The Edinburgh Minute ⏰ Weekend edition 15 - 17 November 2024
Edition 500! Royal Mile robberies, school's £10m revamp, George IV Bridge scaffolding saga + House of MinaLima opening
🌤️️️ Good morning Edinburgh. It’s the 500th daily edition of this newsletter! Thank you all for your subscriptions, shares, stories and likes this week. It all helps keep this newsletter going and I love curating it for you every morning.
🪄 The design duo behind the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films are opening a shop on Cockburn Street on Monday. Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima will be at the new ‘House of MinaLima’ in person on 23 and 24 November for a meet and greet event. The shop at 42-44 Cockburn Street will be the city’s first fully official Potter-branded shop, in the area said to have inspired author JK Rowling. House of MinaLima will replace the Museum Context store, which will move the stock to its other shop in Victoria Street. - Thanks to a supporter of the Minute for sending this in.
⮑ Earlier this year thousands of fans signed a petition after publishers dropped Studio MinaLima halfway through its Harry Potter illustrated book series.
🚨 Shopkeepers say the Royal Mile has become ‘lawless’ with smash-and-grab thieves stealing thousands of pounds' of goods in recent months. - There’s CCTV footage of the attacks in Angie Brown’s report for BBC Scotland.
🎇 Four more teenagers have been arrested following disorder in Niddrie on Bonfire Night. Chief Superintendent David Robertson, Divisional Commander for Edinburgh, said: “We still have lots of excellent CCTV footage and other evidence gathered on Halloween and Bonfire Night to go through and we are confident this will help us identify and charge more offenders in due course.”
🚔 Police have released CCTV images of four people officers want to talk to about threatening behaviour and damage to a bank on Princes Street. - Police Scotland.
🚛 A bin lorry was driven into a lamppost in the west end, leaving locals ‘stunned’ according to Nicholas Malizia in Edinburgh Live.
✏️ Brunstane Primary School’s £10m revamp has begun and is expected to be completed in winter 2025. - Neil Johnstone, Evening News.
⮑ Meanwhile the council is spending £1.6m on a new roof for Pentland Primary School. - Project Scotland.
🛠️ The Homebase store in Craigleith retail park is at risk of closure after the DIY retailer went into administration. - Katie Williams, Edinburgh Live.
🏆 Local teachers, performers and workplaces have been honoured at the annual Forth Awards at the Usher Hall.
🍽️ The owner of the Ondine restaurant on George IV Bridge has announced it will close after 15 years in business, blaming scaffolding on the outside of the building. “With no end in sight to these works we have decided relocation is our best option, both for you and for us.” - The owners posted on social media to say they will relocate next year.
🇯🇵 Japanese restaurant Yakiniku is planning to open at the former Hog’s Head Music record shop on South Clerk Street in Newington. - Kevin Quinn, Evening News.
🍻 The Home Bar in Tollcross is up for sale. - Gary Flockhart, Evening News.
🏨 The Caledonian Hotel on Lothian Road is undergoing a £35m renovation. Gaby Soutar of The Scotsman went in for a look.
🎤 Former One Direction singer Zayn Malik‘s upcoming concerts at the Edinburgh O2 Academy have been rescheduled from next week to next month. - Surej Singh, NME.
🎄 Summerhall’s annual Christmas market event has been confirmed to be going ahead on 7-8 December. - Organisers shared this update.
❄️ The Edinburgh’s Christmas markets in the city centre open to the public this weekend. Known for excitable weather forecast headlines, Edinburgh Live reports that “the city will be turned into a winter wonderland - and will have the weather to accompany it” with an “'arctic blast' as temperatures plummet to freezing”.
⮑ The Met Office forecast shows no ‘arctic blast’ this weekend, with 8C on Saturday and 6C on Sunday.
🏆 This year’s Creative Edinburgh Awards ceremony is on Friday at Central Hall in Tollcross. A few tickets are still available here. Hundreds of nominations have been whittled down to 33 finalists. The Edinburgh Minute is a proud sponsor of The Edinburgh City Award. The finalists are: Edinburgh Printmakers, Sett Studios CIC, The Creative Community Hubs Network & Tinderbox Collective and City of Edinburgh Council Instrument Libraries. Good luck to all and see you there!
📌 Edinburgh Minute Community Noticeboard
📌 “On November 17 at 1:00 PM, a rally will be held in Edinburgh at Mercat Cross to show solidarity for peace and political prisoners, marking 1,000 days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This global initiative, launched by prominent opposition figures in Berlin, including Alexei Navalny’s widow, calls on people worldwide to stand against Putin’s aggression and honor the courage of those who continue to fight for freedom.” - Thanks to a local member of Voices for Russian Democracy for sharing this.
