Flower hour
Annual Princes Street floral clock design unveiled
Young filmmakers win award at Into Film 2026
Tasty talent
Bonnie & Wild celebrate five years at St James Quarter
bloom Reel success Scoring success
Hothouse Flowers return to Edinburgh on their UK tour
Football captain thanks Royal Blind School for support
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TOLLCROSS Meanwhile in
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July 2026
By PHYLLIS STEPHEN
As part of the huge refurbishment project at The Grand Old Lady of Leven Street, the King’s Theatre Community Panel curated an exhibition of images by photographer, Anneleen Lindsay, which celebrates the theatre, the people and places in Tollcross. Panel members selected streets, spaces and landmarks in Tollcross that hold particular significance for them. The photos explore the connection between the local community and the theatre.
The photo (left) shows Vivien Devlin, theatre and film critic, member of the King’s Theatre Community Panel, photographed at The Cameo Cinema for ‘The Grand Old Lady of Leven Street and Her Neighbours’.
The Panel is a diverse group of local people who help to shape policies for the theatre’s future community programme in the redesigned spaces, and its members play an important role in ensuring that local voices remain at the heart of the King’s Theatre.
Fiona Gibson, Chief Executive of Capital Theatres, said: “The Grand Old Lady and Her Neighbours is such a beautiful and heartwarming celebration of the wonderful community that surrounds the King’s Theatre. As we prepare to reopen our doors, it feels especially important to recognise the people, stories and places that make Tollcross such a vibrant and distinctive part of Edinburgh.”
She continued that the photos offer “a fascinating insight into the neighbourhood through their experiences and memories”.
Photographer, Anneleen Lindsay, said: “I’m always interested in how people interact with the places they inhabit and move through, particularly from an emotional perspective. The memories that these specific places in Tollcross invoke for the Community Panel members are vivid and often formative. Many of them told me stories from their childhood, both distinct moments – first experiences of live theatre and special treats of ice-creams from Mr Boni’s – and more general, accumulated memories of how living or working in Tollcross gave them confidence and cultural passions that they carried throughout their lives.
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Anneleen
Editorial
Here we are again. No sooner did we get the Scottish Parliamentary election out of the way, than three by-elections were held. Two of these were in Scotland, to replace MPs who had moved to Holyrood, and one in England to replace a Labour MP – Josh Simons - who stepped aside to make way for former Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham. Burnham’s election as MP for Makerfield was the most significant with a large majority of 9,231 votes, and the highest turnout for a parliamentary by-election in the last decade.
His victory led to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, stepping down, and later this month it is likely that the UK will have its seventh Prime Minister in less than 10 years. The odds on favourite to replace Starmer is Burnham who is returning to the House of Commons after a gap of nine years, having formerly represented the Leigh constituency for 16 years until 2017.
A former Health and Culture Secretary under Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, he was also Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2007 and 2008 under Chancellor Alistair Darling, the MP for Edinburgh South West. In Edinburgh there will be more politics this summer with two council by-elections in early September to replace Simita Kumar, MSP, and Kate Campbell, MSP. Both are Edinburgh councillors and they have decided it would be best to resign now and stick to one job, rather than waiting until the council elections next May. Candidates will only be confirmed on 31 July, and we will interview as many of the candidates as we can during August ahead of the by-elections in the Southside/Newington and Portobello/ Craigmillar wards.
Sport is always a constant in our coverage – and this summer more than most as we not only have the Scotland’s national men’s team playing in the FIFA World Cup, but also the Commonwealth Games, with some events having already sold out.
Our news this month includes coverage of some of the highlights there are to look forward to in this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Programmes for all of the Edinburgh festivals have now been published.
Phyllis Stephen, Editor
Planning News
FORT KINNAIRD
British Land has unveiled plans for a retail and leisure development at Fort Kinnaird, in what will be a 43,000 sq ft expansion. In its planning statement, agents Montagu Evans state that the applicant will bring forward significant investment at Fort Kinnaird “through the delivery of a new foodstore and first-floor leisure unit.”
They added: “The scheme has been designed to respond to the needs of local shoppers and visitors by broadening the range and quality of retail and leisure provision available at this established destination.”
PENTLAND HILLS
A new build semi-detached at 37 Baberton Mains Avenue, EH14 3EQ, to replace an existing demolished semi-detached house “due to explosion damage.” A gas explosion in a neighbouring property in December 2023 resulted in the death of an 84-year-old man and injured two others. Several of the properties affected have since been demolished. While 37 was originally its own semi detached building along with house number 35 and not part of the semi-detached building where the explosion took place, it was also demolished following the explosion.
Aftermath of explosion at Baberton Mains Avenue, 2 December 2023
The application to build the new property is separate to another application seeking to replace the neighbouring homes where the explosion took place. 26/02417/FUL
LIBERTON
A former 119 bed nursing facility could be replaced with a new 132 bed care home and associated retirement /specialist care accommodation. The facility, known as Braid Hills Nursing Centre at 77 Liberton Drive, EH16 6NS, closed in July 2024 and was sold to Michael Ladhar of Crown Care Group who plans to extensively redevelop the site. According to the Proposal of Application Notice, the application
Edinburgh Collected goes caravanning
A contributor to Edinburgh Collected, David Le Sueur,
was made “to meet current Care Inspectorate standards”. 26/02266/PAN
73 FERRY ROAD
An application has been lodged to create five new flats at the rear of 73 Ferry Road where a building will be demolished. This is the latest iteration of plans by the owners of the garage, Motor Fuel Group Ltd to rid themselves of the former Boys Brigade club house which was met by local opposition. The company withdrew their previous application on 3 June 2026 which they say was on direct advice of council officers. 26/02361/FUL
copies at all branches of Farmer Autocare,
and
We do not propose to replace the dispenser, but are looking for local stockists. If you can help please get in touch. If you would llke to subscribe please use the QR code below. ter.ooo/subscribe
Image: Alan Simpson
Image: Alan Simpson
Floral Clock blooming again
By PHYLLIS STEPHEN
THE FLORAL CLOCK this year is being prepared for a grand opening. The 2026 design will celebrate the work of Trellis Scotland which is approaching its 20th anniversary. Trellis helps more than 15,000 people each and every week in Scotland to improve their health and
wellbeing through therapeutic gardening.
“This assists people who are recovering from long term conditions such as stroke or depression and people who have been diagnosed with cancer or dementia, and also children and younger people with additional support needs.
A spokesperson for Trellis Scotland said:
Continued from Page 1
“Throughout the past four years photographing the King’s pre, during and soon-to-be post redevelopment, I have always wanted to convey the marks that The People’s Theatre has made on the people of Edinburgh.
This exhibition feels like a meaningful way to honour the local community within that story. I hope that those visiting the exhibition will connect to the Panel’s recollections and that it sparks their own memories of the area
“With tens of thousands of small, colourful plants, the clock takes gardeners working on ladders many weeks to plant, and is trimmed, weeded and watered throughout the season.
“It’s a celebration of craft, care and the power of plants to bring people together.
“Our heartfelt thanks to the brilliant team at Edinburgh Council who make this magic
or helps them to think about the places that were formative for them.”
The King’s Theatre will reopen on 1 August and will be home to performances during the EIF. It will be one of the most accessible heritage buildings in the UK with
happen every year.”
Around 35,000 flowers and plants decorate the face of the clock, which will be as colourful as it is today until October depending on the weather.
This includes plants like antennaria, crassula, echevaria, sedum and saxifrage and annuals such as pyrethrum and begonias.
level access from the street after the three year renovation project, two front of house lifts serving all levels of the building, more wheelchair spaces, accessible toilets and a Changing Places toilet. There are new public spaces including a
Creative Engagement Studio for workshops and community projects. A range of heritage displays will keep the theatre’s history alive.
See all the portraits here bit. ly/4uWkLy5
Bridget
Richard Annette
Image:Anneleen Lindsay
Edinburgh’s Voi bike scheme has been most successful in Europe
By RYAN NIXON
EDINBURGH’S Voi bike hire scheme is currently the most successful in Europe, in terms of the trips per vehicle per day, new figures have revealed.
The rental e-bikes arrived in the city in September 2025, with just 50 bikes spread throughout 39 parking locations.
Eight months on, and there are now over 800 bikes in 200 locations in Edinburgh, with plans in place to expand the scheme further.
Cllr Stephen Jenkinson said that since Voi’s introduction in Edinburgh almost 550,000 trips have been taken by around 53,500 users.
The Transport Convener said users have cycled approximately 1.3 million kilometres since September, which equates to 34 laps of the Earth – and an average of around 5,000 trips per day.
It is planned to extend the scheme further, with Cllr Jenkinson noting that the council is hoping to bring the bikes to Portobello, Cramond, Gorgie and Dalry before the city’s festival season begins.
Cllr Jenkinson, who dubbed the pilot period of the scheme an “overwhelming success”, also
Peter Murrell jailed
On 23 June at the High Court in Edinburgh, Peter Murrell was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.
This follows the 61-year-old’s conviction, on 25 May 2026 of embezzling funds in excess of £400,000 from the Scottish National Party.
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston had oversight of Police Scotland’s investigation into the embezzlement, Operation Branchform.
ACC Houston said: “The sentencing of Peter Murrell – and a sentence of such duration - is proof that those who flout the law, who break the trust of those around them, and who embezzle vast sums of money will not escape justice, regardless of how high a profile or role they may hold.
“Operation Branchform has been an extremely detailed,
complex and intricate enquiry, carried out over a protracted period of time in order to ensure a thorough investigation which fully exposed the extent of this wrongdoing, committed over a sustained period of time.
“Murrell occupied a significant position of privilege and power in public life in Scotland, entrusted to oversee the day-to-day operations of the country’s governing political party. His undeniably deliberate and calculated actions to mislead and steal for his own personal gain has proved his disregard for those who placed their trust in him.
“People came forward and told us of their sense and experiences of things not being right, and they are to be publicly commendedtheir statements, combined with our investigations, have led to the outcome we see today.
“Through ongoing close work
Letter to the Editor
am
on
We are located in Victoria Terrace and we are constantly being informed by visitors how difficult it is to find us due to the entrance to Victoria Terrace being impeded and obscured
from George
revealed that the number of trips per vehicle per day is 8.4, far exceeding the “average that companies look for” which is reportedly around 2.5 trips per vehicle per day.
The Voi bikes have been much more successful than their predecessor, the Just Eat Cycles run by Serco which ended in 2021.
In the past eight months, there have been 2.6 times as many rides taken on the Voi bikes than there were over the course of one full year of the previous scheme.
with key criminal justice partners, including the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, this enquiry resulted in the compilation of such a robust case that an early admission of guilt was secured, enabling proceedings to conclude sooner rather than later.
“My sincere thanks go to the officers and staff of Police Scotland, who have committed their specialist knowledge, professionalism, commitment and
To my knowledge we have never been contacted by Council officers or the so called site delivery team to discuss the continued effect this development is having on us.
The dates provided in the article for the removal of the scaffolding and coverings have been greatly exceeded with no visible sign of action for their imminent removal.
What action is the Council taking with the developer in order that they expedite removal of all the obstructions around the
SHERIFF COURT NEWS
By ALEXANDER LAWRIE
A MAN has appeared in court on petition accused of five attempted murders following a series of alleged anti-Muslim attacks on members of the public in Edinburgh.
