'To come along today with their waffle, it was absolutely astonishing'
Luxury housebuilders AMA savaged as they appeal for more time to deliver sports facilities promised 23 years ago
Regular readers will be familiar with the saga of the Cramond sports campus and the community’s 23-year wait for pitches and other facilities to be delivered. Today we bring you the latest developments as city-based developers AMA - who are due to redevelop the Summerhall arts village site - asked councillors to give them more time to make good on their promises.
Before that, we have your usual midweek news roundup and our pick of the cultural highlights for the week ahead.
Your Edinburgh Briefing
TRUE WINNERS: Player power has secured a victory for equality after the girls of South Morningside Primary School won the prestigious Edinburgh Schools Cup last year - only to be presented with a small plastic trophy that was a fraction of the size of that presented to the winning boys team. The girls, aged 10 to 12, refused to take the snub lightly and wrote to the organisers asking for equal treatment. They’ve now been presented with a suitable £1,600 trophy.
TOURIST TAXING TIMES: The £32m revamp of George Street to make it more pedestrian and cycle friendly is set to go-ahead thanks to funds collected by the Capital’s new Visitor Levy. Other projects proposed to be funded by the Levy, which comes into effect in July, includes new public toilets; extra street cleaning and graffiti removal; pavement improvement; upgrading the car park at Cramond foreshore; and developing a masterplan for Portobello prom.
CASTLE ROCKERS: T20 cricket is coming to Edinburgh with former New Zealand internationals Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum the main backers of a new team based in the Capital. The Castle Rockers as they will be known will compete in a new European tournament.
BATTLE FOR CENTRAL: An intriguing battle is shaping up in Edinburgh Central where former Greens leader Lorna Slater is to challenge the SNP’s Culture Minister Angus Robertson in May’s election. One suggestion is the two big name rivals could split the pro-independence vote and open the door to the Conservative candidate, city councillor Jo Mowat.
MASSIE BOWS OUT: After more than 50 years service, the acclaimed novelist and writer Allan Massie has filed his last book review for The Scotsman, as he battles “wretched cancer”. The paper’s literary editor David Robinson has written a lovely tribute to a ‘man of letters’.
Your Pick of the Cultural Pops
Greetings, cultural Pop-Pickers, and welcome to this week’s chart. Cue the jingle and fade up the mic...
If you are currently clinging to the wreckage of your New Year’s resolutions, fear not. Help is at hand in the form of a completely revitalised top five. We have big budget nostalgic comedy, a 200-year-old birthday party, and a theatrical institution proving that talent knows no ceiling.
Last week’s high-flyers have been nudged aside not by a lack of quality, but by time’s relentless passage coupled with the sheer ambition of the new entries in our weekly hit parade. It’s a ruthless business, this culture lark.
Let’s count them down…
Holding on at Number 5 (sliding down from Number 2) is... Garrett Millerick: Work In Progress at Monkey Barrel Comedy. Garrett Millerick hasn’t dropped to the bottom of the chart because my opinion of him has soured. Far from it. Obviously I haven’t seen this specific Work In Progress yet, but my view of his ability as a sharp observer and very funny comedian remains entirely unchanged. He plays tomorrow night (Jan 23rd), and if past form is anything to go by, watching him find the funny in the futility of self-help will be money well spent.
At Number 4 is... Mairi Campbell: Auld Lang Syne at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. With Burns Night looming this Sunday, timeliness is everything. But Mairi Campbell isn’t just here because of the calendar. Having had the privilege of seeing her perform several times before, I can attest to her unique brand of traditional musical magicianship. In this acclaimed one-woman show, playing this Saturday (Jan 24th), she unpacks the history, heartbreak, and hope behind the song that connects us all. If you want to feel the true spirit of Rabbie rather than just eating a load of haggis, I suggest getting yourself to the High Street this Saturday.
Opening its doors at Number 3 is... The RSA 200th Anniversary Season. It isn’t every day an institution turns 200. The Royal Scottish Academy is kicking off its bicentenary year in style this week with a trio of exhibitions that define its past, present, and future. As I wrote recently in the Edinburgh Inquirer, the RSA is “redefining Edinburgh’s original art house for the 21st century” this season. Opening this weekend are three distinct shows, including Origin Stories (exploring the legacy of art teaching) and Generation (tracing the architectural family tree of Richard Murphy RSA). It is a chance to see some of the finest work to emerge — past and present - from amongst the Academy’s celebrated ranks, and all under one very grand roof.
Taking the Number 2 spot is... Fawlty Towers - The Play at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Sometimes, you just have to bow down to the big beasts. John Cleese’s TV masterpiece has been adapted for the stage, and it arrives at the Playhouse next Tuesday (Jan 27th) with the weight of expectation on its shoulders. But with a cast led by Danny Bayne as Basil and Hemi Yeroham as Manuel, this promises to be more than just a nostalgia trip.
Why only second place? Two reasons. First, you have five days (including 3 matinees) during which to catch Fawlty Towers, and — even if John Cleese has given the show his seal of approval — you have to go some to match the ambition and reputation for excellence of the company bringing you this week’s top banana.
And finally, claiming Number 1 is... Lung Ha Touring Company: Rehearsed Readings at the Traverse Theatre. Lung Ha Touring Company (pictured above) takes the crown this week. For those uninitiated, Lung Ha is Scotland’s leading theatre company for actors with learning disabilities, but let’s be clear: they don’t do “worthy” theatre; they do excellent theatre. Their superlative 2023 production Castle Lennox rightly won the CATS Award for Best Ensemble, proving that this is a company that countenances no ceiling on what its talented cohort can achieve on or behind the stage.
This week, for two nights only (Jan 22nd–23rd), they present new works by Emma Clark and Emma McCaffrey. Given their track record, you can expect work that is funny, poignant, and brilliantly performed—and given it’s a limited run from an award-winning outfit, it is my essential ticket of the week.
And there we have it, pop-pickers. That’s your Top 5 for the week. But what do you think? Did I get the running order right, or am I talking absolute rot? Do let me know if you catch any of these gems—I’m always open to a second opinion (even if it’s wrong).
Join me again next Thursday to see who climbs the hit parade and who tumbles out of the charts entirely. Will Lung Ha hold the crown? Or will the mighty fall? Until then... alright? Not ‘arf.
‘To come along today with their waffle, it was absolutely astonishing’
Luxury housebuilders AMA savaged as they appeal for more time to deliver sports facilities promised 22 years ago
by Matthew Leslie
“What we have had is misinformation, unfulfilled promises and procrastination,” said John Loudon, chairperson of the the Cramond, Barnton and Cammo Community Council, describing his experience of the last three years of talks with housebuilders AMA.
That’s not the half of it. “We have already waited 22 years 11 months and 25 days for action. That brings a new meaning to being patient and underlines the enormous community frustration and dismay at the abysmal lack of progress.”
