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‘It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.’  

So wrote the US author and counterculturalist Hunter S. Thompson, and it’s a sentiment seemingly shared by several of the artists in this month’s joint exhibition Coast to Coast in the Union Gallery. 

Plans for St Mary's Music School to move into a restored, refurbished and reconfigured old Royal High School complex went on display on Thursday.

The Royal High School Preservation Trust (RHSPT) held the public exhibition in Canongate Kirk, directly below the imposing Thomas Hamilton building at the foot of Calton Hill.

These were far from being the kind of detailed proposals required for a full planning application (they'll cross that bridge if and when they come to it).

An interim economic appraisal goes before councillors next week.

It will conclude – to nobody’s great surprise – that extending the tram route to the Foot of the Walk, or Ocean Terminal, or Newhaven would increase the number of people using the system.

It would also deliver ‘a positive economic impact’.

The Council’s press release is tellingly mute about extending the line only as far as McDonald Road.

BROUGHTON'S FORGOTTEN GIANT 

Manuscript of Monte Cassino is a remarkable sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi. 

It sits at the top of Broughton Street outside St Mary’s Cathedral, and is often overlooked and somewhat neglected. 

A public artwork by a great sculptor should be one of Broughton’s main attractions, but hundreds of people walk past it each day and not many, if any, stop to take a look. When was the last time you inspected Broughton’s forgotten giant? 

Drummond Community High School Maths teacher Michael Steele writes:

We have great pleasure in informing you that Drummond Community High School has won this year's Enterprising Maths in Lothian competition!

An application to change the use of a small lock-up in East Scotland Street Lane from domestic garage to studio office has been turned down (Ref. 15/00700/FUL). 

In what reads like a fairly comprehensive refusal, Planning officials stated that the proposal was contrary to:

Seven of the 7th is an exhibition forming part of Gretna 100, which commemorates the Leith soldiers who lost their lives in the Quintinshill rail disaster on 22 May 1915. 

The overall project – funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and managed by Out of the Blue – aims to let Leithers connect with the disaster that devastated their community 100 years ago.

This particular exhibition was researched by a community group who worked with Citizen Curator and artist Jan-Bee Brown to explore the lives of seven soldiers who were involved in the disaster.

Stakeholders and Council officials met today in a public meeting to discuss the latest visitor research findings on the George Street experimental lay-out.

The figures were compiled by interviewing 100 people each month in March, April and May this year.

Attached below are the raw data presented at the meeting, and a presentation by CEC’s Iain MacPhail.

Summarising what had been learned from the trial so far, MacPhail highlighted:

An Edinburgh charity helping older people and those with disabilities to live safely and independently in their own homes seeks your help.  

Now in its 30th year, Care and Repair Edinburgh (CRE) is looking for young people wanting work experience, tradespeople, DIY enthusiasts and active retired people to join their vetted and experienced team to help with small repairs, adaptations and improvements in the home.

CRE volunteers' skills will include some of the following:

Draft plans for the revamp and reconfiguration of Leith Walk between Pilrig Street and McDonald Road went on display yesterday.

Council staff stressed that what we saw was very much a work in progress, and acknowledged that some aspects of the design required further thought.