Abandoned Council-owned bowling greens are common across the city, including in the heart of Spurtleshire at Powderhall.
Now, a project to make use of the abandoned Regent Road Bowling Green in Abbeyhill has got under way. This green has truly superb views over Holyrood to Arthur's Seat but is (thankfully) protected from development. At present, at least.
So, how can a new use be found, while keeping it within the public domain?
Twisting through a dusty land.
#Edinburgh
#hyperlocal
#news
#sand
#birdofparadise
Our photo has prompted some reaction to 'desiccated foliage' in the background. Readers have criticised Council officials for inadequate irrigation of the Picardy Place planting.
Spurtle is more sanguine. The Editor, at least, doesn't mind the seasonal die-back of plants at this time of year, and accepts that its early onset may have been unavoidable after an exceptionally dry, hot spring and summer.
In any case, editing of the photo has certainly reduced the full range of interesting yellows, browns, fawns and ochres which have appeared here over recent weeks.
As you read this, advance copies of the September Spurtle are already to be found across the barony, lingering like swallows on telephone wires waiting for an Uber that’s supposedly round the corner and travelling south but never comes.
Issue 354 leads with officials in no hurry to talk their way out of an an awkward corner. There’s news of a New Town blackspot where cars travel too fast, a bureaucratic log-jam where decisions sometimes travel in circles but don’t progress, and Elm Row … where there’s motion of sorts but only into thin air.
Very much the Marmite of Festival experiences.
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#hyperlocal
#news
#Edinburgh Fringe Festival
#streetcircus
This evening's Broughton flypast.
Red Arrows passing behind Broughton St Mary's Parish Church.
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#news
#Tattoo
Councillors on the Development Management Sub-Cmte today voted, with some reluctance, to approve a retrospective planning application for the Spiegeltent and associated structures in St Andrew Square Garden (25/03046/FUL).
Dear Spurtle,
For at least the third year running, there is one of those pole-based poster boards advertising the Fringe right next to the mini-zebra crossing on the bike lane that I use every morning to go up Leith Street.
It obscures my view (as a cyclist) of any pedestrians waiting to cross.
Yes, the bike lanes aren't designed well. And yes, 80 per cent of cyclists ignore the zebra crossings, and 80 per cent of pedestrians don’t notice them or don't trust cyclists to stop. But I (and a few other cyclists) try to make an effort to respect the zebra crossings and those who attempt to use them.
However, this sign really doesn't help.
Obviously, I should report the sign, but instead as I pass I give it a shove so it turns through 90º, making things considerably better.
In fairness, the sign isn't always square-on. At the time I took the photo below, I found it at 45º. But by the evening it was back to being square-on.
Cranky of McDonald Road
