The following correspondence appeared in the pages of the Edinburgh Evening Courant in 1852 and 1856.
Some details may have changed in the years since, but the general problem and particular tone are unmistakably familiar to students of New Town waste disposal.
As you read this, advance copies of the August Spurtle are already brightening the barony like sunbeams on gull-proof sacks.
We begin on Page 1, as is our style, with a soggy outlook, a moggy on a bicycle, and foggy prospects for an architectural gem.
As usual, we continue with Page 2, where you can find out how much better or worse you’re doing than average, catch up on the latest Jacobite news, and learn about the nitty gritty of Broughton’s collapsing bridges, beauty, bookshops, and B-listed conversions.
The condition of East London St seems to be deteriorating fast now that, post-lockdown, more heavy vehicles are using the route to avoid tramworks and northbound closures on Leith Walk.
Associated problems of noise and vibration prompted one resident to contact Lothian Buses, asking whether it had strayed from an agreement reached in November to limit the number of not-in-service vehicles using East London Street to 20 westbound and 5 eastbound between 7am and 7pm.
Spurtle has recently been contacted by Hiyacar. The ‘peer to peer’ car club operator has just introduced 15 vehicles to Edinburgh, five of them in Spurtleshire and one just the other side of Leith Walk.
The idea is that you book a car online, and then go to a private address near you to pick it up. Each one comes with a Quickstart interface, meaning you don’t have to deal with a troublesome or disease-ridden human being.
THE clever capture of an alleged Edinburgh housebreaker by an amateur detective came to light yesterday, when the accused, George Alexander Melrose, residing at Crown Street, Leith, passed the bar of Edinburgh City Police Court on a charge of housebreaking. Interesting circumstances surround the story of Melrose’s arrest.[1]
The number of social agencies in connection with the Church is increasing so rapidly in our midst that many good men are beginning to wonder when time will be found for carrying on the more serious business of the Chruch, viz., the evangelisation of the masses. Time and again we have directed attention to the formation of men’s clubs in different parts of the City.
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This morning, a particularly sad accident occurred at the Waverley Station, Edinburgh, resulting in the death of an old man of about 70, who had spent the best part of his life working the Waverley.
There were 65 new prisoners brought to the bar, the charges being: Disorderly, 30; football on the street, 9; incapable and theft, 5 each; assault, 4; begging and malicious mischief, 3 each; indecent conduct, 2; nuisance, drunk in charge of a horse, loitering, and throwing missiles, 1 each.