Fay Young

Category: Street life

  • Clear the clutter on Leith Walk

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    Ray Perman’s recent commentary on Leith Walk prompted Ross Armstrong to put down some thoughts about how to improve Edinburgh’s most interesting boulevard (but first he measured it on Google maps). The amazing potential of Leith Walk strikes me every time I walk down it. It’s a great big boulevard that feels like it’s going…

  • Going wild in Broughton

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    A couple of bees are busy burying themselves in the private parts of bright pink geraniums. I have it on good authority that ladybirds often lurk among the leaves and grasses too. Oblivious to streams of noisy traffic, nature is thriving on an island of wildness in Broughton.

  • Don’t scrap the tram

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    Flashback to the successful Friends of the Earth Scotland campaign 2007 “A great city let down by its elected representatives”, BBC Scotland environment and science correspondent David Miller sums up last night’s Newsnight Scotland tram story, possibly the best news coverage so far of this extraordinary mess. The thunder is still rumbling around the city…

  • New Town rubbish: our World Heritage

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    What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application. World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located UNESCO World Heritage website So who owns the New Town? The morning after blogging about the bin bags of the New Town, I…

  • Edinburgh’s New Town Wasteland

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    Oh contrary Edinburgh. While the people of Leith Walk are (rightly) angry with the council for messing up their street (see comments on Ray’s recent ‘rant’) round the corner residents of the posh New Town are turning their neighbourhood into a tip all by themselves.

  • Wanted: a vision for Leith Walk

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    Ray Perman takes a critical look at Leith Walk in this guest blog. With imagination and a little money it could become  the most elegant and cosmopolitan street in Edinburgh. [Many local people agree, see the excellent comments at the end of the post] There are a lot of reasons for despairing at the dysfunctional…

  • Beyond the grave

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    I finally found James Grieve beneath a holly bush in the cemetery.  At least I think the bare stone plinth marks the spot where he was buried but dense prickles prevented me from burrowing too deep. I left the graveyard with a new curiosity about the man who made such a mark in life.  Why…

  • FOUND at RBS

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    No, no, no. Not that RBS (though the old bank might do well to invest in real young talent). This is the Royal British Society of Sculptors and their current exhibition Material Rites just happens to feature the work of our Tommy Perman, Ziggy Campbell and Simon Kirby (aka a rearrangement of FOUND the band).…

  • Goodbye Lenin, hello Tesco (again)

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    Does Edinburgh get the kind of Tesco it deserves?  I am intrigued to find that old Tesco stories on my blog still attract new comments, curiously some of them are from people who indignantly defend the supermarket but there is an encouraging majority from people who want to support local shops.

  • Scott free?

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    I see the Guardian is asking for memories connected with the Scott Monument. This probably isn’t what they are looking for but I can’t resist publishing a provocative piece which first appeared in The City Talks. Colin Cumberland  makes a pretty good case for getting rid of the monument which he describes as a “Gothic…

  • Gray’s Elegy

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    Never look a gift horse?  I’m wandering up Broughton Street in two minds.  It seems churlish to complain about bright new shops opening so soon after the old businesses closed down. In the age of austerity too.  But the old curmedgeon in me can’t help feeling it’s a shame there are so few shops selling…

  • Wanted: an Angel for Leith

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    Where once only the sounds of heavy industry could be heard, now you can hear the sweet refrains of music and warm ripples of applause. With a bit of imagination, Leith Walk could be one of the grandest streets in Edinburgh. It is already one of the most interesting but on a sunny September afternoon…