An item of "Breaking News". Will appear on the Breaking News page and the front page.
As you read this, advanced copies of the April Spurtle are already trickling out across the barony.
Issue 250 kicks off with word of more woes for the Royal Bank of Scotland, and fresh misery for residents on Hopetoun Street.
We also have a front-page celebrity hug, a lovely close-up of a lorry, and exclusive news of the date of our Holyrood hustings on 14 April.
Inside
Edinburgh World Heritage is suggesting that a new public statue be raised to commemorate Scottish women put to death as supposed witches.
They say the Castle Esplanade would be a good spot, since only a comparatively inconspicuous memorial exists there now, where 300+ women were burned during the 16th and 17th centuries.
PLANNING CASE NOW 'A POLITICAL FOOTBALL'
An important new development emerged last week in the process to decide the future of the old Royal High School.
As first reported here on 17 March, Duddingston House Properties and Urbanist Hotels have appealed the Council’s refusal to grant listed building consent for their hotel scheme on Regent Road (Ref. PPA-230-2178).
POLICE CALL FOR INFORMATION
Police have appealed for information after a man was found with a serious neck injury in Leith early this morning.
Officers responded to a call and found the 30-year old in Smith’s Place at around 6.00am. He was taken to hospital and is now described as being in a ‘serious, but stable’ condition.
A police spokesperson says they believe the man was in Leith Walk business premises near the junction with Balfour Street at around 5.00am, and was injured between 5.30am and 6.00am.
ODD GOINGS-ON IN HEART OF THE NEW TOWN
This Edinburgh property may be found at 19 York Place.
It’s perfectly pleasant, as you can see, and would probably never have drawn anyone’s attention to itself today had it not figured as the backdrop to a rather peculiar tale of supernatural visitation.
Welcome to potentially the best clay courts north of Roland-Garros!
Resurfacing (as you can see below) has already started, and if the good weather continues the lines may be in place by the end of the month.
Drummond Tennis Club offers a great opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to play tennis on what is regarded as the best surface for the game.
Sophie Blake is the resident tennis coach and is held in high esteem within the club.
Globally recognised engineering and construction firm Laing O’Rourke has chosen to sponsor Drummond Community High School.
Professionals will offer their expertise to support pupils and staff on the ‘Design Engineer Construct!’ course which Drummond has been piloting since last autumn.
S1 and S3 students began the course by collaboratively designing an eco classroom with help from industry insiders, academics and undergraduates.
Albany Street Developments Ltd seek planning permission to demolish the empty garage and offices at 21 McDonald Place and build a five-storey, 14-unit apartment block in its place (Ref. 16/01329/FUL).
On-site storage for bins, and parking for cars and cycles are part of the proposals.
The new Community Cinema in the middle of Broughton continues this coming Friday with two screenings.
One is aimed at children and families in the afternoon, the other at adults in the evening.
Spurtle toured some of the leafier parts of Broughton and beyond yesterday, and here’s a mostly feathered selection of what we saw.
First of all, a snoozing mallard in Puddocky, half-awake at the instant the shutter snapped.
In Warriston Cemetery we encountered this character, dressed in black and suitably unimpressed by the joys of spring.