Lewis Hawkes faced five allegations of attempted murder and three of assault and robbery when he appeared in the dock from custody during a private hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
Hawkes, whose address was given as Edinburgh, is also charged with two counts of culpable and reckless conduct and a single charge of breach of the peace.
All the 10 allegations are said to be aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection.
Hawkes, 36, made no plea and the case was committed for further examination.
He was remanded in custody and was due to appear back at the capital court within eight days.
The court appearance came three days after five people were allegedly injured in a series of attacks in June.
It is believed five people were left injured following the alleged incidents that took place across the north of the city.
The investigation into the circumstances is being led by counterterrorism officers.
expertise to this matter from start to finish, and without whom we would not have been able to achieve justice.
“Work remains to be undertaken in regards to the Proceeds of Crime Act relating to this case by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Police Scotland, and in particular the Cyber and Fraud Unit, will assist in this process and in any further investigations which may be required.”
immediate area?
Is it the case that the developer can just ignore the Council and continue to do as it pleases by setting its own agenda?
I will also be writing to the Council, in particular Cllr Cammy Day who raised the matter in August 2024 and Cllr Margaret Graham who represents the city centre ward for their comments.
Yours
Debbie Craig
Secretary Scottish Genealogy Society (SCIO)
Following the alleged incidents, Superintendent Neil Wilson, of Police Scotland’s Edinburgh local policing division, said: “We recognise the concerns felt within all communities, including those who experienced and witnessed these horrific attacks, and we understand concerns may be heightened at this time.”
Mr Wilson said police had spoken to more than 90 multi-faith organisations around Edinburgh and Scotland in the days following the attacks.
He added: “We have also been in touch with the police officers who bravely carried out the arrest on Friday, as well as speaking to other officers to offer any support they need.
“A 36-year-old man was arrested and charged, and is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
“While there is no wider threat, it continues to be a live ongoing investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing Scotland, supported by local policing officers in Edinburgh and other specialist national capabilities in Scotland.”
The officer encouraged any witnesses to submit information to the major incident public portal set up by police online.
Image: Alan Simpson
Edinburgh currently has 800+ Voi bikes in 200 locations
To The Editor,
I
writing
behalf of the Scottish Genealogy Society (SCIO) with reference to an article in the Edinburgh Reporter by Phyllis Stephen, dated 23rd January 2025. The article discussed the scaffolding around the former G & V Hotel on George 1V Bridge.
1V Bridge by this development.
Peter Murrell sentenced at the High Court
Indians in Edinburgh ‘living in fear’ after spate of burglaries
By ROSS CHALMERS
INDIANS in Edinburgh are “living in fear” after the community was hit with a series of “targeted” burglaries this June.
Burglars are reported to have singled out several households owned by Indian families in Edinburgh, Livingston, and Midlothian for valuable pieces of jewellery, leaving other goods like electronics and art untouched.
Members of the community believe these burglaries to have been highly orchestrated, taking place during short windows where every member of the family would be out of the house.
Police confirmed that they have been contacted about the burglaries and enquiries are ongoing.
The victims, however, are not confident that their jewellery will be returned or the perpetrators apprehended.
They have called for more strident action from police and the government to prevent further robberies, and ensure the Indian community can feel safe in Edinburgh.
Rajnish Singh, who heads Edinburgh Diwali and lives in Silverknowes, described the robbery at his home on 8 June:
“These are quite sophisticated burglaries. I had a community organisation meeting in Glasgow, and I left at around 9.45am and came back home at 2pm – four hours and that was it, the jewellery was gone.”
“They had not taken any laptops, watches or speakers, so somehow they must have known [about the jewellery]. In my case, they smashed some of the drawers and the wardrobe was pulled out in the search.”
Images of the scene following the robbery showed furniture, drawers and clothes strewn around a room tipped upside down, and a patio door taken entirely off its hinges.
Rajnish added that one neighbour had been able to catch the burglars on CCTV, but it had not been enough to trace the perpetrators, and different attempts to track the various vehicles driven by the thieves had yielded no results.
He described similar incidents in which friends of his were robbed during the school run, and an entire safe was taken from a property in Livingston. Another property on his road was burgled on the same day.
“It beggars belief that they can be taking chances, they must just be earmarking [the properties],” he added.
“Some of this jewellery has a lot of sentimental value – in my case, those pieces were given to my wife as part of her wedding gift, and to my youngest daughter, when she was born, on her first visit to India.”
He described the fear that has now gripped the community: “It is very scary for people. People are very, very nervous, even if they come out and meet.
“I was there at a community meeting on Sunday, and everybody had this in mind, everybody thinks that we should be raising it, so I’ve written it to the MSPs, MPs, and the Chief Constable’s Office.”
Some have even taken preventative measures: “Many people have started using private lockers, but they only cover up to £10,000 in terms of insurance, so after that you’ll have to take your own insurance, so this is additional cost.
“Everyone is becoming careful, some of them are even going to the lengths of sending it [the jewellery] back to India.
“Some of them are making sure that they are not leaving their house vacant at any point, and sometimes when people have to leave, they are leaving with a sense of nervousness.
“People are switching on alarms, even if they’re going out for 15 minutes, which is quite a painful thing, it’s time-consuming, and means people can’t have peace of mind.
“The community is full of professionals: doctors, IT people, business owners – very law-abiding people.”
Rajnish said that he would like to see focused, widespread efforts to tackle the issue, rather than police treating each instance like an individual crime.
He explained: “12-13 years back, there were similar instances, and I was part of the small delegation that went and met the Chief Constable and expressed our concern – after that a taskforce was set up.
“We understand that, after that, they managed to track down some of the perpetrators, and the situation definitely improved.”
Another Indian man, whose property in Rosewell was burgled on 10 June, said the mood is grim.
He said: “All Indian people in Edinburgh are living in fear. My daughter, when she saw the state of the house, was so scared.”
He had left the house at around 8:45 to take his daughter to school and returned at around 9:50 to find his house turned upside down and valuable jewellery gone. He estimates, based
Scots young farmers in final fundraising push for new
By ROSS CHALMERS
THE SCOTTISH Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) is pushing for the final portion of funding required for their “Big Build”.
The association plans to construct a new building on the Royal Highland Showground, in Ingliston, to replace their old headquarters, which had been condemned by architects.
The old HQ has now been demolished, and construction of the new facility is expected to begin in autumn this year, with hopes that it could be ready for next year’s Highland Show.
Euan Bremner, National Chair of the association, expressed his pride at the fundraising campaign –having raised £1m in under a year – and was confident the association could raise the remaining amount – between £500k and £1m – in the coming months.
home
The new building will provide a year-round base for the nation’s Young Farmers, doubling as a social hub – to help tackle rural isolation – and an events and office space.
At this year’s Highland Show, the Young Farmers put the boosters on their final fundraising round, with a quad bike raffle, various competitions and events, while members have been travelling round industry stands at the show attempting to solicit donations.
The Scottish Government provided £98,000 in funding, while substantial backing also came from the International Trust, the international association of young farmers, the Ingliston Trust, which owns the buildings on the showground, and the community, through donations, and various fundraising efforts at the Highland Show.
SAYFC President, Sheena Munro, while staffing the desk for the Young Farmers’ tent on the Royal Highland Showground, said: “There’s a lot of rural charities which can hopefully be hosted within the Young Farmers centre, so that gives us a way of getting some rent back in.
“But it would also provide a space for us to have meetings, to have a bit of security within our own home, and it would be a great place to have a heritage centre.”
Young Farmers from around the country are being asked to contribute memorabilia and photographs from Young Farmers clubs in years gone by for a heritage exhibition in the new centre. They have collected 102 boxes of artefacts already.
National Chair, Euan Bremner, added: “We’ve done loads, some of us have run marathons, climbed mountains, but then just big
“We need some kind of reassurance that action is being taken, otherwise how can we feel safe?
“How can Indian families have confidence that the government will look out for us?”
He said the same thing had occurred to so many of his friends, and echoed Rajnish’s calls for a taskforce or concerted police effort.
Police Scotland said: “On Monday, 8 June, 2026, officers received reports of break-ins at two properties on Lauriston Farm Road, Edinburgh. On Wednesday, 10 June, 2026, officers received a report of a break-in on Archibald Hood Crescent, Rosewell.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”
donations and loads of different events have also been really important.
“We’ve got 73 clubs in Scotland, so they’ve all done something, and from all sorts of different events,
tractor runs, like fashion shows, everything’s been covered just to raise money.
“We’re really happy with how it’s been going. So we’re just needing a wee bit more to get it finished.”
on CCTV footage, the robbery may have only taken around 15 minutes.
Young Farmers stand at the 2026 show
Proposed new home
The patio door taken off the hinges
A room tipped upside down after a robbery
Artists donate to Firefly show
By PHYLLIS STEPHEN
AN EXHIBITION will be held in the autumn at Bonhams Edinburgh to raise funds for the charity Firefly International.
The charity helps children who are affected by war, no matter where they are in the world and was established by Ellie Maxwell in 1995. Maxwell travelled to post-war Bosnia and began a youth project in Mostar to help displaced children rebuild trust and connect across divided communities through art and music workshops.
The organisation works through catch-up and STEM education for children affected by war in Syria, play art therapy and education for Palestinian child refugees in Egypt and mental health support for children in Palestine. Firefly also runs the only inter-ethnic youth club and pre-school in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Firefly supporter, art historian Dr Ben Street, said: “Creativity is the basic unit of how Firefly works. When my friend Ellie started Firefly, it was her belief that making art together can be a model for living together and artists have generously donated their work to Artists for Firefly to allow this belief to keep going.
“To be an artist is to manifest a faith that human activity can point beyond itself – and through Artists for Firefly we can support
Ellie’s mission to bring creativity to help children traumatised by war”
The exhibition, Artists for Firefly, will be staged in collaboration with Artwise curators.
Artist, Nick Goss said: “It’s a testament to what Firefly are doing that there wasn’t a single artist I talked to who didn’t immediately offer a work for the project. They are a small grassroots charity that have a lot of heart and try and tackle the problems children face in war zones in a localised specific way that is incredibly important and inspiring. “
Reflecting the vital work of Firefly, the participating artists have created work on the theme of childhood, with 100% of the proceeds raised from each sale going directly to support children in Firefly’s project areas around the world.
Artists for Firefly: Tom Anholt, Michael Armitage, Rana Begum, Phoebe Boswell, Gareth Cadwallader, Sedrick Chisom, Andrew Cranston, Laura Ford, Nick Goss, Phil Goss, Gabriel Hartley, Nicholas Hatfull, Christian Hidaka, Tom Howse, Nick Jensen, Matthew Krishanu, Sara Naim, Kemi Onabulé, Sikelela Owen, Ravelle Pillay and Caroline Walker.
Works will be available to buy online and in person from Bonhams from 6pm on 28 September.
Cyclist gears up for good on charity ride
By PHYLLIS STEPHEN
Charity cyclist, Cameron Sproul, says that one of the nicest things that happened on his 3,000 mile journey was a man who left him a bag of messages by his bike to keep his strength up.
The 19 year-old Heriot-Watt student has just completed a solo cycle from Edinburgh to Santiago de Compostella in Spain.
