and Education Centre in 1979 by local writer John Walmsley.
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