Breaking news

News was thin on the ground in Broughton today, or if it wasn't, no-one at the Spurtle had time to pick it up. 

Under the ground, though, it was not so much thin as knobbly.

This remarkable pink fir apple potato was recently harvested in a fertile strip of ground behind Drummond Place and Scotland Street.

Pink fir apples were first imported from France in the mid-19th century, but remained popular here among spud enthusiasts long after their peculiar shapes lost them admirers on the Continent.

In Issue 235 we reported the surprisingly prompt reaction of City of Edinburgh Council concerning the moving digital display in a Crichton Place kebab shop.

Moving digital display as in a shifting electronically generated font, not as in emotionally charged finger gestures.

Councillor Deidre Brock pursued the case in early October following complaints from constituents who felt the signage was out of place and distracting to drivers exiting Pilrig Street.

We’re delighted to report that  the young female cat with huge green eyes reported in Breaking news (23.10.14; Issue 235) has been reunited with her family. 

Just days before she was to be re-homed, her owners tracked her down and she has returned instead to the countryside ‘none the worse for her ordeal and everyone delighted’.

The cat had been ‘on holiday’ in the eastern New Town when she got out by accident and then became lost.

Out and about today across Broughton, Spurtle was glad to see that the barony is entering into the Hallowe'en spirit with a variety of more or less traditional, oddball and chillingly peculiar displays to set the mood.

How many of them do you recognise?

How many can you locate by small clues sometimes hidden in the detail?

Answers will appear at the foot of this page tomorrow.

Mark Lazarowicz MP intervened in a parliamentary debate on Tuesday to draw attention to lengthy delays in applications for the new Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for disabled people.

The Opposition had called the debate in reaction to comments reported to have been made by Lord Freud that some disabled people are not worth paying a living wage.

Back in the summer, we reported on Batleys' application to vary the conditions of its planning permission (Ref. 14/02893/FUL; Breaking news, 23.7.14). 

The popular cash and carry wanted to open on Sundays between 8.30am and noon. 

The new Spurtle is pretty much done, dusted and trundling into boxes ready for distribution across Broughton early in November.

Crime news and price-hikes jostle on page 1 with substandard chips and a local star whom few folk remember.

We continue inside with a blend of bad behaviour, excessive traffic, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish and more rubbish. An item on rubbish follows, then we split hares and cure anxiety, report new places to dine and imbibe, post letters, learn how to paint and remember the dead.

TIAA Henderson Real Estates' (TH) plans for the new St James Quarter suddenly became a lot clearer during yesterday's 'Information Forum' at the Glasshouse on Greenside. 

Possibly. 

Spurtle was excited by what was on view, and encountered nothing but helpful charm throughout the event.

However, we treat all such corporate persuasiveness with dollops of caution, and so should you. Here's what we think we've winkled out so far.

An application to convert a north-facing sub-basement storeroom at 5b Fettes Row into a compact one-bedroom flat has been refused (Ref. 14/03337/FUL). 

Plans submitted in support of the application reveal a kitchen/dining room of 372cm x 570cm, a bathroom of 245cm x 185 cm, a study of 240cm x 250cm and bedroom of 235cm x 388cm with no window. The cupboard extends to 102cm x 96cm.

Refurbishment of the premises at 23 Rodney Street, is nearly complete and what will soon emerge is a smart-looking accountancy firm. In this process, there emerged last month some interesting and rather beautifully toned signage from the past. Spurtle researched.  

Pooches Parlour will be remembered by many, particularly pooches. J. W. Temple will be recalled by rather fewer.