His bike has a fully enclosed Shimano electric gear system which means that you cannot see the gears changing, but the benefit is that the bike is “pretty robust”, so maintenance is really low, and the trip has gone off without a hitch.
He said: “The weather has been challenging with cold temperatures in Ireland plus heavy rains and wind. Then it got very hot around Bordeaux where it hit over 38 degrees during the day and around 28 degrees at night.
“I climbed the Col du Pourtalet which featured as one of the climbs
in the 2018 stages of the Tour de France and has a ski resort at the top. I climbed over 2,000 metres which is 600 metres higher than Ben Nevis. That was a very tiring day.”
The former boy scout has used all types of transport to make the journey, including a ferries to Northern Ireland then from Cork to Roscoff where he cycled down the French Atlantic coast traversing the Pyrenees into Spain. He crossed northern Spain by bike to finish at Santiago.
In all Cameron has covered more than 3,000 miles and has climbed around 37,000 metres of elevation which is equivalent to climbing Mount Everest four times. As if that wasn’t enough he took a day off cycling when he reached the Pyrenees and went hiking for the day instead.
Before this journey the longest time he had ever gone bike-packing was just three days. He decided to set himself the challenge after walking the Camino last year with a friend, and
he came up with the idea of cycling all the way from Balerno.
He found the solo journey a bit challenging at first, particularly in Ireland where there were not too many people around. But things improved in France where he joined the Velo 1 route and met other cyclists, including Rory from Inverness who he now regards as a friend.
His father Mark has been keeping
an eye on his progress through the Strava app.
Cameron said: “I have found friendliness and kindness a key theme of my trip. I met a fellow Scot Rory from Inverness en route who gave me so much encouragement, and also a group of French guys who have cycled 700kms travelling from the east to the west of France.”
The economics student worked in
Halfords last summer, and over weekends during his first year at university, so this trip is completely self-funded and anything he raises will be donated to Social Bite.
Cameron is hoping to raise £1 for every mile cycled and the last time we looked he had already raised more than £1000.
Support Cameron here on JustGiving
Tom Anholt, Angel, 2026, watercolour on paper
Image:
Artists For Firefly
Cameron on the road
Young filmmakers take centre stage at the Into Film Awards
By RYAN NIXON
A GROUP of young filmmakers from Edinburgh have won at the Into Film Awards 2026.
The awards, organised by education charity Into Film, are the UK’s leading celebration of young filmmaking talent.
Made by six young people working with Screen Education Edinburgh and BFI Academy, What’s in a Bowl? was announced as the winner of the Best Film 16–19 category at the ceremony.
What’s in a Bowl? follows a young Chinese immigrant living in Edinburgh who is struggling with homesickness and feelings of belonging.
With his late grandmother’s words and memories still alive in his mind, he sets out to recreate her classic noodle dish in the hope of reconnecting with his sense of home.
Alice Chen, writer and co-filmmaker behind What’s in a Bowl?, said: “I’d like to begin by saying what an incredible honour this is to receive this award.
“This film is very close to my heart and telling this story is important to me because it reflects growing up having immigrated from another country and what identity means to those who live in different and often conflicting cultures.
“This film explores experiences and emotions that deserve to be seen, heard and shared because it lets people know that no matter who you are and where you are, belonging comes from within.
“I want to thank everyone at Screen
project and supported myself and the teammates along the way.
“I also want to thank BFI for funding these academies and giving young people a voice and the opportunity to learn and thrive in the creative industry.
“Filmmaking is also never a solo effort, and I’m incredibly grateful to the cast and crew and everyone who gave up their time and energy to bring this story to life.
“Thank you so much. This means more to me than I can ever express.”
Calls for bike enforcement
By TOM H. WILSON
LORNA SLATER has urged for “proper enforcement” of motorbikes being driven dangerously in the city after a pedestrian was hospitalised following a collision with three electric scooters in St Patrick Square.
Officers have since announced that “three Suron-style electric motorbikes”, which resemble dirt bikes, were involved in the incident.
Motorbike gangs on similar equipment have been seen speeding and performing dangerous manoeuvres by members of the public for a number of years.
Edinburgh Central MSP Lorna Slater has urged for “proper enforcement” of the vehicles in the city centre following the incident.
Ms Slater said: “People need to be able to walk through our city centre safely and without fear of being hit by vehicles being ridden dangerously. Where people are using electric motorbikes, dirt bikes or similar vehicles dangerously or illegally in public spaces, there must be proper enforcement.
“Edinburgh needs safe, accessible and sustainable transport, but that depends on public confidence. Reckless and antisocial use of electric vehicles puts pedestrians at risk.”
Ms Slater added: “I would urge anyone with information about this incident to contact Police Scotland as soon as possible.”
Health and wellbeing with
FOR MANY YEARS, we have been fed the message that a healthy, balanced diet is key to health. Over the last few decades, we’ve seen plant-based (vegan, vegetarian), low-carb/high-protein (keto, Atkins, Paleo), and restriction-based (intermittent fasting diets). More recently, the weight loss industry has exploded with the mainstream availability of GLP-1 inhibitors (Mounjaro and Co). But what really is the best approach? How can we ensure that we are truly eating for health?
• VARIETY IS KEY
in contrast to restrictive diets, variety is the new recommendation – aiming for colourful fruits and vegetables.
The previous ‘5-a-day’ mantra has been replaced by ‘30-plants-aweek’. Think Mediterranean – all the colours of the rainbow if possible!
• WHOLE FOODS ARE BEST
we know that refined foods are
less nutritious. Aim to switch from white to brown rice, pasta and bread. Over time, our tastebuds embrace the change. Whole foods are naturally more filling due to their fibre content, so we eat less and feel fuller for longer – a double win!
• AVOID ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
we know that UPFs are not good for us. But they are so hard to avoid! Any ready-made offering that we pick up in the shops are UPFs. The only true way around this is to prepare and cook from scratch, but this can be a huge challenge with life going on around us. Aim to take some time each week to plan meals, batch cook and prep if you can. If you have a freezer, this could be your new foodie best friend! Cooking for the week ahead can feel super-empowering. It means taking back control and bossing the menu!
PORTION SIZE
fast and convenience food has really messed around with our concept of ‘normal’. Most of us need to dial back our portion sizes. Small changes, like using whole foods, more fibre and plenty of vegetables can help, but so can practical changes – try using a side plate instead of a dinner plate – this may sound silly, but psychology really does play a role and a full side plate will often be more visually satisfying than a half full dinner plate!
At YourGP, our doctors are skilled in discussing all things lifestyle. We offer Health Assessments including bloods and biometric tests, and we also offer medicines including weight-loss medication, including injections to those who may need them.
To start your journey: www.your.gp Available 7 days. Here for you. YourGP.
Konnie Huq and Peter Capaldi with the winners
FRINGE FROLICS
GIRAFFE
We love an autobiographical story but don’t be fooled, this is only loosely autobiographical so Abigail Weinstock didn’t get up to all these things. You’ve recently seen her on stage at the Donmar and on Apple TV and BBC and now she’s on stage at Pleasance.
This comedy play is about masking, misdiagnosis and spending 30 years believing something is wrong with you. Drawing on her experiences as a gay, Jewish,
late-diagnosed autistic woman (who is also far too tall), Weinstock tells a story that is as funny as it is moving. The lead character in Giraffe secretly suspects she’s a sociopath and she’s dedicated her whole life to keeping this a secret, but after some innocent curiosity lands her with a teeny-tiny restraining order for stalking her captivating new neighbour Tabitha, she’s threatened with exposure. As she gears up to make her case at her second hearing, an unlikely friendship helps her realise she’s not a terrifying
sociopath but an undiagnosed autistic woman.
Hundreds of thousands of women in the UK are living with undiagnosed autism and this fantastic piece of new writing shines a light on this. It’s about self-acceptance, honesty and finding belonging – not by becoming ‘normal’ but by embracing difference.
Giraffe, Pleasance Courtyard (Cellar), 13:45
REDACTED:
The Cover-Up of a Cover-Up of a Cover-Up Voloz Collective are Fringe favourites having recently been to the Fringe with The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much and The Life Sporadic of Jess Wildgoose.
But REDACTED promises to be their most conceptually ambitious production to date.
It’s set in Roswell, New Mexico - long associated with UFO folklore, following the alleged 1947 extraterrestrial crash – and now Voloz are bringing their own irreverent, revisionist approach to one of America’s most mythologised conspiracies. In 1973, investigative journalist Marnie Makowski arrives in Roswell hoping to uncover the truth. She finds herself pulled into a labyrinthine conspiracy, where nothing and no one is quite what it seems. As a butcher, a pilot and a priest each offer fragments of an impossible story, Marnie must evade avalanches, the authorities, and an ambiguously European villain to save the world.
Blending virtuoso physical theatre, acrobatics and live music, REDACTED hurtles forward with Voloz’s signature cinematic, inventive and unrelentingly playful style. As narratives collide
BEST OF THE BEST
GLOB
Just looking at the photos of Glob we know you’re in for a treat as finally we get the Scottish premiere of this international multi-award-winning sensation. In a dreamlike world, two characters wordlessly tumble, glide and soar through a realm of surprises. Glob brings us comedy, magic and heartfelt emotion looking at what happens while we’re waiting, the unknown and the beauty of the unexpected.
With hand-to-hand acrobatics, handstands, bounce juggling, tap dance, freestanding ladder, a brand-new variation of diabolo called Globolo (wow!) and live piano woven into the action, Les Foutoukours create a theatrical playground where circus skill meets clowning. It’s a busy world and sometimes we just need to slow down and be calm and this is what Glob is all about – especially at the Fringe!
Les Foutoukours have over 25 years of delighting over 500,000 audience members worldwide with award-winning productions so we cannot wait for this to arrive at McEwan Hall.
Glob, Underbelly (McEwan Hall), 15:00
Bonnie & Wild serves up five years of showcasing new food and drink talent
By RYAN NIXON
FIVE years after opening its doors in St James Quarter, Bonnie & Wild is establishing itself as a launchpad for Scotland’s food and drink talent.
The Edinburgh food hall, which opened in July 2021, has grown from eight chef-led stalls and four speciality retailers to become a bustling marketplace housing names including award-winning burger joint El Perro Negro and MasterChef winner Gary McLean’s Creel Caught. Three new additions have arrived in recent months alone. New York-style pizza concept Flùr opened in April, followed by the eastward expansion of Glasgow institution Eusebi, and BBC Saturday Kitchen regular Julie Lin’s Tacos Lah in June.
Central to Bonnie & Wild’s appeal is a business model designed to strip away the barriers typically associated with opening a restaurant.
Concessionaires benefit from shared equipment, supplier contacts, business
mentoring and PR support - drastically reducing the upfront costs that deter many would-be operators.
Managing Director, Ryan Barrie, says the space provides a “perfect environment” for entrepreneurs and established businesses to launch, expand or trial a concept with minimal risk. Five years in, publicly available financial figures suggest that model is working - both for the businesses inside and the food hall itself.
Ryan Barrie said: “At its heart, Bonnie & Wild has always been about championing the best of Scotland.
“We do this by showcasing Scotland’s incredible food and drink, the brands we collaborate with, and the entrepreneurs who we’ve invited to join our Scottish Marketplace.
