Five things you need to know today

In the news today:-

RNLI rescue

Fire & Frost

Southside Community Council

Mystery of the book sculptures

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery

RNLI Queensferry have been out on a shout already today.At 9.30 am the RNLI Queensferry Lifeboat with a crew of Iain Leil, helmsman, Andrew Ventham and Ross Denver responded to an incident outside Port Edgar Marina where a six metre Rib “Volante” with David Robertson from Livingston on board suffered enging failure leaving Port Edgar, and in the powerful wind was swept on to the tyre barrier. One of the Lifeboat crew Andrew Ventham had to enter the water and swim to the stricken “Volante” to get a line aboard.When the line was secured the RNLI Queensferry Lifeboat towed her safely back to her berth at Port Edgar Marina.

 

 

The Big Wheel is now running along with the ice rink in the Gardens and all the market stalls offering a wee gluhwein to warm you up again. And of course the cones shown in our photograph have been removed along with all signs of trams (except the tracks so beware cyclists!) to allow pedestrians to reclaim the street as their own over the Christmas period.

Fire and Frost Celebrations for St Andrew’s Day

This Saturday and Sunday, the Castle Esplanade is the place to be to celebrate Scotland’s patron saint. Over the two days the frost and fire theme of Edinburgh’s Christmas continues with ice sculptors creating magical sub-zero masterpieces, giving visitors the opportunity to witness the skill and talent behind this unique art form first hand.

From 6.30 on Sunday, the Esplanade will burst into life with a Finale show that will include: local children with glowing lanterns, a visually stunning film projection covering all aspects of Scotland’s greatness – past, present and future – with a poetry-driven narration and lone piper.

Southside Community Council is to be wound up following the elections which only resulted in one nomination. Councillor Cameron Rose has been keeping up with the story here. 

The City of Edinburgh Council have advised us that the mysterious book sculptures which have been appearing all over the city this year have now come to an end and that the tenth and last one was delivered to The Scottish Writer’s Museum on Wednesday this week.

“In the last few days, a series of sculptures have been left across the city, and the one found yesterday in the Writer’s Museum on Lady Stair’s Close closes the book on this fascinating story.

Found by the curator, Victoria-Rose Hodgson, in the Stevenson room of the museum, the sculpture is made from Ian Rankin’s second Rebus novel, Exit Music, and features a scene from one of Stevenson’s novels.

It was left with the message; ‘@curator EMG A Gift, The Stories Are In The Stones, In Support of Libraries, Books, Words, Ideas and Writers’.”

The sculpture will be on display to the public from Wednesday next week.

The Council continued:-“The tenth, and last, book sculpture left by the anonymous artist was found on Wednesday in the Scottish Storytelling Centre. It was left with a note that read “Often a good story ends where it begins” and concluded with “Cheers Edinburgh, it’s been fun!”

Meantime around lunchtime Ian Rankin showed off a photo of a sculpture that he received only yesterday by way of The Edinburgh Bookshop.

We are a wee bit confused! Have there only been ten in total? Was the one delivered yesterday another one, or simply one of the ten? Does anyone have photos of them all?

The Edinburgh author told us yesterday that he would really quite like to see all of them shown in one place. So who is going to offer the most appropriate place? And provide all the arrangements? We think they might all have to be put in glass cases. What do you think?

 

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is reopening this Thursday and we are invited to go along on Monday morning to have a wee preview. We hope to bring you lots of photos and news about it then!