Breaking news

Distribution of the printed October Spurtle (Issue 234) began this morning in the usual mixture of mist, rain and brilliant sunshine.

It's a process which covers a lot of territory, and usually throws up some interesting sights. Here are a few of the joys and oddities encountered today.

Pictured right is a wholly incomprehensible no-cats stencil decorating a bin on Dundas Street.

Just around the corner on Great King Street, a local good Samaritan seeks the owner of a lost cat found.

The Bonnington Partnership has announced plans for a major new development of 200 flats on Bonnington Road Lane (Ref. 14/03896/PAN).

Ashley Place also falls within the designated area (see map at foot of page), which is just outside Spurtleshire but likely to affect local roads, schools and shops in due course.

Most locals will know something of the Monument to the Political Martyrs of 1794 in Old Calton Burying Ground. 

Tesco’s plans for a new level/ramped entrance, railings, retail fit-out and other external changes at 30–30A Dundas Street have been consented (Ref. 14/02746/LBC; Breaking news, 29.7.14).

When it comes to the fast changing world of local and national events, it’s business as usual in the forthcoming October issue of the Broughton Spurtle. 

The Left-Handed Tea Drinker has turned 20.  

I’m not quite sure how I got this far but I’ve covered lots in a short space of time; from a birth, to a death and a tram. I’ve had an ice cream, eaten some Portuguese chicken, I’ve been to Tesco’s and I got a haircut. I travelled beyond our borders as far as Haymarket and came straight back again. I’ve tackled rubbish, done a spot of recycling and delivered a letter.

In Japan there is an idiom – Gyaku mo mata, shin nari – which translates roughly as ‘vice versa’, or ‘the converse is true’. 

It’s a maxim which has inspired and informed the artist Nana Shiomi whose work is currently on display at Edinburgh Printmakers. 

Shiomi’s journey away from her native Japan was itself a process of self-examination, an attempt at self-completion by adopting another geographical and philosophical point of view:

The New Town Clean Streets Campaign, launched last month (Breaking news, 11.8.14), has issued an admirably brisk and breezy report for September. We publish it in full. 

Pluses 

+ Welcome, new areas! (Claremont, St Stephen’s ...). Please keep the reports coming! 

Fancy something seasonal and a bit special, but easy to make and using ingredients available in Broughton? 

Try Magnum chef Paul Dow’s recipe below. 

It’s easy to prepare in advance, serves two and takes about 1 hour 15 minutes (+ 2 hours chilling). 

[Spurtle tip: Allow 4 hours for self-satisfied gloating afterwards.]

INGREDIENTS

Cornerstone Development seeks permission to convert the Edinburgh City Football Club at 7–8 Baxter’s Place into five residential flats (Ref. 14/03702/FUL). 

An existing dwelling on the top two floors requires no planning permission since it will just be upgraded internally.