“Bonnie & Wild provides the perfect environment for entrepreneurs and established businesses alike to launch a new business, access a new market, or trial a new concept – something we’ve seen in action with our three most recent openings.
THE OLD EDINBURGH CLUB
Each month The Old Edinburgh Club helps us to look back in history at some notable dates.
1 July
In 1505, the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh were formally incorporated as a craft guild of the city, and this recognition is embodied in the Seal of Cause (or Charter of Privileges); the organisation is now known as the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. And in 1999, Queen Elizabeth officially opened the new Scottish Parliament in its temporary home in the Assembly Hall on The Mound.
5 July
In 1560, the Treaty of Edinburgh (also known as the Treaty of Leith) was signed, the purpose being that French and English troops would withdraw from Scotland; and Mary and François were to agree to give up any claim to the English crown and recognize Elizabeth as the rightful Queen; the treaty was never ratified by Mary. And in 1820, scientist William John Macquorn Rankine was born in Edinburgh.
“BBC chef Julie Lin launched her Tacos Lah kitchen without the barrier costs associated with opening a new restaurant; restaurateur Giovanna Eusebi expanded her renowned Eusebi Deli to Edinburgh, accessing a new market hungry for Eusebi’s famous cakes for the first time; and chef and entrepreneur Ivan Stein has trialled his Flùr concept, taking Edinburgh by storm with his delicious New York-style pizza slices co-created by worldrenowned pizza expert Anthony Falco.
“Like their fellow chefs and entrepreneurs within Bonnie & Wild, Julie, Giovanna and Ivan
were all able to launch these businesses with very little risk or upfront - often prohibitive - costs, with business support fromBonnie & Wild team.
“Hospitality across the UK is under intense pressure, and like every other bar and restaurant, we’re experiencing financial strains and rising costs that add to the challenges of running a successful business.
“But what makes Bonnie & Wild work, what helps us to navigate these challenges, is the attractive offer we’ve built here, and which clearly chimes with our engaged and loyal customers.”
2 July
In 1919, in the early hours, the biggest airship in Britain (the 643ft-long R34) left its hangar at the airfield at East Fortune, took off and headed west; after a journey of four and a half days that encountered poor weather and engine problems the dirigible landed in the USA completing the first east-to-west aerial crossing of the Atlantic.
23 July
In 1637, the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (often referred to as the English Civil War) began by footstools being thrown at the preacher in St Giles in Edinburgh in protest against the new prayerbook proposed by Charles I; tradition has it that Jenny Geddes shouted “Ye daur say Mass in ma lug!” and threw her chair at the pulpit.
27 July
In 1760, the Scottish School of Design was founded in Edinburgh; it later became the Royal Institution and finally the Royal Scottish Academy.
28 July
In 1825, On a sweltering summer day the foundation stone for Edinburgh’s new Royal High School was laid on a fresh site on Calton Hill.
By ROSS CHALMERS
AN AWARD-WINNING GARDEN has opened permanently in Edinburgh after a community fundraising drive brought it home from a flower show in Yorkshire.
Drakkar’s Drift, created by Leith resident Luke Coleman, was formally unveiled at Victoria Park on Sunday by Councillor Margaret Graham, the council’s Culture and Communities convener, and Sanne Dijkstra-Downie – the Liberal Democrat MSP for the area.
The garden swept the boards at the RHS Flower Show Wentworth Woodhouse last July, winning a Gold Medal, the RHS Young Designer of the Year title, the People’s Choice
Award and Best Construction. All of this in Coleman’s debut as a show garden designer.
Inspired by the basalt columns of Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa, the garden celebrates Scotland’s historic ties with Scandinavia by blending Nordic wellness traditions with Highland elements. Its name draws on the Norse word for the dragonheaded Viking longship.
After the show, a community fundraising campaign was launched to bring the garden to Edinburgh permanently.
The two disused bowling greens at Victoria Park had been returned to the council by Edinburgh Leisure in 2023, with the site chosen following local consultation in which residents expressed a desire for sensory planting.
Image:
Tom
Duffin
Yorkshire garden finds a permanent home in Edinburgh
Ryan Simmons and Giovanna Eusebi
Health-tech firm hits one million customers and £70m revenue
By RYAN NIXON
AN INDEPENDENT healthcare provider has surpassed one million customers and recorded £70m in revenue.
Cloud Pharmacy was founded in 2016 by former Boots pharmacist, Nazmul Kadir, who says he set out to build a service that “prioritised patient care” defined by a commitment to safety, ethics, and clinical excellence.
Based in Livingston, West Lothian, the company offers patients support to transition from medication to permanent, healthy management – such as treating weight loss as a long-term health journey.
Cloud Pharmacy has achieved this scale-up without any venture capital or external debt, remaining entirely founder-owned and self-funded since its inception.
Ten years on from its founding,
Nazmul has built a 90% female team with an average age of 30.
He said: “This 10-year journey has been about proving that healthcare can be delivered with both digital agility and deep clinical integrity.
“Reaching one million patients is a testament to our team’s commitment to providing a service that supports the overstretched NHS by empowering patients to take control of their preventative health.”
“Our ‘Cloud Care Model’ is built on the belief that healthcare should be flexible and accessible when patients need it, not locked behind a monthly fee,” he added.
“Success to me isn’t about matching the archetypes of the traditional corporate world.
“As the company enters its second decade, we remain focused on global expansion and continuing to provide reliable, authentic care that puts the patient at the heart of every decision.”
Nazmul Kadir founded Cloud Pharmacy ten years ago
A True Glasgow Home
Not the Four Walls but the People and the Memories
RETURNING FROM THE USA to clear out his childhood home in Glasgow, John Anthony Gorman finds the rooms aren’t just packed with their possessions – they overflow with memories.
Woodcutter, a Fringe premiere running from 7-29 August at TheSpaceUK’s Triplex Studio, reflects real-life experience and is packed with laughter and sadness, as Gorman recalls key moments in family life.
His dad John and mum Ann were strong characters, well-kent in Motherwell where they ran The Woodcutter pub for half a century.
He remembers how he stole his mum’s diamond earrings to look like David Beckham. And there’s a major mix up of assumptions when he tells his parents that there’s something really important he needs to tell them.
When he finally gets the words out, it’s that he plans to move to the US.
Then there’s the heart-wrenching memory of serving his terminally ill father a final Guinness.
Gorman said: “After my parents died and our family home was packed up and sold, I found myself isolated by grief, seeking the sense of home I had lost.
“My wife Mickele encouraged me to share my experiences as a one-man show, and The
Woodcutter is the result.
“I realised that what makes a true home is not the four walls, it’s the people. The memories, the celebrations, watching your team score the winning goal, but it’s also all the shit, getting through the hard times and never giving up on each other, even when it gets ugly.
“That’s the ‘home’ that lives in me now, that shaped me. While the story is uniquely mine, it’s also everyone’s. We all face the death of our loved ones and making peace with it in our own way.”
Gorman’s upbringing was staunchly Catholic and his schooldays were spent at the Jesuit St Aloysius College.
His move to the USA has been a success.
Gorman’s acting career has seen him appear in TV shows such as NBC’s The Blacklist, and alongside Nicole Kidman in Paramount’s Lioness, as well as Disney’s Daredevil: Born Again.
His recent Off-Broadway credits include: The Parlour (The Rattlestick Theater) and Nowhere Man (Theatre for the New City).
It’s quite a journey from summers spent working behind the bar in The Woodcutter while he trained for a career in golf.
Tickets www.edfringe.com
If death can’t come between
Eleanor and Harold, what can?
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DEATH CEASES TO BE THE FINAL FAREWELL?
Recent technological developments have seen the emergence of “griefbots” or “deathbots” where the voice and data about a loved one are uploaded and rebirthed as an AI simulation.
A Better Memory is a worldpremiere Fringe play, starring Edinburgh actor Lubna Kerr, which looks at the role artificial intelligence can play in grieving.
The play sees Eleanor, lost and lonely a year after being widowed, deciding to switch on an AI assistant built using her husband Harold’s digital footprint, including voice recordings.
She can once again hear her husband’s voice, revisit old jokes, and be taken care of.
At first, reminiscing is comforting.
But as the AI model starts to
remember things that Eleanor doesn’t, she realises that some versions of the past are harder to live with than others.
Lubna said: “AI is already changing how people communicate, work and form relationships.
“The idea that we might use it to recreate people after death sounds futuristic, but versions of this technology already exist.”
Having lost both her own parents, with her father dying when she was young, Lubna has an acute understanding of the issues raised by the play.
She added: “The frightening thing is that part of us would want it. The play asks whether holding on to someone forever is comforting… or dangerous.”
Funny, unsettling, and painfully human, A Better Memory may well mean you never see your Alexa or Siri in quite the same way again.
Lubna is highly familiar to
Fringe-goers after her successful trilogy of one-woman productions, Tickbox, Chatterbox and Lunchbox which all explored social issues connected to her upbringing as a childhood immigrant from Pakistan to Glasgow in the 1970s.
She is also a familiar face from TV having appeared in shows as varied as Two Doors Down and The Wheel of Time.
A Better Memory is a new departure for the Edinburghbased actor and writer – a three-hander with Codge Crawford as “Harold” and Kathryn Mowper as Mia.
It’s also a family affair. The play is produced by Kerr Arts Collective and by Lubna’s son Ihsan and marks his debut as a playwright. The production takes place at The Green at Pleasance Courtyard from 5-30 August
Tickets www.pleasance.co.uk/. www.lubnakerr.com
Lubna
Woodcutter
Sheer Horror!
ONE MAN POE IS BACK WITH YET MORE TWISTED GOTHIC TALES.
In the autumn of 1815 the young Edgar Allan Poe, who later became the “godfather of horror”, visited Edinburgh after a brief spell at grammar school in Irvine.
This year Stephen Smith will present no less than six of his short stories on stage at the Fringe.
The actor – a life-long horror fan - has memorised an astounding 18,000 words for a marathon festival month performing three separate shows (two dark tales in each), from 7-29 August.
Smith has had two previous sell-out runs at the Fringe with One Man Poe, but this is his biggest undertaking yet with the addition of two more spinechillers to his repertoire.
The fresh offerings for 2026 are The Business Man and The Case of M. Valdemar.
The first concerns a corrupt, bullying US businessman who made his fortune through nefarious schemes including property scams and decides the time is right to enter politics. Farfetched?
In the second a mesmerist carries out an experiment to see what will happen if a man is put in a trance at the very moment of death.
Will it end well?
Smith says: “Memorising 18,000 words of Poe is a privilege and a responsibility. I treat these stories like living theatre, not museum pieces.
“Every year I deepen the work, and this year’s additions allow us to explore Poe’s wicked humour and his most disturbing experiment with death. Poe understood something chilling - that the real horror isn’t monsters, it’s us.”
In addition to the new stories, audiences can see the original four which saw Smith scoop
the Derek Award for Best Overall Show and the Spookies Award for Best Horror Solo Show’.
These are the classics The Tell-Tale Heart; The Pit and the Pendulum; The Black Cat; and The Raven.
It’s claimed that Boston-born Poe’s spell in Scotland had a strong influence on his later writing. In fact, his Scottish heritage was central to his identity, with the “Allan” in his name being a tribute to his Scots born foster father John Allan.
