Fire.—On Thursday night, about seven o’clock, the premises in East Thistle Street Lane, in which Messrs M’Crie & Co. carry on the business of paper-staining, caught fire, which, however, by the prompt attendance of the firemen, was soon got under with an engine, and with comparatively little damage.
Residents associations across Edinburgh are rallying to support vulnerable locals who may need their help.
We reproduce a list of those ones in Spurtle's area of operation, with thanks to Simon Holledge who compiled it.
If you become aware of a constituted body offering similar help anywhere across Spurtleshire, let us know and we'll add details as soon as we have them.
Updates
Ever since the publication in 1886 of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, we have been accustomed to thinking of Edinburgh as a city divided. Its clefts are notionally between outward respectability and private vice, between modern Enlightenment and historic superstition, cerebral advancement and bestial instinct.
The Broughton Spurtle is a member of the Independent Community News Network. This lunchtime, its Director, Emma Meese, issued the following open letter.
We reproduce it unedited and in full.
As you can imagine these are very worrying times for our members.
As an organisation, we are now extremely concerned.
This is a time when our members are crucial in ensuring public information reaches communities across the UK to inform and advise about public health.
Police Scotland issued a press release today. We reproduce it, unedited and in full, below.
Police Scotland is advising the public to be cautious of strangers offering bogus services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Social distancing and self-isolation mean more people than usual are in their homes at the moment. This presents an ideal opportunity for criminals to take advantage of elderly and vulnerable people, in particular.
In the weeks to come, as a diversion from current inconveniences and alarms, Spurtle will serialise a previously unpublished work compiled by A. J. McIntosh entitled News from the Mews.
It is a selection of Victorian newspaper reports detailing events in the – generally overlooked – back streets and service lanes of Edinburgh’s New Town.
A few of these have already appeared in the printed pages of the Broughton Spurtle. Most, though, appear here for the first time in over a hundred years.
SOME OF THE INFORMATION BELOW HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED BY UK GOVERNMENT ADVICE (20:30, 23.3.20). USE COMMON SENSE.
We’ll try and cover Spurtleshire one street at a time over the next few days, but if you have news or developments please let us know and we’ll update this page as we go along.
Congratulations to the Council for the superb beds of spring flowers on the Broughton Street/Mansfield Place roundabout.
Sometimes these sites are rather bland and ‘serviceable’ in Miss Jean Brodie terms. But just now there is a radiant and variegated mix of bulbs to gladden the hearts of all Wordsworthian spirits.
Keep up the good work!—JRM
In these troubling times, it’s heartening to find local businesses, charities, and individuals rising to the challenge.
Some are making offers of help, some are declaring a determination to keep calm and carry on, others are making public statements of solidarity and high principle.
Below we find a willingness to deliver groceries to the vulnerable and at-high-risk by Bellevue-based Claremont Food and Wine (Tel. 556 7853).
Cllr Adam McVey, Leader of Edinburgh Council, yesterday announced new social distancing and visiting restrictions at Council-run care homes.
In schools, assemblies and other large assemblies will be stopped unless absolutely essential.
£2m emergency funding has already been assigned to reinforcing necessary proactive and preventative measures against Coronavirus.
‘Our focus is on minimising the impact of the virus on our communities and Council services,’ says McVey, ‘with a particular emphasis on health and social care.