YELLOW BIRD
Passing through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0RtQRnZwSw
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THE PUZZLE OF POPULARITY
The ‘coffee cave’ phenomenon – why Books n’ Cups works
Charlie Ellis
Books n’ Cups, on Raeburn Place in Stockbridge, is consistently busy. This success puzzles even some regular customers.
Lacking the elegant Scandi minimalism of Edinburgh’s coffee elite, the space, with its exposed brickwork, leather seating and general ‘homely’ feel, is reminiscent of a pre-Third Wave ‘coffee cave’ circa 2005.
DK CHECKS IN
The second of 2 pre-application consultations was held yesterday afternoon to discuss the future of Centrum and BUPA Houses at 108–16 Dundas Street.
Dakota Hotels proposes adapting a previously consented plan for housing here (Issue 325) to create a 143-bedroom hotel (maximum occupancy c.250 people).
Rail correction from old buffer
Dear Spurtle,
For the second time in a just over a quarter, I am impelled to write to correct a transport-related Spurtle article.
While it is correct that the railway line past the site was used for passenger services until 1917, the statement that 'from 1970 to 2016, the line was used to transport compacted waste from here to a landfill site in Dunbar' is, unfortunately, rubbish.
As local historian Andy Arthur has related in his article about the Powderhall Waste Destructor, the recently demolished 'compactor' was opened in 1971 as an incinerator, with facilities added to take some waste to landfill. In 1986, the incinerator was shut down due to a public campaign, and it was only in 1989 that the 'Binliner' rail service, initially to Kaimes on the Edinburgh–Carstairs line, started removing compacted waste from the site.
Photos on the RailScot website show the absence of facilities in 1986, with the old passenger platforms in place; in 1989, with the rail transfer facility under construction; and later in 1989, in operation. Waste transfer to Dunbar started in 1997, when the Kaimes landfill site had filled up with Dunedin's detritus.
Before I get back to curating my collection of historic EDC and CEC bin bags, I thought readers might be interested to know of something that did happen close to Powderhall in 1970, namely the crash at Chancellot Mills, in which two Type 4 locomotives met head-on, with dramatic results but no casualties.
David Sterratt
RED WHEEL FOR POWDERHALL STABLES
A commemorative Red Wheel was officially unveiled today at the western gable end of Powderhall Stables on Broughton Road.
On a sparkling February afternoon, local notables, enthusiasts and press gathered to mark the spot as a place of special importance in transport history.
PROGRESS ON POWDERHALL STABLES
The education and arts trust Out of the Blue (OOTB) has entered into a rent-free pre-lease agreement with the Council while it tests infrastructure, systems and processes at the refurbished Powderhall Stables.
After many delays, the project to upgrade and ‘plug in’ the former waste-transfer station offices was completed late last year.
IAN ANDREW ROBERT BROWN
(7 April 1934–31 October 2025)
Ian Brown, who died last year aged 91, was a retired eye surgeon and an engagingly eccentric figure who was held in great affection in the neighbourhood of Dublin Street and Queen Street Gardens and beyond.
Instantly recognisable striding out in his cap and brick-red trousers, with his warm greeting and (sometimes puzzling) jokes, he was known to a remarkably wide range of people, from publicans and Stockbridge market stallholders to local celebrities and grandees.
ISSUE 358 – PUBLISHED TOMORROW!
As you read this, advance copies of the February Spurtle are already spreading across Broughton like tears down the cheeks of a sair-hertit Livingston fan.
Page 1 wastes no time before dealing with three own goals and a stifled response to laughable performance. At one point, we advise reading between the lines. It continues with glee and even more appalling behaviour.
We cover a new approach to domestic independence on Page 2, along with new bricks on the block and a bid to clarify progress through the turbid waters of Planning.