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As you step through the doors of The Sutton Gallery this month, you can almost hear the waves crashing against the rocks and feel the soft sand between your toes.
This is the effect that Julia McNairn White’s collection of stunning seascapes has, and it’s very immediate. She transports us to North Berwick and makes us wish we didn’t have to leave.
DAVID HILL EXPERIENCES THE NORTHERN FANLIGHTS
Have you ever been to the New Town's distant northern shore, where the rooftop permafrost combines with neck-top iciness to produce a chill homage to Nordic misère?
In 1874, the Icelandic national anthem was written and composed in this EH3 boreal zone, in the place still known back then as London Street.
With the sad clarity of hindsight, we understand how this innocuous beginning, this dipping of toes into glacial waters, all too quickly became a Scandi-deluge.
After considerable to-ing and fro-ing, revised plans have been approved to build new housing at 29 Beaverbank Place (Ref. 13/03575/FUL).
A total of 41 flats in two blocks will result (27 two-bedroom, 14 one-bedroom), along with new pedestrian and car access (13 parking spaces), with open space (3 private gardens), and a new footway connecting to the play park on Broughton Road.
RHYS FULLERTON ON CLAUDE MONET'S HAYSTACKS: SNOW EFFECT
I admit that this painting is not Monet’s greatest, writes Rhys Fullerton. I agree that it’s not one of the best works in the National Gallery of Scotland’s collection.
I’ll concede that even within the Impressionism section, where this painting sits, there are other works that are more skilfully executed and more attractive in colour.
So why is this one my favourite?
The keenly awaited results of the Council’s much anticipated ballot on the widely loathed gull-proof waste sacks on London Street have been announced.
There I am taking a quiet stroll on Calton Hill one lukewarm spring day, when I am interrupted by some confused-looking tourists.
‘Excuse me,' asks one of the them. 'Where is the Castle?’
I seem to be the go-to person in Edinburgh for directing tourists. Perhaps they think I’m approachable and reliable. Contrary to popular belief, I actually don’t mind being asked for directions. However, terms and conditions do apply:
Today is World Autism Awareness Day, as part of which important buildings and structures around the globe are being lit up blue.
There are events to mark the occasion across Edinburgh. Details are available on the Council website here.
In April's Spurtle, John Ross Maclean describes the Ruskin pencil drawing of 1838 (now in Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery), which was long held to depict Lady Glenorchy’s Church (see Issue 238).
Urban planning experts say there's a strong case for flattening the space outside Drummond Community High School. But they face an uphill task convincing some locals that their plans are well grounded.
The publicly accessible hard surface recreation area currently drops by as much as 28 feet between the bus stop on Mansfield Place and the bike sheds at the bottom of Bellevue Place.
'It's a hazard and always has been,' says Community Outreach Manager Iona Downes of Dutch-based civic forum consultancy Eerste van de Vierde UK (EvdV).
DAVID HILL VOYAGES UPRIVER
In Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Marlow suggests that we live as we dream – alone. Others' innermost thoughts and feelings will always remain out of reach.
I've long felt that our streets also possess inner lives. In contrast, however, to our own perennially concealed psyches, the essential identities of our streets can be grasped.