Have you ever wondered about these paviours?
They skirt the northern and western sides of the inner footway outside Drummond Place Garden, and many examples have a peculiar blue-ish hue. The words read:
TEES SCORIA BRICK CO.
PATENT
One Joseph Wharton of Darlington patented a machine for making bricks, tiles, &c. from molten blast furnace slag (scoria) in 1877. They had the advantage of being tough, waterproof, and resistant to chemicals.
Detailed proposals for a new National Centre for Music and performance space at the old Royal High School were submitted to Edinburgh Council this morning [bit.ly/3n6StBw]. We’ll comment once we’ve had a chance to peruse and digest.
As well as bigger educational facilities for St Mary’s Music School, the Royal High School Preservation Trust plans to create a café, gallery, visitor centre, and fully accessible public gardens.
Glasgow-based Kelvin Properties intends to replace the warehouse at 67 Logie Green Rd with homes for sale and affordable housing.
Geoff Palmer will talk on 'Scotland's Links with the Slave Trade'. The meeting will be held on Zoom. For an invitation, contact spurves004btinternet.com.
To join the Society (£6 per year), contact the Membership Secretary at hec@st-andrews.ac.uk.
The developer HUB will hold a Pre-Application Consultation later this month in advance of its full application for a proposal on Beaverhall Road (21/04608/PAN).
The intention is to redevelop the site of Beaverhall House as housing. Included in the project will be affordable homes, private amenity and open space, and cultural/arts workspace/commercial space.
As you read this, advance copies of September’s Spurtle are already scattered about the barony like pelicans chasing a fish supper.
Page 1 begins with high hopes of K-pop (but not as high as before), two men in hats, and a councillor feeling the heat. Locals, as usual, are sceptical about everything.
If it’s vampires that quicken your blood, Page 2 is the place to be with sleeves rolled down and socks up over the knees. We have reports on crime, pugilism, good and bad pop-ups, and regrettable departures from the Broughton scene. Also, bins.
The pulley wheel shown in the photo here has emerged from recent tramwork excavations on Leith Walk.
Archaeologists will determine its significance, but to Spurtle observers it looks like evidence of the former cable-drawn Edinburgh tram system.
From 1899, it ran as far north as Pilrig Street, whereupon passengers would transfer to the more efficient electrically powered trams operated by Leith Town Council.
Despite dire predictions due to Covid, the Drummond Tennis Club continues to flourish. Thanks to generous rates, club membership remains as healthy as ever.
Police Scotland issued the following press release this morning. We reproduce it unedited and in full.
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