Canonmills Haugh or Loch may have been drained in 1847, but old habits die hard.

The hollow in which King George V Park and The Yard now nestle was formed in the last Ice Age, and, whether caused by natural or human influences, has been apt to fill up with water ever since.

Today, after what seems like weeks of continuous rain, the path connecting the Rodney Street Tunnel to Logan Street has flooded yet again.

Since yesterday, Dublin Street has been closed to road traffic between Dublin Street Lane North and Albany Street. Dublin Meuse is also closed at the Dublin Street end.

Both are likely to remain closed for the next 8 weeks while Scottish Water repair the sewer.

Failure of the sewer is thought to have been responsible for repeated subsidence in the carriageway. Contrary to local myth, a hole has not appeared in the former railway tunnel below.

March 2024. A pleasant spring afternoon in Moray Place. A hint of peat smoke in the air. The vaguest scent of sewage drifting from the Water of Leith below.

I wait outwith a southern entrance to the central garden to meet a man I know only as ‘The  Convenor’. He is an office bearer in one of Edinburgh’s oldest and most exclusive private discutentative associations: the Quinquaginta Club.

As you read this, advance copies of the April Spurtle are already appearing across Broughton like sparrow droppings on the first washing line of spring.

On Page 1 we cover retirement with crystal clarity, put an end to speculation over a slow start, detail the limited appeal of too much in too little and report on Pot Noodles.

An EV gone rogue, unruly youths and gum-sucking forebodings feature on Page 2, as do construction sites, questionable design and a possible Festival quagmire.