Born in 1809 and dying in 1849, he is a central figure in Gothic fiction and did much to shape the genre.
Smith’s work stays determinedly true to his spirit and legacy. Indeed One Man Poe takes place in the atmospheric surroundings of Greenside’s 16th-century Riddles Court complex, a place Poe himself might have seen.
The shows have been welcomed by Poe’s descendants as a “tour-de-force” and each offers horror fans and classical literature lovers an experience rich with imaginative storytelling.
Tickets https://www.edfringe.com
GREEDY CORPORATE AMERICA collides with the people who look after the landscape and wildlife of the country’s great open spaces in Parkies, which premieres at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Each year, seasonal workers arrive at the US National Parks to run the facilities for visitors as they get close to nature. It is an environment playwright Ross Allen is familiar with as he has been one of those “Parkies” since he retired from a career as an accountant.
Parkies, is at TheSpace@Surgeons’ Hall, 7-29 August, features characters as diverse as US society itself.
We meet a porn star wannabe, a Croatian gap year student, a gambling evangelist, an accountant who has taken a vow of silence, and a drag queen-intraining as they sign up for a summer welcoming the guests. The misfit medley brings humour, mischief and intrigue as they pit their wits against big business and reveal its unsavoury ways.
Parkies throws up as many questions about the workplace and business as it does about human relationships. When the Parkies find the charred remains of a deer, the focus sharpens on the practices of big business. What else will they discover? Who will survive?
Making his Fringe debut, writer and actor Ross found inspiration for his first play in his work at a National Park in Utah. He draws on his sharp observations of those around him for this insightful comedy.
Ross explains: “I’m delighted that Parkies will premiere in Edinburgh. I’m a bit of a theatre nerd and I’ve always wanted to do something like this.
“I’m thrilled by the support of my fellow Parkies. They love the idea of a story inspired by what they do in the National Park going to the world’s biggest performing arts festival.”
Tickets www.edfringe.com
Queens, Pirates, Singers and Stars
IF YOU WERE ASKED to name Marys from history who would they be –and which of them would you invite for dinner?
This is the set-up for a highly entertaining, Fringe production which romps across the millennia to look at the many and varied Marys, Marias, Mariams, and others of the name, who have made their mark on the world.
Some ruled nations, entranced the world with song or transformed science. Others were pimps, pirates and pickpockets.
Lottie Walker, who devised and presents Bloody Marys at Greenside
Riddles Court from 7-22 August as part of this year’s Fringe, has had previous success in Edinburgh with Chopped Liver and Unions.
In the new show she makes use of her skills as an actor and professional tour guide to explore the highways and byways of women’s history. She will cover famous folk like Mary Shelley (1797-1851). Mother of Sci Fi (with her novels Frankenstein and The Last Man), she was reputed to have lost her virginity atop her mother’s grave and wrapped her dead husband, Percy Byshe Shelley’s, heart in some of his poetry and kept it a drawer.
There are singers, from Maria Callas to Marie Osmond, and fashion designer Mary Quant who popularised the miniskirt.
Naturally Lottie brings us Mary, Queen of Scots and the original Bloody Mary – Queen Mary, the Protestantburning Tudor monarch of England who ended up with her own cocktail. But then Lottie considers a multitude of others, like deadly disease spreader Mary Mallon (Typhoid Mary) and the to-good-to-be-true (indeed fictional) Mary Poppins?
Lottie said: “Famous, infamous, celebrated and forgotten – an amazing amount of history has been
made by Marys and it’s time we honoured their contributions with a dinner party.
“But which ones to invite? I’m just going to tell the audience about them and they can decide. I’d just ask people to be careful and maybe not seat Mary Frith next to Mary Poppins as she’ll nick her handbag.”
Mary Frith (aka Moll Cutpurse) was a 17th-century thief, fence and pimp who dressed in men’s clothes, smoked a pipe, kept parrots and bred mastiffs. She and Mary Read, an original Pirate of the Caribbean, would make quite a combination.
Lottie will give the low-down on
around 30 Marys, even chucking in a sing-along
Images: Colin Hattersley
One Man Poe. Stephen Smith as The Mesmerist
Things to think about when making a Will and Power of Attorney
Making a will is one of the most important steps anyone can take to ensure that personal wishes are respected and loved ones are provided for after a death. While many people intend to put a will in place, it is often delayed because they are unsure where to begin. Taking some time to consider a few key points can make the process much easier.
First, think carefully about who you trust to manage your affairs. In a will, these individuals are known as Executors. Their role is to administer your estate and ensure your wishes are carried out. Similarly, if you are considering a Power of Attorney, you should think about who you would appoint as your Attorney to make decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so.
It is also helpful to make a note of your assets. This may include your home, savings, investments, pensions and valuable personal possessions. It is equally important to consider your digital assets, such as online bank accounts, social media profiles, any other online accounts
that may have financial or sentimental value. Having a clear picture of what you own will help ensure nothing is overlooked when planning your estate.
You should also consider your wishes for the future. Think about who you would like to benefit from your estate and whether there are any specific gifts, charitable donations or personal items you would like to leave to particular individuals. Recording these intentions in a will can help provide clarity and avoid misunderstandings.
Finally, reflect on your personal circumstances. Family relationships, dependants and any specific needs should all be taken into account. Every family situation is different, and a will should be tailored to reflect your individual circumstances and priorities.
While online and DIY will-writing services may appear to offer a quick and inexpensive solution, it is important to proceed with caution. A will must be correctly drafted and executed to be
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charm with modern comforts, creating bright and inviting living spaces. A versatile attic room provides flexibility for home working or guests, while generous storage adds everyday practicality. Outside, a secluded landscaped garden offers a peaceful escape from city life. With its unique setting, charming interiors and village-like atmosphere just minutes from Edinburgh’s bustling centre, this is a property that perfectly showcases the enduring appeal of one of the capital’s most desirable neighbourhoods.
legally valid, and even small errors can lead to uncertainty, disputes or even unintended consequences for those left behind.
Taking the time to consider these matters in advance can make the Will-making process more straightforward and help ensure your affairs are organised in accordance with your wishes. Once you’re ready, Neilsons offer free initial consultations which can be booked on their website, where you’ll also find a helpful wills FAQs page.
Neilsons will be hosting Wine, Wills and Where to Begin with their charity partners Four Square on Thursday 24th September at 6pm at the Four Square Park Café in Saughton Park. An informal information evening about planning for the future.
Tickets are available from Eventbrite with all proceeds going to Four Square https://www. eventbrite.co.uk/e/wine-wills-and-where-tobegin-tickets-1992069753257
Planning ahead is key at all stages of life
Planning for the future is something many people put off, often because it can feel complex or difficult to discuss. Neilsons Solicitors are committed to making the process as accessible, welcoming and straightforward as possible.
With strong roots in the local community, their Private Client team provides expert advice on Wills, Powers of Attorney and Executry matters, offering clear, practical guidance tailored to individual circumstances.
Emma O’Riordan, Senior Associate said: “As part of our commitment to accessibility, our head office is fully wheelchair accessible, and we have introduced mobile hearing loop systems to support clearer communication for clients
with hearing loss. We also provide flexible appointment options, including home and hospital visits, helping ensure that expert legal advice remains accessible to those who may be unable to attend one of our offices.
"Many people put off making a Will or Power of Attorney because they don't know where to start. Our free initial consultation is designed to make that first conversation easier, giving
clients the chance to ask questions, explore their options and move forward with confidence."
The firm combines legal expertise with a continued focus on accessibility and client care, and aims to make planning ahead a more inclusive process.
For further advice, please contact emmaoriordan@ neilsons.co.uk or call 0131 316 4444
Four Square’s café in Saughton Park
Hothouse Flowers back to bloom in the Capital
By RICHARD PURDEN
HOTHOUSE FLOWERS emerged during the late 1980s with a run of singles that quickly established them as one of the most distinctive Irish bands of the era.
Don't Go, from their 1988 debut album People, was a breakthrough hit, reaching No.11 in the UK singles chart. They cemented their reputation as a formidable live act, blending Celtic rock, soul and traditional Irish music while releasing acclaimed albums such as Home (1990) and Songs From The Rain (1993).
Formed in 1985, the band's grounding came through traditional music at home. Frontman Liam Ó Maonlaí's musical worldview was shaped by his father and by the kind of performances that hold our social fabric together, rather than career ambition. He said: "My first taste of performing was actually traditional music. My dad taught me to sing, and he'd get us to sing when there were people back in the house. Then I got into competing, and that was really exciting. You learned craft, and what it meant to present yourself in front of people. Here in Ireland, traditional music has always been consistent. Sometimes it becomes more visible, more popular, more 'flavoursome', you know; you see it in the media, new bands come through. Some people go for the bright lights, and some just continue playing. It's like a potter's wheel of culture."
That connection between music and places remains central to Ó Maonlaí's worldview. Edinburgh left an impression on him, and it's a place he has often returned to since first playing here with Hothouse Flowers at the Playhouse in 1988. "What hits anyone about Edinburgh is the architecture and the material, the stone," he says. "The stone that the buildings are made of, and the streets and how they wind. It's really beautiful and quite dreamlike."
As Dublin's musical scene flourished through the late 1970s and 1980s, U2 were moving onto global stages while a new generation of Irish artists emerged around them. There was a continuity with traditional music culture, reflected in albums such as Rattle and Hum (1988), which continued Ireland's musical conversation with America. U2 signed Hothouse Flowers to their Mother
Records label and formed a friendship with the band during what was a wonderfully creative period for both acts. "Rattle and Hum was a very cultural album," says Ó Maonlaí. "I thought it really reached into roots music in a graceful way. There were some amazing songs on it, but somehow the media didn't really take to it in the same way, which I always found interesting. For us at the time, it was very special. We were touring and listening to it a lot, and I remember the Rattle and Hum film launching in New York when we were there; we got a sense of that world. There was a real generosity in those circles, too. They were always extending the hand of friendship."
U2 weren't the only artists drawn to the creative forces surrounding the band. "There was huge energy in Dublin at that time. We started out busking, we had different line-ups, and even Marie Doyle Kennedy was involved at one stage. There was a real street energy to it all, and yes, people like Dylan and Van Morrison were around us. Van definitely showed up a couple of times and took a real interest."
There was even talk of a collaboration at the time. "I remember we had a day booked in a studio and ended up just sitting in a corridor listening to the Songs From The Rain demos. You'd imagine someone like Van Morrison would say, 'I'm not sitting here listening to a demo,' but he did. He sat and listened to song after song. There was no big commentary, just an affirmative nod. He seemed to be thinking about an angle, a way into something, because he'd already had that success with The Chieftains. We even talked about a bilingual project at one point; something involving the Irish language. But then the roads just took us in different directions."
Today, Hothouse Flowers operate largely outside the machinery of the music industry, much like Van Morrison. "The industry often struggles with that," says Ó Maonlaí. "They try to make the record perfect, but that's impossible. What's 'not perfect' in a record is often what makes it good. It's like the lines on a face, that's what gives character, or the shape of a rock or a mountain. A good artist isn't really making something; they're allowing something to happen. There's an inner compass that says, 'I think we've got it now,'
and only the artist really knows that moment. Having said that, I'm also all for making a record in a day. Get the sound right and go." That philosophy informed some of the band's earliest decisions. Before Hothouse Flowers had fully found their identity, they knew what they didn't want to be. "We got quite into the loop world later on," he says. "But up until then, we didn't touch a synthesiser at all. Everything we used was more vintage: Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes, and electric piano. There were no synths."
