Breaking news

Power-napping in yesterday's sunshine. Photo courtesy of Spurtleshire resident Tim Smith.

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A formal 125-year lease agreement has begun between Edinburgh Council and the Royal High School Preservation Trust. Work will now begin on turning the historic structures and new additions into a home for St Mary’s Music School and a public performance venue.

RHSPT chair Willie Gray Muir said, ‘As we prepare to move ahead into the redevelopment phase, we look forward to collaborating closely with the local community as we keep them up-to-date on progress.’ Work is expected to finish in 2026.

CHARLIE ELLIS CONSIDERS EDINBURGH’S BATTIEST BUS ROUTE

As I sat in Hata (5 Rodney Street), sipping a satisfying cortado, I witnessed a stand-off. Who would come out on top?

At the junction, two single-decker buses came face to face. One was coming up the hill and the other down, both wanting to make the tight turn onto Broughton Road.

Between earth and skies.

No. 6 in an occasional photo series celebrating Spurtleshire street-name signs.

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Police Scotland have issued a press release which we reproduce below unedited and in full.

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CHARLIE ELLIS WANDERS BESIDE THE WATER OF LEITH

The relationship between art and nature is evident on the Water of Leith. This is expressed most obviously through Anthony Gormley’s figures but also in the ‘accidental’ art forged by the surge of late December, which saw torrents of water cascade through the river's gorges and under its bridges.

As you read this, advance copies of the March Spurtle (Issue 327) are already spreading across the barony to cries of amazement from startled readers.

You, too, will gasp at disturbing news from Eyre Place and East London Street, where matters are not progressing as anybody expected. You, too, may swoon at the news of a former child star who’s now succeeding in two careers and on telly. It all started in Broughton.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

For the last 10 years, Spurtle has been photographing the street-name signs of Spurtleshire.

The aim has been to record their variety of design, aesthetic appeal, interesting history, and the effects of time and human interaction.

Today, we concentrate on the haunting presence of Spurtleshire street names long since passed away.

INDEPENDENT REPORT IDENTIFIES 'SIGNIFICANT' ADVERSE EFFECTS

Last year, the New Town & Broughton Community Council along with relevant residents associations commissioned an independent Heritage Impact Assessment looking at the likely effects on the Edinburgh World Heritage Site of Council plans for bin-hubs.

That report, which also looks at the Council's proposed mitigative measures, has now been finished. It is available at the foot of this page.

Spotted on a wall off Chambers Street today: fleeting thoughts anchored in a transient moment.

The rapidly fading poems read:

THIS IS A CRAYON

I GOT IT AT McDONALDS

TO WRITE THIS HAIKU

I AM VAPING HERE

CHERRY FLAVOR IN MY MOUTH

FEED ME APPLE PIE