The Edinburgh Minute ⏰: Weekend edition 13 - 15 Oct 2023
Indie firms reject ‘tourist trap BS’ report, decision on hotel VIP bid, sneak peak into uni’s Quartermile building, new whisky festival + Broughton Street gets its flower shop back
🍂 Good morning Edinburgh. Here’s your Friday Edinburgh Minute, followed by the weekend what’s on guide for subscribers.
🏨 Plans lodged by the new W Hotel at the St James Quarter to turn a pedestrian square into a drop-off area for motor vehicles have been rejected by councillors. - Read what they had to say about it in Local Democracy Reporter Donald Turvill’s report on Edinburgh Live.
🚨 Police were called in amid a sit-in protest at the University of Edinburgh’s Lister Building on Friday. The George Square protest was over the launch of a controversial book about gender. - Iona Young, Daily Record.
🏴 A Gaelic language error has been spotted on a new sign in Picardy Place. - Phyllis Stephen, The Edinburgh Reporter.
👀 The wraps have started to come off the new Edinburgh Futures Institute campus - based in the former Royal Infirmary. Around a third of the vast project is ready. It will bring together 21 university schools into one space to create an interdisciplinary melting pot. A handful of staff including Nicola Osborne got a sneak peak inside and you can see some photos from the inside here.
🛍 You might have seen reports that the Royal Mile was voted as ‘the worst tourist trap in the UK’. I won’t even link to the reports, because they’re based on nothing of any journalistic merit and don’t deserve the traffic. However, the reports have got some local business owners talking, including Murray Ainslie of The Black Grape:
“We’re calling BS on this recent poll, which apparently has been conducted through looking at key words on TripAdvisor. The Royal Mile is a hotbed of great independent businesses. I love to spend my money with indies, and there are so many great ones to choose from.”
⮑ Murray goes on to list many of them in this video.
💪 A driver of a number 38 bus has earned the nickname ‘buff driver’ after being spotted doing push-ups with his feet in the door. - r/Edinburgh on Reddit has some funny and mostly respectful discussion about his efforts.
🚶♀️ Do you feel safe when walking alone at night in Edinburgh? The Student newspaper team are inviting people to respond to their anonymous survey.
🤝 Interest in taking land into community ownership is reported to be growing in Edinburgh. Community Land Scotland said ‘at least 12 community buyouts in the city have received funding’ in the past six years, three of which were in the last year. - Xander Elliards, The Herald.
🍺 The Railway Inn in Juniper Green has been has been put on the market for £499,000. - Scott Wright, The Herald.
🍻 A new bar on Frederick Street is due to open next Friday (20 October). Opening until 3am every night of the week, Freddy’s aims to combine live music, cocktails and ‘an immersive audio-visual experience’ according to General manager Gavin Currie, who spoke to Sarah Campbell of The Herald.
🏃♂️ An eight-year-old local boy has run a total of 150km and raised more than £3,000 for the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity. Hudson Brown originally ‘only’ planned to compete 30 x 5km runs, with a fundraising target of £30. Now the the James Gillespies’ Primary School pupil is 2797% over his original goal. - His mum spoke to Stephen Rafferty in The Edinburgh Reporter.
🎭 On Saturday performing artists are invited to join a focus group to discuss the Fringe Society’s plans for a new ‘Artist Hub’ in the city. - More details via Edinburgh Performing Arts Development.
💐 A lot of people were upset when Narcissus Flowers in Broughton Street closed in March. The good news for flower fans is, it’s a flower shop again. - Say hello to Broughton Street Flowers.