By the mid-1980s, he felt too many acts were chasing the same glossy sounds of the era. "A lot of bands were just sounding the same. The brass sound was the same. It was like they were all using the same synths, the same sequencers." So a line was drawn before the band's debut album had even taken shape.
When the People came out, it didn't sound like anything else." There were a few decisions which protected us artistically, while they weren't a
punk band, they had grown up, like U2 during the punk era and stayed close to its sensibilities. "You talk to so many people, and you realise they're still guided by that punk ethos," he says. "Just make something even if you don't know how to make it. That energy still runs through Don't Go. Ó Maonlaí, adds that there is a wild, untamed energy in the song that can't be quelled. He explains that the song was written after visiting a friend in hospital. "You come out into the day, and everything feels heightened. I walked into the studio, and Peter (O' Toole) was playing two chords, and I just started mouthing images. I don't think I ever wrote the words down. A lot of it was memory; you touch a feeling, and the feeling holds the words for you. You don't remember every word, but you remember the story. It shifts each time."
Hothouse Flowers play the Liquid Rooms Sat 19 December 2026.
Underworld will perform the Trainspotting anthem at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay
By OLIVIA THOMAS
Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations produced by UniqueAssembly will reach a euphoric peak this year as electronic legends Underworld take centre stage for the Midnight Moment in West Princes Street Gardens. In what will be their first-ever appearance at Edinburgh's Hogmanay - and their only Scottish performance of the year - the duo will perform "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" live as the clock strikes midnight to welcome in the New Year. The track, which became embedded
in Scottish cultural life after featuring in Danny Boyle's landmark 1996 film Trainspotting, could hardly have a more fitting time to ring out above the city. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the film.
Rick Smith and Karl Hyde of Underworld said: "We've celebrated New Years all around the world. But Hogmanay with the Scots is always exceptional. We only hope we can give some of that special back to the Scottish people and celebrate the only way we know how. Edinburgh, Let's Dance."
Around 50,000 revellers are expected in the gardens for the once-in-alifetime spectacle, which will combine Underworld's live set with dazzling projections, lighting displays and the fireworks cascade from Edinburgh Castle at midnight. Underworld have crafted their euphoric brand of music for more than three decades, headlining festivals across the globe along the way. But on Hogmanay, it is Edinburgh's West Princes Street Gardens – in its dramatic setting – that will become arguably the world's greatest dance floor.
Edinburgh to welcome Underworld
PLATE EXPECTATIONS
EAT LOCAL, TRAVEL FAR
Edinburgh summer dining, no passport required
SINCE MOVING TO EDINBURGH in 2012, this city’s food scene has never once given me cause for complaint. That’s not to say there haven’t been lacklustre meals, or the occasional impromptu kebab on the way home from a three-figure ‘must-visit’ fine dining experience that left me feeling like a deflated balloon - wallet lightened, stomach empty. But with over 1,000 restaurants in the city, and at least ten new openings every month, the beauty is you never need to return. My approach to Edinburgh’s dining scene is brutal like that: one chance to impress, and I’m moving on.
After over a decade of reviewing restaurants, both for well-known publications and more creatively in video format on social media (scan the QR code for my page Plate Expectations), and a 65,000-word book on Scotland’s street food scene, the conviction remains: Edinburgh rewards those who eat curiously. You quickly learn which places aren’t worthy of their TikTok stardom. I’m Ailidh Forlan, and I’m delighted to use this column to point you towards the places worthy of your time and money each month; the new openings, the quiet gems, and yes, the ones that are genuinely hidden rather than merely hashtagged that way.
This July, the theme is simple. With the cost of a city break - let alone a flight to Asia - now demanding serious justification, Edinburgh is making a compelling case for staying put. So here’s the proposition: pull up a chair at three restaurants channelling the very best of Scotland’s seasonal larder right now, or let Edinburgh transport you somewhere else entirely - Vietnam, China, North India - without so much as a boarding pass. Consider this your passport-free guide to eating well all summer long.
3 SCOTTISH STAPLES
Whirlybird, 36-38 Victoria Street
Forget the rule about steering clear of restaurants in the heart of a tourist trail.
Whirlybird, a new all-day “quietly Scottish” spot on the famous Victoria Street, bucks it convincingly. Exposed brick and Parisian bistro touches meet a team led by restaurateur Ash Bairstow and stacked with Hawksmoor, Panda & Sons and The Kitchin pedigree. Snack on home-pickled vegetables (not just the usuals - fennel, radish, turnip and courgette too) while you deliberate. The smoked mackerel and marinated new potato salad is a meal in
By Ailidh Forlan
itself, but make room for the whole sea bream: gently charred, pooled in lemony butter and salty fried capers, its flesh giving way in clean, juicy flakes that slide straight off the bone. With cocktail maestro Jono behind the bar, eager to guide you through a list of Scottish spirits, you’ll be reluctant to leave. It’s easy to pop in for lunch and just as easy to stay for four hours.
KIN by Gary Maclean, The Roseate Edinburgh, 4 West Coates
West Enders must be delighted not to have to venture into town for ingredient-led dining. There’s now a restaurant right on their doorstep. Don’t be put off by it being a hotel restaurant either, this isn’t reserved for residents or special occasions. The elegant, modern-Scottish dining room and flexible à la carte menu make it just as suited to an elevated midweek meal as a celebratory one. Expect honest, provenance-driven plates from Scotland’s First National Chef: kiln-smoked haddock Cullen Skink, hand-dived scallop with brown crab and barley, or pan-seared roe deer loin with sloe gin sauce. “Us chefs think we’re the ones that do everything,” says Gary Maclean. “It’s not, it’s the producers.” And boy are they celebrated, in a menu (£13-18 starters, £18-32 mains) so studded with Scottish produce that the dishes are impossible to choose between.
The Cottage at Royal Terrace, 7 Royal Terrace
Peter and Anna have resurrected the building once home to The Gardeners’ Cottage, keeping everything foodies loved about it: an open kitchen, long communal tables seating sixteen, and an allotment growing the lovage and rhubarb that turn up on your plate hours later. But the mind-blowing value is what’s got us rebooking before we’ve even made it home. The nine-course tasting menu (£85, wine pairing £55) is built entirely around what’s seasonal and nearby. Standouts include a carrot smoked, pureed, gelled and powdered into something more intensely carroty than any single carrot, and hogget sourced from The Free Company, seared, barbecued and braised, married with ewe’s curd and a rich hogget jus, likely to surpass any other lamb dish you’ll try this year.
Generous smoked mackerel salad starter
Sensational carrots at The Cottage
KIN’s plump hand dived scallop
The Roseate home to KIN by Gary Maclean
Inside the dressed down old world grandeur of KIN
3 ASIAN ADVENTURES
1915 Lanz Noodle, 12 Seafield Road East Seafield Road East isn’t where you’d expect to find one of Edinburgh’s most compelling new openings, but you’ll leave grateful knowing lower overheads mean waddling home full for under a twenty. Sally learned to make noodles watching her father work fresh dough every morning in China. Now she’s brought that craft to Edinburgh, hand-pulling every bowl to order using traditional Lanzhou techniques dating back to 1915. The result is worth the detour: thick, chewy ribbons of biang biang noodlesvegetarian or loaded with unctuous braised brisket (all Halal) - plus juicy hand-folded
dumplings tossed in peanut and chilli, and a Roujiamo: China’s original beef “burger” encased in flaky pastry. Don’t leave without trying the signature Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup - Edinburgh’s only - honouring the century-old five-element “Golden Standard”: crystal-clear bone broth, white radish, red chilli oil, green herbs and springy yellow noodles. Order at the counter, go wild at the help-yourself toppings station, and settle in.
Pho & Roll, 5 Dean Street
This family-run, 28-seater Vietnamese kitchen has quietly earned itself a clean bill of five-star reviews since opening in April. Superlatives are dispensed carefully around here, but this may well be the best Vietnamese food you’ll find outside Vietnam. There, I said it. Start with two fresh summer rolls for just £5.90, alongside a generous bowl of mango, plump prawns and herbs made to sing in a zingy, citrusy fish sauce dressing. This season, a bánh mì is just the ticket: a texture sensation of crusty baguette, juicy barbecue pork belly, a generous smear of pâté, tangy Asian pickles and the gentle sweetness of honey butter. Come cooler climates, it’ll be the pho: protein laden, slow-simmered broth infused with all the aromatics. A comforting hug on a cold day.
CROSSWORD
By Aldhelm
ACROSS
7 HAIL REMOTELY(anagram) (3, 5, 4)
9 Correct behaviour (8)
10 Clinging mollusc (6)
11 Plot, plan (6)
12 Computer information set (8)
15 Gave in, ceded (7)
16 Weird, very strange (7)
19 Get bigger (8)
21 Fame (6)
22 Citrus fruit (6)
24 Authorised (8)
25 Large-scale maker (12)
Sabzi, 162 Ferry Road
Sabzi opened in 2021, evolving from a lockdown pop-up run out of the Singh family’s Leith cafe into the Punjabi restaurant it is today, now housed in a former Blockbuster. It’s seen a fresh wave of popularity lately, after a video of their aloo paratha (a childhood favourite of spiced potato flatbread, served simply for breakfast) went properly viral. The whole family is still involved front and back of
1 Lure, appeal (10)
2 Very popular book (10)
3 Tough construction material (8)
4 Gentle songs (7)
5 Lucky charm (6)
6 Fruit with a stone (4)
8 Nimble, athletic (5)
13 Ideas session (10)
14 Red soft fruit (10)
17 Annoy, vex (8)
18 A few (7)
19 Tusk substance (5)
20 Tree-lined street (6)
23 Tidy, orderly (4)
house, and that warmth is felt the moment you step foot inside. The menu stays compact by design; five mains and a handful of street food sides, no reams of dishes to wade through, just everything cooked with conviction. As a committed meat eater, it’s impressive how their vegetarian dishes could convert you on the spot. The Gobi Manchurian - crisped cauliflower tossed in a sweet, tangy, faintly fiery sauce - is memorably good.
Culinary capers in the capital with
The look of love for noodles
Two prawn-packed summer rolls - just £5.90
Vegetarian does not mean boring
Dinner is served at The Cottage on Royal Terrace
7 ACROSS is an Edinburgh feature.
Manufacturer.
DOWN: 1 Attraction, 2 Bestseller, 3 Concrete, 4 Ballads, 5 Amulet, 6 Plum, 8 Lithe, 13 Brainstorm, 14 Strawberry, 17
Irritate, 18 Several, 19 Ivory, 20 Avenue, 23 Neat.
Ahead
of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Robert Burns, Zog the Dragon and Elaine C Smith grace the stages of the capital in July as well as the long awaited return of the Old Lady of Leven Street
THE CLOCK IS TICKING and the countdown on to the 79th Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which runs from 7-31 August.
Some 3,649 productions have registered to play across 258 venues with a total of 53,884 performances between them this year. Looking at the programme genre by genre it always saddens me to see that comedy continues its domination of a festival that, from its inception, championed theatre and exciting new theatre at that.