📌 Tonight: “Join Loud Poets on 15th November for their monthly showcase of spoken word poetry at the Scottish Storytelling Centre! This month's showcase is in partnership with Bad Betty Press and features acclaimed poets Joshua Idehen, Jemima Foxtrot, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa, and Akshay. Expect hilarious, heart-wrenching, moving spoken word, with live musical accompaniment.” - Thanks to Katie Ailes, I Am Loud CIC, for sharing this.
📌 Saturday: “Wild Rose Forest Therapy (Rosie) will be guiding a Forest Bathing Walk at Vogrie Country Park on Saturday 16th of November from 10:30-1pm. This carefully crafted experience gives you a chance to soothe, restore and connect deeply to nature. Learn creative nature connection invitations, share with others and taste mindfully with a tea ceremony. Tickets can be booked here.” - Thanks to Rosie for sharing this.
📌 Saturday: “Wishes, Desires, Demands! is a free zine-making workshop at The Wee Museum in Ocean Terminal designed to explore your hopes and imagined futures for women’s health in Scotland. After a brainstorming session, participants will create a zine page to express your wishes, demands, or desires for women’s health and healthcare in Scotland. This event is part of the UK-Wide Being Human Festival and is open to all cisgender, transgender and non-binary participants with experience of accessing women's healthcare, of all ages and creative inclinations!” - Free tickets. Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 The Sunday Sketch: “Join artist Sheena Russell at the National Museum of Scotland to discover their collections and be guided through a range of drawing activities within the museum’s galleries. This is a ticketed event and booking is essential.” - Thanks to National Museums Scotland for sharing this.
📌 Sunday: “Fischy Music Live Show at The Queen’s Hall on Sunday 17 November 2024 at 3pm. Come and see the Fischy Music Band perform live, with songs and sing-along fun for all the family.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 “♻️ Join us on Sunday November 17th for the third annual ReFashion Edinburgh – a maverick sustainable fashion show that shines a spotlight on 9 Edinburgh-based designers who share a passion for sustainability and ethical creation. Choose to attend the 5:30pm or 7:30pm show with all proceeds going to the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 “Nearly 80 independent designers will descend on National Galleries of Scotland: National in Edinburgh for a showcase of creative talent later this month. Tea Green Events are returning to the beautiful venue on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 November 2024 (10am to 5pm). The Edinburgh event will be attended by almost 30 Edinburgh-based makers including a number of graduates of Edinburgh College of Art.” - Thanks to the organisers for this.
📌 “The Beatles Marathon UK returns to Edinburgh on Saturday 30th November, held at Portobello Town Hall. Enjoy over 11 hours of live music by 12 talented Edinburgh-based bands, playing 13 albums by The Beatles - all to raise money for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation. Under 18s can enter for free before 1pm, and under 6s are free throughout - kids entertainment, food, and drink is available.” - Thanks to the organisers for this.
📌 “Back with our last market of 2024 on 30th November 10am - 3pm. Showcasing our fantastic Rosemains Residents, local makers, creative businesses and brilliant food offerings all taking place in our stunning and unique location.” - Thanks to Julz, Project Facilitator, Rosemains Steading CIC, for sharing this.
📌 “Edinburgh Jazz Quartet ‘After the Rain’ are performing a 1 hour free concert at the Edinburgh Central Library, George IV Bridge, EH1 1EG on Saturday 23rd Nov at 1pm, as part of the library’s ‘Music on the Mezzanine’ series.” - Thanks to After the Rain for this. More details here.
📌 “Free event, panel discussion - Future Library and Futures Literacy: Making Futures from Where We Are. To mark the 10-year anniversary of Scottish artist Katie Paterson’s 100-year artwork, Future Library, a free event at Edinburgh Futures Institute to discuss what it means to be “futures literate”. The panel, including Katie, Anne Beate Hovind (chair of Future Library Trust), Richard Sandford, Anja Hendrikse Liu and Jen Ross, will explore relationships between place, knowledge, imagination and time in making meaning from and engaging with different futures.” - Thanks to Jen Ross, event chair, University of Edinburgh, for sharing this.
📌 “Local history society, the Old Edinburgh Club are holding a briefing evening, on Tuesday 19th November at 7.30pm, for anyone interested in applying for Jean Guild Grant funding for an Edinburgh history based project or piece of research. Applications are open to schools, colleges, community groups, postgraduate students, early career researchers, and independent researchers. Visit the OEC website for further details and to book a space.” - Thanks to the club for sharing this.