Edinburgh Eric Liddell centenary celebrations: Morningside shops take part in window display competition

This year is the centenary of Liddell winning the gold medal in the 400 metres at the 1924 Paris Olympics - a devout Christian, he had famously withdrawn from the 100 metres, his usual distance, because the heats were held on a Sunday.

A busy programme of events to mark the occasion has been organised by the Eric Liddell Community, a care charity and community hub based at Holy Corner.

Mike Billinghurst, owner of 181 Delicatessen in Bruntsfield Place and a trustee of the Eric Liddell Community, hit on the idea of the window competition to encourage local businesses to join the celebrations. 

Trinity Factors on Bruntsfield Place has its Eric Liddell display in the window. | National World

Around 30 shops and businesses throughout Bruntsfield and Morningside as far as Comiston are taking part and the window displays will be in place from July 22 until August 4, although some are already on show.

Mr Billinghurst said: "With this year being the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell winning his gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 1924 and the Olympics being in Paris again this year, there's a huge push to do lots of different projects and I thought this would a really good way of getting the community and businesses involved, maybe try to raise some money for the Eric Liddell Community and have a bit of fun over the Olympics.

“For two weeks we're all dressing up our windows to celebrate the centenary.   The public are then invited to vote on their favourite shop window through the Eric Liddell Community website.

He said there was no prize for the winning shop - “just bragging rights” - but members of the public who vote in the competition will have their name entered in prize draw and about 40 shops have donated prizes.

Morningside councillor Marie-Clair Munro said the window competition had caught people’s imagination. “There are so many local shops and businesses taking part, it’s bringing Bruntsfield and Morningside together - people are now seeing that as one big high street from the foot of Morningside right up to Bruntsfield.

“It's involving the local community, everybody is waiting for the windows to get done, there’s lots of prizes - it’s really bringing the community together and it’s so nice we have this going on when the Olympics are on.”

And she paid tribute to the work of the Eric Liddell Community. “It serves so many residents in the area, not just the dementia classes but so many other activities, for parents for elderly, classes for young people, children - it’s like a community hub people go to and because it’s situated right at the heart of the area, it's seen as part of the community and I think that's why so many businesses are involved.”

The Eric Liddell centenary has already seen a path named after him at Bruntsfield Links and a posthumous honorary degree awarded to him by Edinburgh University, where he studied.

And an exhibition is due to open at the Scottish Parliament on July 25.