An historic day for women's sport
Plus: The Capital's bookshop street expands; petrol shortages and storms fizzle out; and maternity unit on alert
Edinburgh to host Scotland’s biggest ever women’s sport event
The upcoming Scotland-England rugby international at Murrayfield will be the biggest standalone women’s sports event in Scottish history.
Ticket sales for next week’s Guinness Six Nations showdown have hit a record 24,000 amid fast-growing interest in women’s sport.
The Murrayfield crowd will comfortably surpass the previous Scottish attendance record of 18,500, for Scotland women’s football clash with Jamaica at Hampden Park in 2019.
It follows the unprecedented success of last year’s women’s football Euros - which made household names of players such as England’s Chloe Kelly - and the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which packed stadiums across England.
The match, on Saturday, 18 April, will be one of the biggest sporting events in the Capital this year, with only the Scotland men’s rugby fixtures and Edinburgh Rugby’s biggest matches attracting larger crowds.
An historic day: From Liz McColgan’s 10,000m gold at the 1986 Commonwealth Games at Meadowbank and Catriona Matthew leading Europe to golf’s Solheim Cup to the glorious Olympic achievements of Katherine Grainger and Laura Muir, Scottish women athletes have produced some of the country’s greatest sporting occasions. Next week’s match, however, sets a new bar for attracting a mass audience.
Big noise: A carnival atmosphere is expected at Murrayfield following the noisy and enthusiastic crowds which followed the team at last year’s World Cup in England. Tickets are on sale and the match will be shown live on the BBC at 2.30pm.
Who to watch out for? In the absence of injured number eight Evie Gallagher, the stars of the Scotland side include captain Rachel Malcolm and playmaker Helen Nelson. Emma Wassell’s inspiring comeback from a life-threatening tumour has made her a fan favourite and speedy former ballerina Fran McGhie is one of the team’s rising stars.
Grassroots growth: There has been a big rise in women and girls participating in particular sports, such as football and rugby, in recent years. Edinburgh is a Scottish hotbed for female rugby in particular, with an established network of teams in schools and clubs, including Watsonians, Corstorphine Cougars and Lismore. Participation levels in sport remain lower among women overall than men - with a significant drop-off among girls in their teenage years - and campaigners saying more still needs to be done to break down barriers.
Growing pains: Professional women’s sport has generally grown rapidly in Edinburgh as elsewhere in the UK, but it continues to face challenges attracting the media attention and commercial backing of the men’s game. The challenges were highlighted last year when half of the women’s Rugby World Cup squad went into the tournament not knowing whether they were going to be made redundant or not.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
FEAST OF BOOKSHOPS: Something special is cooking for book lovers on Leith Walk. The Cookbook Shop has opened on Haddington Place, at the top of the Walk, just a few doors down from Typewronger and McNaughtan’s. The latest literary addition to the street is Scotland’s only bookshop dedicated to cookery books, taking up the mantle of The Cooks Bookshop, which Clarissa Dickson Wright of Two Fat Ladies fame ran in the Old Town until 2004.
PETROL AND STORMS: The severe weather warnings and occasional city petrol station running out of fuel which marked the end of last week have, thankfully, turned out to be damp squibs. The forecasts for the coming days are generally sunny and petrol supplies appear to be back to normal for now at least. Despite the brief flurry of snow, the severity of the weather warning which rapidly petered out on Sunday did appear to add weight to Edinburgh Zoo’s argument that forecasting apps have become to some degree inaccurate and alarmist.
MATERNITY PAUSE: The Simpson’s Maternity Unit at the Royal Infirmary has temporarily stopped external admissions after discovering discolouration in its hot water. NHS Lothian said it was a precautionary move while the cause of the problem was identified.
GANNET NUMBERS PLUMMET: The number of gannets breeding on Bass Rock has fallen by nearly a third following the devastating bird flu outbreak in 2022. The island, off North Berwick, is home to the world’s largest colony of norther gannets. Aerial photos taken last year show the population recovered slightly from the previous year, but remains nearly a third below the 75,000 recorded in the last count completed before the outbreak, according to researchers from the Scottish Seabird Centre and Edinburgh and Napier universities.
BROTHEL BOSS BARRED: Former brother boss Ian Haig has been barred from becoming a landlord. Police alerted the city council after the 83-year-old failed to declare in his landlord application his conviction for running the Scorpio Leisure sauna near Hibs’ Easter Road Stadium. The sauna has since been converted into flats.
