The Edinburgh Minute ⏰ Wednesday 3 July 2024
Bomb found in Comley Bank, Fringe venues fear bin strike, locals at Royal Garden Party + how 17 doctors and midwives delivered quadruplets
🌤️ Good morning Edinburgh. Here’s Wednesday’s Edinburgh Minute.
💣 An old grenade was discovered in a Comley Bank garden yesterday afternoon. A police bomb squad was called in to safely remove it.
⮑ A neighbour said it was found at a house having renovation work done, reports the Evening News.
⮑ Police confirmed the item was removed to be safely disposed of by Explosive Ordnance Disposal, reports STV News.
⮑ There are photos from the scene on The Edinburgh Reporter.
♻️ The man who has run the Fringe's Assembly venues for 45 years has called for this summer’s proposed bin strike to be stopped ‘at all costs’. William Burdett-Coutts fears the festival is being used as a pawn in the dispute between the unions and councils. - Angie Brown, BBC Scotland News, spoke to city centre businesses about the dispute.
🚔 A car crashed into the Pets At Home shop in Craigleith Retail Park around 6pm yesterday, reports Kris Gourlay in Edinburgh Live.
🗳️ Tomorrow is polling day, when there should be no party political coverage in the media while the public votes.
⮑ Find your local polling station here and remember to bring photo ID. Accepted forms of ID are listed here.
⮑ The council has updated its postal voting information here.
👑 Photos from yesterday’s Royal Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse are in People magazine online.
⮑ Charles and Queen Camilla welcomed around 8,000 visitors during the first day of their stay in Edinburgh. - There’s more coverage on STV News.
⮑ Authors Sir Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Sir Alexander McCall Smith were among Camilla’s guests at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, along with writers, publishers and booksellers in an event focused on reading. - Tony Jones, The Standard.
“She’s really interested in literacy. She wants young people reading, she wants everybody reading. There’s no stigma attached to writing, If you write comic books, if you write romance, if you write crime fiction, she’s a fan – anything that gets people reading.” - Ian Rankin.
🏦 Bank of Scotland has announced it will close branches five branches in the Lothians: in Portobello (October 22), Bonnyrigg (October 16, Linlithgow (February 18, 2025), North Berwick (February 19, 2025) and Bathgate (June 30, 2025). - Gary Flockhart reports for the Evening News on the nationwide closure of 60 branches in total.
🤰🏻 Mother Arlene Mitchell has spoken of her joy after giving birth to naturally conceived quadruplets. A team of 17 doctors and midwives delivered the quadruplets in the Simpson's Centre for Reproductive Health at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. - Angie Brown, BBC Scotland.
🏰 Construction of the temporary 9,000-seat arena at Edinburgh Castle esplanade is officially complete. It has of 760 tonnes of steel, 35 miles of cable, and over 1,600 crane lifts. - If you’re interested in finding out more about it, there’s a short report on Project Scotland.
⮑ This summer’s pre-festival castle concerts begin on Friday with Madness performing, followed by JLS on Tuesday 9 July then it’s the Manic Street Preachers with Suede on Wednesday 10 July. They’re followed the next day The National on Thursday 11 July and Skipinnish on the following Friday. Paul Weller is the final live gig on Saturday 13 July. - More details in Gary Flockhart’s Evening News report.
🥃 The new Port of Leith Distillery building has won ‘best commercial building’ at this year’s Scottish Design Awards.
🍽️ ‘Edinburgh's newest restaurant: First look inside Bonnar's at The Scott Hotel which opens today’ - Kevin Quinn, Evening News.
🌈 The Colinton Amenity Association has put forward a for work around Cuddies Lane by the artist who created the Colinton Tunnel mural, Chris Rutterford. - Brian Donnelly, The Herald.
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📌 “Last few tickets to explore Edinburgh's New Town with a gentle walking tour from Inverleith to St Andrew's Square. Local history for local residents led by a local guide. Saturday 6th July, £18pp, pre-booking required.” - Thanks to Hetty's History Walks for sharing this.
📌 “I’ve got a question which no one has been able to answer so far. What happened to the swans that were in St. Margaret’s Loch? Last week I passed by and was surprised to not see a single one there and no one to answer my question.” - Nadia, Edinburgh resident. (Please reply in the comments if you know!)
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I just had a look while driving past St Margaret’s Loch, and there was not a single swan in sight, and I also didn’t spot ducks, only seagulls.