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.

The Edinburgh Reporter interviewed Edinburgh Council Leader Cllr Cammy Day last month as elected representatives tackled setting the city’s next budget (‘Watching the pennies’, 1.2.24).

Day made no bones about the potential difficulties of the task, but there was at least one glimmer of light on his horizon: the Scottish Govt’s determination to allow local authorities to raise a ‘Visitor Levy’ on tourist accommodation spend.

As you read this, advance copies of the March Spurtle are already spreading across Broughton like fresh mildew on the shower curtain of civilisation.

Page 1 begins with the strain of river management and other bits we’d rather not think about. We have all the latest news on a lack of progress, a growing to-do list, making motorists fume, and the joys of spring.

Food – a lot of it – features on Page 2, along with a possible end to downhill misadventures, a headless mystery, unhinged waste management, confusing corners, and potentially problematic pongs in the offing.

Searching for a bridge I was vaguely aware of, I found myself standing on it without knowing, writes Charlie Ellis.