This year’s breakdown finds 1,401 comedy shows listed, 1,025 productions registered under the theatre banner, with music in third place (388 shows), musical theatre/opera next (168 productions) followed by cabaret/variety (168) and spoken word (155). Bringing up the rear are children’s shows (127 shows) and dance/physical theatre/circus (115).
That said, a browse of the programme quickly establishes how ‘loose’ those categories actually are. I’ve been trawling
them all over the last couple of weeks ahead of putting together my Must See Fringe recommendations for next month’s spread and there’s certainly an international feel to the event – 71 different countries are represented at this year’s arts extravaganza, still the largest arts festival in the world.
To be honest, it has been a bit of a chore, so many solo pity plays with synopses that read like public therapy sessions join the many stand-ups that have been doing just that for years. Thankfully, I’ve also discovered some exciting new writing, quality productions by teams with strong track records and other well loved titles with impressive creatives. It’s a mix that guarantees a number of little gems in a very diluted programme. I look forward to sharing them with you next month.
But I’m getting ahead of myself, we still have July to get through and, as always, the approach of the Fringe and the Edinburgh International Festival (you’ll also find my Top 5
The Burns Project
The cast of Zog
EIF picks in next month’s edition), sees fewer productions coming to town as venues prepare for August.
Ahead of the EIF both Edinburgh Playhouse and the Festival Theatre have a programme of mostly one-nighters, unlike the Royal Lyceum where, they manage to present two very different productions at the beginning of the month.
Intimate is the word to describe my first pick for July, but be warned, you have just five days to see it. Directed by Olivier award-winning Cora Bissett, The Burns Project (until 5 July) is staged around an ‘immaculately designed’ dinner table in the Henry Irving Room of the Royal Lyceum. There, the audience seated around the Bard’s table, become a part of what is a unique theatrical experience exploring the complicated life and legacy of Robert Burns. And as the set comes alive with hidden voices, music and secrets that are titillating, shameful and surprising in equal measure, they too become part of the story as the piece’s creator, writer and performer, James Clements, brings the room to life.
Running time 1 hour, with no interval, tickets https://lyceum.org.uk/events/ the-burns-project
Staying at The Lyceum, another Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler musical, Zog (7-12 July), arrives to keep the wee ones happy. Suitable for ages 3+, the feel-good story of the keenest dragon in Madam Dragon’s school comes from the same stable as Stick Man. Zog, however, is also the most accident-prone dragon, flying into trees, and even setting his own wing alight. Thankfully, a kind girl comes along to patch up his scratches and scrapes... but can she help him with his biggest challenge yet, winning a golden star?
Running time 1 hour, no interval, tickets https:// lyceum.org.uk/events/zog
Around the corner, The Traverse starts its Fringe programme early with the World
Premiere of Cathy (31 July-30 August), starring Elaine C Smith. Written and directed by Eilidh Loan, Cathy is a new comedy inspired by her grandmother, and how she dealt with grief in a unique way after losing her husband. It was Eilidh’s grandmother, the real Cathy, who insisted Smith should play the role. Guaranteed to be hit with a long life ahead of it, make sure to be amongst the first to see it at this year’s Fringe.
Two Doors Down favourite Smith is joined on stage by an impressive cast comprised of Michele Gallagher as Flo, Chloe Hodgson as Amy, Sally Reid as Lizze and Alan Orr as Colin.
Running time 1 hour 10 minutes, no interval, tickets https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/ event/cathy
The last local highlight this month falls on 31 July with the long-awaited reopening of the Old Lady of Leven Street, yes the King’s Theatre officially throws open its doors once again. In the run up to the official reopening, there are three Dress Rehearsal events (23-25 July). You’ll find details on the Capital Theatres website - so you know what to do if you want to be first to experience the redeveloped King’s.
If you are happy to wait, the Leven Street theatre will then host five EIF events in August ahead of its first new season of entertainment in four years.
Dress rehearsal tickets here https://www. capitaltheatres.com/festivals/kings-dressrehearsals/
Finally this month, the dearth of local entertainment makes July the perfect month for a theatre break and if you happen to be a lover of the musical Rent, ahead of the return of the musical to London’s West End as part of the Pulitzer Prize winning show’s 30th anniversary celebrations, this month brings The Jonathan Larson Project (9 July-22 August) to the Southwark Playhouse.
An electrifying celebration of the unknown and unheard songs of Larson, the composer of Rent, it’s only the second production of The Larson Project in the world and follows its New York premiere.
A show about a young man following his heart in New York City while trying to change the world, the show offers a rare and exhilarating window into Larson’s creative world, featuring previously unheard songs from the his archives. For many it will be a bitter sweet production - Larson tragically died in January 1996 just one day before Rent’s first performance in New York.
Running time 1 hour 30 minutes, tickets https:// southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/ the-jonathan-larson-project/
And that’s it from me. Don’t forget to pop on to www.MustSeeTheatre.com for all my reviews and latest theatre news from Edinburgh and across the UK. Have a read and share – it costs nothing but really does help the site flourish.
Until next month and all the usual Fringe mayhem, Happy theatre-going, Liam.
David Benson in My Life With Kenneth Williams
Edinburgh King’s Theatre reopening
The cast of The Jonathan Larson Project
Elaine C Smith as Cathy
BONO COFFEE
Bono grounds itself in growth
When Bono Coffee opened on South Clerk Street earlier this year, taking over the site of Indiba cafe-bar, word had spread on social media, and curious passersby spotted the clean square sign outside and liked what they saw. The first weeks brought considerable waves of custom. Those early days, co-owner Alejandro Castillo now freely admits, were not without difficulty. “I feel I should apologise to those who came on the first day,” he says. “We weren’t really ready and hadn’t dialled in our coffees sufficiently.”
Having visited twice in that opening week and enjoyed the coffees I had, I feel Alejandro is being unfair to himself, but it indicates Bono’s desire to deliver high standards.
Fast forward a few months and Bono is settled and producing the goods consistently.
THE SPACE
The interior, designed by SPLINTR, is clean and light, making good use of the room. The deep dark wood of the bar and tables gives the place a solidity and draws the eye; for anyone who likes to write or read in a café, those tables have just the right satisfying weight to them. Two sets of window seats look out onto this busy stretch of road, popular with pairs and couples who want to watch the world go by. A jazz soundtrack adds to the mood without intruding.
Several tables are marked laptop-free, which produces something not every coffee place manages: people actually talking to each other. On a recent morning visit, arriving early enough to catch the calm before the wave that builds around eleven, there was no sense of envious eyes hovering over your table waiting for you to go. Coming back on a busier midmorning, the place was full but not chaotic. Conversations overlapped, someone was reading in the corner, and the door kept
opening. That absence of pressure is not something you find everywhere.
Bono is managed by siblings Daniela and Alejandro Castillo Valdes. Alejandro, originally from a small town in Mexico, came to Edinburgh to study and has lived here for several years. The idea for the café grew between the two of them, with the aim of creating a space that felt open to everyone. It does.
THE COFFEE
The house roast is a Brazilian Sul de Minas from Obadiah, the Abbeyhill-based roasters who have built a strong reputation. It produces a satisfyingly dense cup, earthy rather than excessively fruity. The dark chocolate and sweet cherry profile comes through clearly in a cortado. On a more recent visit, a long black arrived smooth and without the metallic edge that too often comes with such drinks. Coffee writer James Hoffmann has attributed that fault to the habit of adding boiling water directly to espresso; it was not a problem here.
Alejandro is candid about how long consistency takes to achieve. The variability between beans means dialling in is an ongoing process. It shows in the cup now. The baristas know what they are doing.
Decaf can be a test that separates the serious places from the merely adequate. Bono takes it seriously. On a recent visit the barista confirmed that theirs was “well dialled in”, and so it proved: a companion who is currently cutting his caffeine intake was sufficiently impressed to order two. Nudo teas are also on offer, alongside a selection of bakery items.
EL SOL SALE PARA TODOS
When I asked Alejandro about operating in a competitive stretch of the city, with Onto
By Charlie Ellis
further along the road and Cult a short distance away, he was relaxed — welcoming, even. He used a phrase common in Mexico: El sol sale para todos, “the sun rises for everyone.” The meaning is that one business doing well does not take anything away from another; there is room for all of them. He would much rather have Onto and Cult nearby than a Starbucks or a Black Sheep Coffee
In this part of Edinburgh, the sentiment holds up. Bono, Onto, and Cult are all consistently busy, each with a slightly different feel, offering coffees by different roasters. Alejandro’s preference for independents over chains is partly about atmosphere and partly about standards: specialty coffee places push each other, and customers in an area with several good options tend to develop more discerning tastes. Having Onto and Cult nearby helps this.
The one exception Alejandro noted was an unusually sunny Friday, when the population of the area seemed to decamp wholesale to the Meadows. He went and had a quiet look at the neighbouring places, to check whether it was just Bono sitting empty that afternoon. It
was not. Every café on the stretch was in the same position. Fortunately, Edinburgh does not hand out too many such Fridays.
This arc — from an intense opening period to a steadier pattern — plays out at new coffee places all over the city. Cafen on Dundas Street is the obvious example: the corner queues at weekends in those first months are long gone, and what remains is a café that consistently serves some of the best coffee in Edinburgh. Bono seems to be heading the same way.
WORTH NOTING
One detail that catches people’s attention is the card dispenser near the door. It holds six designs by artist Eve Tong, some featuring Bono-related imagery, others showing Edinburgh scenes, and it dispenses them at random. That randomness gives it an addictive quality; a swap shop may eventually be required.
This stretch of South Clerk Street now has some genuinely excellent options for specialty coffee. Bono has earned its place among them.
Bono Coffee, 88 South Clerk Street, EH8 9PT
Call up for Elding
By JOHN HISLOP
HIBS’ PLAYER OWEN ELDING earned his first call-up to represent his country last month as part of the Republic of Ireland’s international friendly double-header against Qatar and Canada.
The 20-year-old was called-up by Heimir Hallgrímsson as a ‘training player’ and was unable to feature in either of their two friendlies whilst waiting on his Irish citizenship application to be finalised.
Despite that, the experience, training alongside some top class players has fuelled his burning desire to succeed for his country in the future.
“It was an unbelievable experience and something you can’t take for granted,” said Elding.
“It was a little surreal at the start, meeting new teammates with a room full of Premier League players and players that play for massive clubs in Europe - but it was something I really relished, and all the lads made me feel really welcome and made me feel like I belonged at that level.
“I think being involved and getting a feel of my first international camp for any age group was huge for me because next time, if selected, I will know what to expect and be ready to perform.
“I learnt so much in such a small space of time from the experienced professionals like Seamus Coleman, Chiedozie Ogbene and
loads more and what it takes to play international football and play at the highest level week in, week out.”
Having arrived from Sligo Rovers late in the winter transfer window, Elding has taken to Scottish football and life in Leith in his stride, scoring on his first start for Hibs against St Mirren and notching three goals in his first eight games.
“It all came about pretty quickly.
“A couple of weeks before the camp, I was at Hibs Training Centre and had a message from Heimir (Hallgrímsson) asking if I had some free time to take a quick call.
