Breaking news

Love a duck. Who doesn't? We do.

And so were delighted to encounter this one in the window of Concrete Wardrobe on Broughton Street this afternoon. 

It is an Eider, of which there is a comfortable nesting abundance wintering in the quieter bits of Granton and Leith each year.

The artist responsible is Portobello-based Claire Macdonald, whose limited-edition prints of a hundred come in two sizes and also include delightful studies of tits and kingfishers. Prices range from £20–£80.

Brentford-based JCDecaux UK Limited have applied for permission to erect a freestanding steel and aluminium ‘Forum Display Structure’ on George Street for one year (Ref. 15/00669/ADV).

If approved, the horrible great lump would stand outside No. 71 (the Nationwide Building Society on the north-west corner with Frederick Street).

Answers to Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Spurtle throw new light on why City of Edinburgh Council wanted the old Royal High School (RHS) not to be listed as 'at risk'.

They also reveal seven other sites across Scotland which have been added to a 'Dark Register' of endangered buildings which the public have been hindered from viewing.

Local resident Caroline Roussot attended the latest George Street stakeholders’ meeting on 17 March.

It’s a quarterly coming together of those interested in the street’s future as the CEC-run 12-month experiment to determine its possible future uses and layout continues.

On each occasion, figures are produced to try and gauge what effect the scheme is having and how a cross-section of the street’s users feel about the result. We attach the latest such presentation unedited at the foot of this page.

It’s late: 9.30pm-late and we’re all in bed. With the Little Left-Handed Tea Drinker insisting on getting up at 5.00am every morning, we sleep when we can these days.

BUZZZZZZZZ!

I jump up like a startled goat. What self-respecting person would be ringing the buzzer at this time of night? I go to the intercom and answer, but there’s nobody there.

I return to bed. 

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

I jump up again and go to answer.

‘What?’ I shout.

Hundreds gathered on Calton Hill this morning to witness Broughton's astronomical event of the decade.

With only minutes to spare at 9.26am, clouds which had been distant and well dispersed over the capital up to that point, joined together to partially obscure the partial solar eclipse.

Legions of excited young Italian EFL students oohed and aahed repeatedly in advance of the once-in-a-blue-moon phenomenon, ensuring that there were no birds present to fall silent and create an eerie hush.

On display at The Sutton Gallery until tomorrow are works by new gallery artists Jenny Mason, Leo du Feu, Thomas Cameron and Aileen Grant. This mixed show is a chance to showcase each artist’s unique style and approach towards landscape painting. 

Here I’ve selected a favourite piece by each artist.  

City of Edinburgh Council has now confirmed that the seven bins used in Bellevue's recycling trial have mistakenly and repeatedly been mixed with general rubbish for landfill.

The general recycling principle is great. The actual operation of the trial here appears to have been rubbish.

In a remarkably short and unapologetic response to Spurtle's enquiry, CEC said: 'A small number of side loading bins have been incorrectly collected as the new tenement recycling pilot beds in. This has now been rectified and the service will continue as normal'.

Scout leaders Evelyn Torrance and Ian Stewart were pleasantly surprised yesterday evening. 

They thought the chairs and screen in Broughton Primary School’s gym hall had been set up for a presentation telling parents about a forthcoming camp. 

Instead, they were themselves the focus of the occasion as Depute District Commissioner Roseanne Allison presented them with certificates marking over a hundred years’ worth of leadership between them.

HENRY KONDRACKI'S THREE CITIES

Reviewed by Rhys Fullerton

‘In this exhibition I have tried to convey something of the essence of these cities and have focussed on the moments of calm and celebration instead of the stress and angst of city living.’

            Henry Kondracki, January 2015