An item of "Breaking News". Will appear on the Breaking News page and the front page.
Last month, in Issue 245, John Ross Maclean's first article about the ‘Big Foot’ cluster of sculptures at the top of Broughton Street prompted a reader's letter.
The communication provided interesting supplementary detail about the pieces, and was from a very eminent authority on Paolozzi’s work who prefers to remain anonymous.
We reproduce a lightly redacted version of the main points here.
After much toil and trouble, the new Spurtle will begin to manifest across the barony this weekend.
Its dark recesses are lined with familiar stories of looming developments, dread parking changes, and savage cuts.
Chill to the rustling pitter-pat of overflowing bins. Gasp at horrible doings in the shrubbery. Shriek in the face of the disembodied bonce below Rodney Street.
Are you brave enough to delve deep into the cracks between paving slabs? Would you examine our tales of community council meetings which other papers dare not even visit?
It may not look like it, but work is already underway on the new St James Quarter.
Behind-the-scenes activity was explained at a meeting in Elder House last night, hosted by developer TH Real Estate. The event was intended to shed light on the logistics of preparation, demolition and construction which will feature large in all locals' lives over the next four years.
Below we summarise some of the key points as they were presented. Questions will doubtless arise later as we take time to consider the practical implications.
5 YEARS AGO
According to Spurtle 187, City of Edinburgh Council wanted a 'hi-tech dialogue about cuts'.
In its infinite wisdom, Edinburgh's Committee of Public Safety has, this week, decreed that the future will be bright, very bright indeed, but it will no longer be orange. Instead, it will be LEDen. [See Breaking news, 28.10.15.]
On 28 April 2011, the tragic death occurred of 32-year-old cyclist Craig Newton at Broughton Point.
Newton was turning left into East Claremont Street from Broughton Road. The driver of a a bin lorry negotiating the same corner from the same direction failed to spot him on his inside line. Newton was knocked from his bike and fatally crushed beneath the wheels of the truck.
With the nights drawing in almost before one has properly finished polishing one’s dentures in the morning, and with the Council yesterday agreeing to upgrade 54,000 street lights to energy-efficient LEDs, now is perhaps a good time to look at some of Broughton’s past attempts to rage against the dying of the light.
The yellow box on Picardy Place contravenes government regulations.
So says Spurtle reader Phil Gifford, who believes the road markings between Leith Street and York Place are specifically barred.
It's 'another Council cock-up', says Mr Gifford, since yellow boxes should not appear ‘on roundabouts not controlled by lights and also where traffic merges’.
On a recent trip to Scotland, the Director of Christian Aid Brazil (CAB) recognised some of Christian Aid’s priorities in the work currently being carried out at Broughton St Mary’s Parish Church.
He spoke of parishioners’ grassroots-focused work within the locality, and cooperation with other churches, faith communities, businesses, charities and non-governmental organisations, and their ‘rooted theology’.
City of Edinburgh Council looks set to consult the public on an east–west cycleway across the capital.
The route – stretching for over 4km – would link the new cycle facilities expected at the top of Leith Walk to the off-road path network at Roseburn. George Street would be a key element at the centre.
‘The aim,’ says CEC’s website, ‘is to provide a cycle route which is designed for less confident cyclists who may be concerned about safety.’ In our experience, nearly all cyclists are concerned about safety.