Easter-egg rolling: Children find ingenious ways to keep tradition

Reggie, 9, Smith, 8, Flynn, 5, and Bay, 3, just before they rolled their eggs down the stairs inside their house in Edinburgh

Children across Edinburgh have been coming up with ingenious ways to keep the tradition of rolling Easter eggs.

During the coronavirus lockdown, some have opted for the stairs while others have used drainpipes, tubes or garden slides to create the required slopes.

The roll is a tradition in Scotland and in some other cities such as Preston, which had to cancel its annual event.

In Edinburgh, parents said their children's antics had caused passers-by to stop in the street to watch the fun.

John Talbot, 50, helps his daughter, Alice, 13, roll eggs down a pipe to his son, Finnian, 10, at their house in Blackhall in Edinburgh

Libby Talbot, in Blackhall, said she normally took her two younger children to church to paint and roll eggs.

She said: "Instead we found a drainpipe behind the shed and went to my son's bedroom window on the second floor and rolled our eggs down that.

"My daughter was at the top and my son catching them at the bottom.

"They had a pulley system so managed to roll the eggs about a dozen times before they all ended up smashed on the ground.

"People walking past were interacting with us and shouting 'Happy Easter' and others were asking what we were doing, it created quite a storm."

Harry Hurst, 7, and Anna Hurst, 10, roll their eggs on Easter Sunday down a chute

Jane Hurst, 42, from Edinburgh, said she normally held an Easter egg hunt for children in the street.

She said: "My son is only seven and he just doesn't understand that the lockdown lasts longer than one day so he asked me on Easter Sunday if he could go get his friends for our egg hunt.

"He also kept asking when grandma was coming and I had to explain to him again that we can't have people to our house at the moment."

They used a chute to roll their eggs down.

She added: "It was a disaster. They all smashed on the concrete but we did then have a laugh throwing the broken piece at each other.

"People passing our garden were chuckling at us."

Paz Orbegozo, 9, stacked a table against the trampoline in her Edinburgh garden to create a slope for her and her sister Hope, 12, to roll eggs down on Easter Sunday

Annabelle Edmonstone, 4, about to throw a piñata filled with eggs out of her window on Easter Sunday

Rachel Cooney, 29, said her two-year-old son, Isaac, has enjoyed his Easter Sunday at their house in Drumbrae in the capital.

She said: "He helped us roll his eggs down the chute in the garden and then we also rolled them down white piping we have in the house which we normally use to roll his toy cars down.

"My son thought it was fantastic so he was happy.

"It was just a shame he couldn't have his friends over but we managed to make the best out of an odd situation."

Archie, 18 months, on Easter Sunday about to roll his eggs in his garden in Edinburgh