“Obviously a lot of thoughts were running through my mind as to what he was going to say, but when I called him, he told me that I could be involved as a training player for the Qatar and Canada games, and it was definitely an opportunity I couldn’t say no to.
“To go away with the national team at any age and called up in only a couple of months into my Hibs career was definitely a special feeling for me and also for my family, to be called in even as a training player and know I couldn’t take part in the games and get a cap.
“It was a massive opportunity for me to showcase myself to the manager and the staff even before I qualify to play football matches for Ireland.
“I can’t wait to get my papers sorted so I’m eligible to hopefully represent my country if
selected on the biggest stage.”
Elding was joined on international duty by Jamie McGrath, who received a late call-up by Hallgrímsson, and he said his Hibs team-mate helped him settle quickly.
“I was buzzing when I texted Jamie (McGrath), and he also said he was coming into the camp,” added Elding.
“Playing most weeks with Jamie at Hibs really made it easy for me to go in and be myself.
“It really helps when you see familiar faces around. I love playing alongside Jamie, and I feel like we are really getting to know each other’s games inside out, and that will show next season.
“Jamie really pushes me to be better because I want to be the best on the pitch
every week, and to be better than him on the day is a quite difficult ask, so he makes me perform even more.
“Hopefully soon I will be playing alongside him in the green of Ireland too, as that would be very special.
“It definitely has given me even more motivation to get a good pre-season under my belt and really kick on this season because the UEFA Nations League is only around the corner, and if I have a really strong start to this season, hopefully I can be a full Irish international and get my first cap and many more.
“I feel under the guidance of David (Gray) and his staff I’m only going to get better and better, so I can’t wait to get back into pre-season and really kick on this season.”
Image: Ian
Owen Elding
Pedal power
PORTOBELLO HIGH SCHOOL has launched a new Girls Cycling Programme, bringing together more than 70 young women from across the school community to embark on a journey of adventure, empowerment, friendship and discovery through pedal power.
The programme draws inspiration from a remarkable chapter in the school’s history. In 1952, Portobello High School became one of the first schools in Edinburgh to send a group of 40 girls to Glenmore Lodge, Scotland’s National Outdoor Training Centre. They embraced the challenge of outdoor adventure and helped pave the way for generations of girls to experience the personal growth, confidence and resilience that come from stepping beyond their comfort zone.
More than seventy years later, a new generation of Portobello girls is preparing to do the same.
The Girls Cycling Programme is about far more than riding bikes. It has been developed to address the significant decline in girls’ participation in sport and physical activity during adolescence, creating a supportive environment where young women can build confidence, develop leadership skills, improve their wellbeing and form lasting friendships.
The programme brings together a unique partnership of pupils, staff, parents, volunteers and community organisations. The launch event saw the girls joined by the school’s S6 Cycling Ambassadors, parent and carer volunteers,
cycling coaches and staff who have worked collaboratively to bring the initiative to life.
Over the coming months participants will take part in a wide range of activities including social rides, track cycling sessions at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, sportives, races, bike maintenance workshops, leadership development opportunities and community cycling projects.
The programme sits within the school’s wider Pedal Power Porty strategy, which has already seen cycling participation grow significantly across the school. More than 150 young people are now involved in cycling activities, including the PHS Singletrack Mountain Bike Team, School of Cycling programme, Cycling Ambassadors initiative, active travel projects and overseas touring opportunities.
A key feature of the programme is the role played by the school’s S6 Cycling Ambassadors,
who will support younger pupils, help deliver activities and act as role models for the next generation of female cyclists.
Iris, S6 cycling ambassador, said: “One of the things I’m most excited about is seeing girls realise they can do things they never thought possible. Cycling has given me confidence, independence and some amazing experiences, and now we have the opportunity to help other girls discover that for themselves. It’s about much more than riding a bike – it’s about building friendships, supporting each other and having the confidence to try something new.”
The launch comes at an exciting time for cycling in Scotland, with Edinburgh preparing to host the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2027.
The school is exploring opportunities for the girls to attend stages of the Tour de France Femmes and take part in a cycling challenge
linked to the arrival of the Tour in Edinburgh.
The programme is also being delivered in partnership with Livity Youth Scotland, one of the school’s key charity partners
To help ensure that every young person can participate regardless of their financial circumstances, Portobello High School is actively seeking support from local businesses, organisations and members of the wider community.
The school is currently looking for sponsorship, donations of road bikes and cycling equipment, and contributions towards clothing, helmets and essential kit.
Those interested in supporting the programme, including financially, can contact the school directly or contribute through the Girls Cycling Team fundraising campaign https://gofund.me/971a49b46
St David’s score league crown
ST DAVID’S HIGH SCHOOL’S S3 football team are champions of the Lothian Schools FA East and Midlothian Under-15s League after completing an unbeaten season.
The team, coached by Robbie McDonald, won seven matches and drew three to secure the league title in impressive fashion, completing a remarkable turnaround from previous seasons when they won only a handful of matches across two campaigns.
Leading from the front was captain Freddie Sleight, who enjoyed a prolific season in attack. The centre-forward scored 13 goals
in just five matches, including four consecutive hat-tricks during the title-winning campaign.
The squad also benefited from the experience of Sleight and defender Josh Fortune, who have now won the East and Midlothian Under-15s League title in successive seasons after helping the St David’s team from the year above lift the trophy last year.
Coach McDonald said: “The progress this group has made over the past year has been outstanding. They have worked incredibly hard, supported one another and shown great determination throughout the season.
“To go unbeaten and win the league is a fantastic achievement and one the players should be extremely proud of.”
Pictured are: Back row: left to right - Jack Soutar, Aiden McCole, Josh Fortune, Alfie Chapman, Freddie Sleight, Greg Tait, James Culbertson, Eryk Wawrzykowski, Kai Paton, Daniel Morrison. Front - Alfie White, Olivia Glodek, Lucy Barclay, Kacper Korda, Jack Crawford, Kayden smith, Archie Wilson. Also played - Joe Shields, Milosz Lapcik, Romeo Rao and AJ Swanepoel.
Portobello High School girls prepare for the programme
St David’s High School S3 football team
Star skipper
SAMANTHA GOUGH, MBE, is a member of a very exclusive “club” and not just because she was named in the latest King’s Birthday Honours.
For visually impaired Sam, 23, from Lasswade but with strong links to Edinburgh, has the rare distinction of being a native born Scot to captain an English national team – in this case blind football.
Extensive research suggests the only other Scot given such responsibility is believed to be cricketer Mike Denness in the 1970s.
But why is Samantha even playing for England?
The answer is simple; Scotland don’t have a blind football team and, well, needs must to pursue sporting dreams!
Adding spice to her appointment is the fact it was only a few years ago she believed her sporting ambitions were over having been born with cerebral visual impairment (CVI).
Sam’s condition means that while her eyes are healthy her brain cannot fully process visual information.
Her sight deteriorated significantly in 2014, requiring her to re-learn essential life skills, including mobility and independent navigation.
And this is where the Scottish link strengthens further for the England captain as she describes attending Sight Scotland’s Royal Blind School in Edinburgh as a real turning point in her life.
Says Sam: “This (MBE) is a huge honour. I want to use it to highlight blind football
Historic bronze win for Nancy in hill run
became
International Youth Cup (under-18).
The event took place in Galgliano del Capo in Puglia, Italy.
A course that was 4.6km long with 191 metres of climb saw around 121 athletes take part in teams of four with three times counting outwith the individual event. Some came from as far as the USA and Mexico.
Nancy’s team mates, both men and women, were drawn from around Scotland.
and visually impaired sport, and to show others what can be achieved if you follow your dreams.
“I have struggled with my mental health and sport truly saved me, so I am determined to show others what is possible.
“It wasn’t very long ago that I didn’t think I could take part in sport at all. I went from being registered partially sighted to severely sight impaired and was basically excluded from all sport. Instead of asking how they could support me, I was seen as a problem. If you had told me then what I’d be doing now, I would never have believed you. It shows what can be achieved if you are given the right support.
“The Royal Blind School was a real turning point for me. I was given tailored support and the opportunity to learn vital independent living skills, which really helped rebuild my confidence. It also helped me accept myself and my disability, which was such an important part of my journey. Before I came to the school, I did not fully understand my visual impairment or how to explain it.
“Learning braille was another huge moment for me. I had lost the ability to read and write as my sight deteriorated, and braille helped me reconnect with that. It felt like I had found a part of myself again. The school also helped me develop everyday skills like cooking, going to the shops, and speaking up about the support I need. They also showed me how to use my white cane, which was a complete game changer. I then got my wonderful guide dog, Helga, last year, which again transformed my life and
gave me even more confidence to get out and about.
“All the amazing things that have happened to me through sport and my advocacy work would not have been possible without the incredible teachers at the Royal Blind School. They believed in me when I struggled to believe in myself and gave me the skills and confidence to move forward. It quite literally changed my life.
In 2022, Sam made history as the first-ever captain of the England Women’s Blind Football team, a landmark achievement that established her as a pioneer of the women’s game. She went on to lead the national side at the inaugural IBSA Women’s World Championships in 2023, guiding England in their first appearance on the global stage and helping
to mark a defining moment for the sport. Her success extends beyond football. In goalball, she became one of the UK’s top female goal scorers and represented Great Britain at the 2022 European Para Youth Games, where she secured a bronze medal. In rowing, she claimed gold at the 2023 British Rowing Indoor Championships and was selected for the Great Britain Para Rowing performance pathway.
Beyond her sporting success, Sam has also been recognised for her advocacy work. In 2023, she won a Midlothian Young People’s Award and was also commended in the UK Parliament for her achievements. She is also an ambassador for Sight Scotland, using her platform to promote inclusion and inspire others with disabilities to take part in sport.
Caritas Cup champions
THE BOYS’ FOOTBALL TEAM from St Margaret’s Academy, Livingston, triumphed in the Caritas Cup competition for the East of Scotland.
The competition had events for boys and girls and was held at Holy Rood High School, Edinburgh. The other schools taking part were St Columba’s High, Dunfermline, St Mungo’s, Falkirk, St Andrews, Kirkcaldy, St Kentigern’s, Blackburn and Edinburgh high schools, St Augustine’s and St Thomas’ of Aquins.
The Caritas Cup is the brainchild of Adam, Aiden, Bailey and Daniel - four friends from Airdrie. It brings together teams from Catholic schools to play football tournaments in their Diocese, all in aid of charities such as SCIAF, and other important causes.
It was first held in Motherwell Diocese before expanding to schools in the Archdiocese of St
Andrew’s and Edinburgh, as well as Paisley. Each team had seven players and the games were run in a round robin format with every team playing each other and the final standings were decided in a league table.
Monsignor Jeremy Milne was present to hand out the awards to the winning students and the competition was also attended by Michael Hamilton from SCIAF – the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund.
He said: “It was a great day of faith and football. This was the second time the competition has been held in the east of the country as it goes from strength to strength.
“Our thanks go to the students and staff from Holy Rood High, our amazing hosts, who made the whole day run so smoothly. Each school donated to SCIAF to take part and funds we also raised funds on the day through a lovely bake stall and people giving donations.”
NANCY CORRIE of Harmeny
Athletic Club
the first Scottish athlete since 2009 and the first woman since 2007 to medal (bronze) at the prestigious hill running event that is the
St. Margret’s Academy
Nancy Corrie
