Locals on Logan Place (next to King George V Park) have been puzzled recently by the uninvited, unannounced and unexplained arrival of this pub sign next to their wheelie bins.
Spurtle has traced it to Bellman's Bar on John Street in Penicuik, where it formerly sat atop a pole to the left of the building (see Google streetview). But so far we have no explanation for its arrival. No-one answers the phone. No-one responds to messages. There are suggestions online that it may have closed 'or relocated'.
Relocated, perhaps, in the same way that William Wallace relocated after his death.
In a broadly positive review of the establishment on Yelp, one customer reported as follows: 'I entered around lunchtime on a fairly muggy weekday morning in order to get a cup of coffee. Coffee in a pub? Well, the sign outside certainly said so. Yet when enquiring what types were on offer, the barman looked at me blankly and simply stated: "Erm, black and white?"'
If any reader can supply further details about Bellman's past, present and future, please get in touch.