As you read this, advance copies of Issue 367 are already spreading across the barony like fake blood, bent fangs and spilt Haribos in a gutter.
Page 1 of the November Spurtle begins briefly, continues shambolically, appeals nakedly and concludes with a plug.
We examine two kinds of invisibility on Page 2, two disappearances, three changes of use, opportunities, handwringing and new things to prohibit in public parks.
Residents and amenity groups have expressed frustration at the Council’s closure and subsequent handling of the Powderhall Footbridge.
The structure was closed in June after cracks were discovered which officers believed could cause the structure to collapse without warning.
Art sale for serious collectors, art enthusiasts and curious browsers. All proceeds will support the work of Christian Aid.
Includes paintings, prints and photographs by Richard Hamilton, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, Alan Davie, Paul Neagu and Joan Musgrove.
29th–30th October: noon–5pm. 31st October: 10am–4pm.
Powderhall Footbridge, opened in 2009, was designed in accordance with the standards and engineering knowledge applicable at the time. However, its 120-year design life was not a guarantee that the bridge would last for 120 years.
These startling assertions appear in a Briefing Note (14.10.26) just issued by the Council’s City & Neighbourhood Services and Transport & Mobility Directorate. We attach it in full below.
Mandale Homes has applied to demolish the former offices and nursery at 32–34 Heriothill Ter and build townhouses and colonies in its place (26/03984/FUL). Its plans – drawn up by ISA, a different architectural practice – replace those for the same site withdrawn in June.
The new proposals comprise three 3-storey blocks, running NW–SE behind the end of Claremont Grove, providing one 2-bdrm and ten 3-bdrm dwellings.
Dear Spurtle,
In your October edition (Issue 366) you reported Cycling Scotland's analysis that showed 5,600 bike journeys on Leith Walk between 8am and 9am on 13 and 14 May 2026, presumably based on data from the bike counter at Picardy Place. This strikes me as a statistical impossibility: at 2,800 bikes per hour, this implies 50 bikes per minute.
Perhaps the modes of transport got muddled up? It is highly likely that in excess of 8,000 passengers travelled by bus through Picardy during the one-hour morning peak over the two days, with perhaps another 2,500 by tram.
As an aside, it is a shame that no one seems to count the long suffering foot passengers on Leith Walk. Or how many of the bikes using Leith Walk are commercial vehicles, often with illegally modified electrical motors.
Harald Tobermann
Chair
Edinburgh Bus Users Group
email: chair@edinburghbususers.group
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