Breaking news

Following 5 previous consultation rounds, and before submitting a full planning application for the Powderhall Bowling Greens site later this month, those behind the proposals this morning presented final plans to the public and answered questions.

Representatives of Collective Architecture, City of Edinburgh Council, and Urban Pioneers (landscape architects) discussed proposals on Zoom with around 16 interested parties, most of whom live or work locally.

No great surprises

Professor Cliff Hague, Chairman of the Cockburn Association, delivered the heritage watchdog’s annual lecture last night on Zoom.

His theme was the Frankenstein’s monster that is festivalisation – in particular, Edinburgh’s monstrous creation that has grown too big for the laboratory and now threatens to ruin the very apparatus that gave it birth.

Well, that was this viewer’s expectation. Instead, what emerged was a calm, forensic account of how the Festivals and Fringe emerged in the city and grew to their current proportions.

The article below, apparently written on Christmas Day 1790, appeared in the Caledonian Mercury on 1 January 1791.

It is possible that the subject matter appealed to some Presbyterian editor sucking in his cheeks at the celebration of a Rome-ish mass south of the Border. But it is more probable that the Editor enjoyed the deadpan humour of a supposed 'member of the Church of England' urging abstemiousness in terms that would have struck many disapproving or hypocritical Scots as excessive.

As you read this, advanced copies of the December/January Spurtle are already appearing across the barony like Lockdown-busting shoppers from Newcastle trying to keep a low profile in parties of 30.

Page 1 steps gingerly into the traffic, looking both ways before tumbling headlong into a rain-filled pothole. It carries news of stable development, local views (and their possible absence), and the great smell of coffee not everybody likes.

Are you bored?

Are you not bored but in need of distraction?

Do you like having your brain teased?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above, Spurtle’s quizzical ramblings may be just what the doctor ordered.

Every day this week, Monday–Friday, we’ll be adding five clues to this page. You’ll then have until midnight on 4 December to EMAIL us your answers and provide a very specific solution.

In July last year, Spurtle responded to recent downpours by examining the current and long-term efficacy of Edinburgh’s £43M Water of Leith Flood Prevention Scheme (FPS).

As part of that, we reported the conclusion of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA):

This morning we woke to a third day of miserable damp gloom.

It may seem grim. But Edinburgh has known worse.

The following article is extracted from a longer piece published in the Scotsman on 16 November 1929 – the day after weather conditions had combined with smoke from coal fires to spectacular effect.

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As first reported back in September, MMMARS Dundas Limited aims to demolish the existing structure and erect a new mixed-use development (residential, office, retail, and café/restaurant) at 108–14  and 116 Dundas Street (20/03923/PAN).

To avoid further binge-watching of US Presidential election coverage, one Spurtle correspondent today opted for a walk in the Botanics.

In no particular order, what follows is what they saw.

1. The usual peppering of young mothers and their little monkeys.

2. A short story on a wall.

ONLINE EXERCISE STARTS TOMORROW WITH LIVE EVENT

Drum Property Group and CAMVO123 Ltd will seek public feedback on new proposals for the 2.9-acre site at Stead’s Place as part of their proposal of application notice for a major development.