The Sunday Class
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THE DEAN BRIDGE OF EDINBURGH (S8x32)  Alec Hay  RSCDS Book 23  1- 4 1s+2s Set+Link  5- 8 1s+3s Set+Link  9-16 2s+3s+1s advance for 1 step & retire, ½ turn 2H into centre, set & twirl out to opposite sides 17-20 2s+3s+1s dance Grand Chain for 2 hands (2s in 1 st  place cross) to end (1)2 3, 21-24 1s+2s Set+Link (1s end in double triangle position facing opposite sides) 25-26 All Adv+Ret (1 step) 27-28 All advance 1 step & turn right about 29-30 All Adv+Ret (1 step) 31-32 1s cross RH as 2s+3s repeat bars 27-28 Note: Bars [25-32] are derived from Alec's original texts, not from the Book 23 version
Taught/practised on:
2012 April 29 th
The dance was 'composed' (Alec's terminology) on the 22 nd  July 1966. Alec devised the ‘Set+Link’ movement and told John Drewry that dancers should not hold hands when linking (which is a shame as it helps the dancers and looks more flowing). Built between 1829-31 (opened in 1833), to designs by Thomas Telford, and almost at the sole expense of Mr John Learmonth Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the four-arched Dean Bridge carries the Queensferry Road across the gorge of the Water of Leith. The bridge, 106 feet above the water level, was originally designed with three arches, but difficulties in constructing the foundations meant a four-span bridge was built.   The construction of the Dean Bridge allowed the City of Edinburgh to grow to the north-west. The side parapet of the bridge was raised in height at the beginning of the 20th century as a deterrent to suicides, which were very common here in the 19th century, being more or less guaranteed success, and the change in stonework is still visible. Dean Bridge was featured in Ian Rankin's fictional book Strip Jack, in which a woman is found dead in the river underneath the bridge.