| Broughton Spurtle

PICARDY PLACE:—AUTUMN COLOURS

Submitted by Editor on Thu, 04/09/2025 - 15:19

Our photo has prompted some reaction to 'desiccated foliage' in the background. Readers have criticised Council officials for inadequate irrigation of the Picardy Place planting.

Spurtle is more sanguine. The Editor, at least, doesn't mind the seasonal die-back of plants at this time of year, and accepts that its early onset may have been unavoidable after an exceptionally dry, hot spring and summer.

In any case, editing of the photo has certainly reduced the full range of interesting yellows, browns, fawns and ochres which have appeared here over recent weeks.

ISSUE 354

Mon, 09/01/2025 - 12:00

Number

354

PDF

354 Final High Res.pdf

Publication

Spurtle

ISSUE 354 – PUBLISHED TOMORROW!

Submitted by Editor on Sun, 31/08/2025 - 19:07

As you read this, advance copies of the September Spurtle are already to be found across the barony, lingering like swallows on telephone wires waiting for an Uber that’s supposedly round the corner and travelling south but never comes.

STREET CIRCUS

Submitted by Editor on Mon, 11/08/2025 - 12:30

Very much the Marmite of Festival experiences.

#Edinburgh

#hyperlocal

#news

#Edinburgh Fringe Festival

#streetcircus

BELLEVUE CRESCENT

Submitted by Editor on Sat, 09/08/2025 - 18:48

This evening's Broughton flypast.

Red Arrows passing behind Broughton St Mary's Parish Church.

#Edinburgh

#hyperlocal

#news

#Tattoo

CONCERN FOR TREES, BUT SPIEGELTENT IS APPROVED

Submitted by Editor on Wed, 06/08/2025 - 13:41

Councillors on the Development Management Sub-Cmte today voted, with some reluctance, to approve a retrospective planning application for the Spiegeltent and associated structures in St Andrew Square Garden (

Go-see advert poses non-see-through danger

Mon, 04/08/2025 - 12:00

Dear Spurtle,

For at least the third year running, there is one of those pole-based poster boards advertising the Fringe right next to the mini-zebra crossing on the bike lane that I use every morning to go up Leith Street.

It obscures my view (as a cyclist) of any pedestrians waiting to cross.

Yes, the bike lanes aren't designed well. And yes, 80 per cent of cyclists ignore the zebra crossings, and 80 per cent of pedestrians don’t notice them or don't trust cyclists to stop. But I (and a few other cyclists) try to make an effort to respect the zebra crossings and those who attempt to use them.

However, this sign really doesn't help.

Obviously, I should report the sign, but instead as I pass I give it a shove so it turns through 90º, making things considerably better.

In fairness, the sign isn't always square-on. At the time I took the photo below, I found it at 45º. But by the evening it was back to being square-on.