SERIOUS STABBING: Two mean, aged 21 and 25, have been charged with attempted murder following an alleged stabbing in the city’s Calders area. The 38-year-old victim was taken to the Royal Infirmary for treatment after being injured shortly after 4pm on Thursday afternoon.
‘YEAR OF UNI DISRUPTION’: The university lecturers union the University and College Union (UCU) has warned of a “a year of disruption” at the University of Edinburgh after staff voted to extend industrial action. Union members voted 88% in favour of further strike strike action, on a turnout of 55%, following a series of walkouts. The university is cutting its budged by £140m, which the union claims could lead to a total of 1,800 job losses.
CARE HOME BID: Plans to build a three-storey, 50-bedroom care home on the site of the now demolished Salvation Army home on Colinton Road have been submitted to the city council.
Pic of the week
THE BUSINESS
Bumper season set to land for city’s cruise ships
Edinburgh’s cruise ship season has berthed, with the arrival in the Capital of the Viking Neptune, which carries almost 1000 visitors, at Newhaven.
Capital Cruising, which is based in the city and operates as the cruising arm of Forth Ports, expects a busy season with more than 450,000 passengers being carried to its port at Tilbury in London or Scotland, or both.
City of Edinburgh Council is currently exploring introducing a Visitor Levy on cruise ship passengers, with the potential of raising more than £1 million a year to help fund local services linked to the city’s visitor economy.
The cruise calendar in Scotland traditionally runs between April and October and this year it will see 159 cruise ships sail into its locations in Leith, Rosyth, Dundee, and two deep water anchorages in Newhaven and South Queensferry.
Offering access to two globally famous Capital cities in the UK, Capital Cruising’s business opens up both of these popular destinations which are viewed by the cruise market as “marquee” cruise destinations due to the abundance of iconic attractions, events, heritage and culture.
Paul Dale, Chief Operating Officer, Forth Ports, said: “Our business continues to grow with advance bookings already secured for 2030, highlighting a strong future demand. We have many cruise lines returning to our destinations for multiple calls during the season and we are also set to welcome ships for the first time.
“Our team work collaboratively with the cities, destination partners and the wider cruise industry to deliver a successful cruise season. We know that cruise brings significant benefits to the local and national economy as hundreds of thousands of passengers visit not just the capital cities but local attractions and major events too.”
FARMER SALE: Farmer Autocare, founded by the late Sir Tom Farmer after he sold the KwikFit chain, has been acquired by Belfast-based Kerr’s Tyres Group, bringing together two family-run organisations with 48 sites in Scotland and Ireland, with ambitious growth plans.
MEDIA SALE: Edinburgh-based Daily Business, the business and politics news website and newsletter established by former Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday business editor Terry Murden, has been acquired by newly-created Hero Media & Entertainment (HM&E). Hero has also bought Dundee Press Agency and E News Now as part of its strategy to create a major Scotland-based player in the news sector.
FAST GROWTH: Zudu has appointed Paul Duffy as its new chief executive, from his current Managing Director role, and has also moved its headquarters to Commercial Quay in Leith. The software firm is aiming for £5m in revenue in the current year, and £10m by 2028
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
EXCITING EARDLEY: Get a new perspective on the vibrant works of Joan Eardley at the Modern Art Gallery Two. Joan Eardley: The Nature of Painting, which shows some of her oil paintings alongside works by Constable and Monet to draw parallels between them, runs until 28 June. Entry is free.
MEDICAL HISTORY: Explore the history of the oldest medical school in the English-speaking world in a new temporary exhibition at the Surgeons Hall Museum. Edinburgh City of Medicine: 300 years of Edinburgh Medical School charts the revolutionary progress of the city’s famous medical school and the cost of that progress.
ON ICE: Former ice hockey greats from the USA and Canada take to the ice in a series of exhibition games at Murrayfield Ice Rink. The series culminates in a showpiece match on 26 April.
QUICK BITES
ACCOLADES: Owner and chef Giovanni Pia, who runs Gio’s in Slateford, has enjoyed stunning success at the UK Italian food awards, scooping the prize as “Best Newcomer” at a ceremony in London, and also coming highly commended in both the “Best Chef” and “Best Italian Restaurant” categories.
DOGSTAR SHINES: Recently opened Dogstar in Leith, which has been garnering positive reviews, has been added to the list of recommended places to eat in the Michelin Guide by its panel of inspectors. The venue is the latest venture from chef James Murray who has worked in two of the Capital’s Michelin starred establishments in the past.