The Edinburgh Minute ⏰ Weekend edition 8 - 10 November 2024
The Edinburgh Minute ⏰ Weekend edition 8 - 10 November 2024
Holyrood bike lock protest, Porty police station sale, Leith shipping container business hub plan + exciting news for Belle & Sebastian fans
🌤️️️ Good morning Edinburgh. Today’s newsletter has your usual Edinburgh Minute news round-up, followed by the weekend guide for paid-subscribers. If the newsletter is too long to read in your inbox and gets cut off as an email, you can read it online here.
🚨 A 53-year-old man died following a three-vehicle crash on the A720 city bypass between the Gogar roundabout and Hermiston Gait on Thursday morning. - BBC Scotland News.
⮑ Sergeant Grant Hastie said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man at this difficult time, and we will support them throughout the investigation. We would ask anyone who may have witnessed the crash, or who may have dash-cam footage, and has not yet spoken to or provided this information to officers, to contact us as soon as possible.” - Police Scotland published this appeal for information.
🔥 Ten people were taken to hospital after a fire at Niddrie Mill yesterday. - Calum Louden, STV News.
🚉 Concrete cracks have been found in 75 locations along the tram line extension to Newhaven. - Exclusive by Alastair Dalton in The Scotsman this morning.
🌍 Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion Scotland locked themselves to the Scottish Parliament building yesterday, protesting against a new power plant in Peterhead. They put bike D-locks around their necks and attached them to the Holyrood railings, saying they had sent the keys to politicians including John Swinney. - There’s video in David Bol’s report for The Scotsman.
📚 Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will host a Christmas book event alongside award-winning writer Val McDermid at the Assembly Hall. - Kevin Fullerton, The List.
🔓 After yesterday’s confirmation that the People’s Story Museum will reopen next month, questions are now being asked about why it was shut without consultation or councillors’ approval. - Local Democracy Reporter Donald Turvill in the Evening News.
🚔 Community groups in Portobello are looking into buying the former police station building on the High Street for ‘community use and community benefit’.
⮑ Police Scotland announced plans to close it in August this year due to ‘significant annual running costs and ongoing repairs and maintenance’.
⮑ Now members of Portobello Community Council and Action Porty, who also own and run Bellfield, want to hear locals’ ideas on how the building could be used to meet local needs. - Their consultation is open until this Sunday.
⮑ The next step will be an in-person consultation on the plans that emerge from the online consultation on Saturday 23 November. - More information is here.
🍺 The Porty Vault bar will close next month after owners Vault City brewery cited ‘significant headwinds’. - Sarah Campbell, The Herald.
🍻 The Bullfinch pub on Bath Road in Leith is up for sale. It’s described as ‘iconic’, ‘much-loved’ and ‘legendary’ in this Edinburgh Live report by Katie Williams.
🏗️ Plans for a new commercial and creative hub made from shipping containers at the Port of Leith are expected to lodged before the end of the year. The Harbour31 development is proposed by Forth Ports to ‘provide new flexible business spaces’ and ‘open up land that is currently inaccessible to the public’. - Urban Realm has more details.
🏄♀️ Known for her ‘tell it like it is’ food reviews, Gaby Soutar has reviewed Lost Shore, the new artificial wave surf centre near Ratho. She also asks the important questions like whether the water’s heated and what food’s on offer at the site. - Gaby Soutar, The Scotsman.
🎸 Exciting news for Belle & Sebastian fans: Stuart Murdoch has been announced as the special guest at this year’s ‘Cold Turkey’ event at Leith St Andrew's Church. Curated by the Edinburgh Makar, Michael Pedersen, it’s described as ‘a scrumptious festive buffet of music, spoken word and arty weirdness’. Stuart will read from his new book and then play some classic tunes. Also on the line up: Hollie McNish, Withered Hand and Gemma Cairney. - Tickets for the 6 December event are here. Here’s a summary from Michael Pedersen:
“Cold Turkey is a scrumptious festive buffet of music, spoken word and arty weirdness, featuring Hollie McNish, Michael Pedersen and Withered Hand. This is the mouth-watering seventh serving. Cold Turkey was founded as a collective by Michael Pedersen, Scott Hutchison, Hollie McNish & Withered Hand. Since Scott’s leaving, Michael, Hollie & Dan/WH have been joined by special guests such as: Kae Tempest, Paul Smith (Maximo Park), Kathryn Joseph & more. The sleigh sails on: in tribute and for the love & joy of it. We’re all so delighted Stuart will headline our glorious seventh serving.”
🚲 Edinburgh’s Bikes for Refugees charity has donated its 3,000th refurbished bike. They said: “In these uncertain times- we can look out for each other and help to make a difference to some of our most disadvantaged and vulnerable community members.” - More details.
📌 Edinburgh Minute Community Noticeboard
📌 “Being Human Festival is a UK-wide festival of the humanities taking place from 7 - 16 November, with a host of free events happening here in Edinburgh. You can expect engaging workshops, exhibitions, dance and multi-sensory performances at this broad range of events held by the Centre of Biomedicine, Self and Society that the University of Edinburgh.” - More details here.
📌 “Balerno Farmers' Market returns to Main Street, with a wide range of stalls, 9am - 1pm.” - Thanks to C&B News for sharing this.
📌 “St Columba's Hospice Care Christmas Pop-up returns from 8-10th November! Tick off some gifts on your shopping list this weekend with our ever-popular Christmas pop-up featuring a fantastic range of gifts, toys, cards, homeware and food. Open Friday-Sunday from 10am-4.30pm at No17, Boswall Road EH5 3RW.” - Thanks to the St Columba's Hospice Care team for sharing this.
📌 “How long is now? Meanwhile Uses for Old Buildings - The next lecture in SHBT's Challenging Conservation series at Riddle's Court on 13th November sees Hazel Johnson, Festival Director of Hidden Door arts festival, and Lynzi Leroy, CEO of Scottish Design Exchange discuss their experiences of repurposing some of Edinburgh's most iconic historic buildings for temporary creative uses.” - Thanks to the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust for sharing this.
📌 Saturday: “ASICS are bringing the Running Moves Your Mind City Tour to Edinburgh this Saturday, offering a unique experience that combines music with exercise and allows people to experience ASICS superior comfort and move their minds. At this free-to-attend event from 9.00am to 4.30pm, consumers can participate in a guided Silent Disco run around the city, soundtracked by a dedicated uplifting soundtrack and there will also be opportunities to participate in a product discovery session with ASICS brand ambassadors and a free 10-minute gait analysis session. To find out more and to sign up for this event, please visit this link.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 Saturday: “Join soprano Alice Wang, harpsichordist Zi Ken Toh, oboist Oonagh Lee and cellist Lucia Capellaro in this inaugural launch of the new Cantata Series at St Cecilia's Hall. Revel in the beauty of music in our historic concert hall and join us after the concert for a reception celebrating the launch of this new programme.” - Thanks to the organisers for this.
📌 “Street Photo Social is a FREE photo walk run for and by street photographers in the Edinburgh area. Our next photo walk is taking place on Saturday 16th November 1-3pm. We'll start our walk from Leith and stroll our way into town. It's a couple of hours shooting scenes and shooting the breeze. Everyone is welcome! 🤗 Meet at Custom House, Leith at 1pm.” - Thanks to subscriber Olly for sharing this.
📆 Here’s your weekend guide, including: new exhibitions, gigs, club nights, film, theatre, family-friendly events and all the food market details.
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