Porty Podcast

Send us Fan Mail A major piece of research involving Portobello High School and its five ‘feeder’ primaries should have been coming to an end by the end of next month. The objective, which came originally from Parsons Green Parent Council, was to find out how young people made their way to the High School and whether alternatives involving active travel – such as walking or cycling – could be enco...

Send us Fan Mail We’ve heard how local musicians are creating their own concerts or ceilidhs online. However, it was really good to hear that singer-songwriter Rosie Nimmo had been invited to sing, almost out of the blue, in a relatively new online service called Home Songs for Lunch. It was created in Campbeltown by David Fee, a full-time foster carer who also has a side line in running concerts...

Send us Fan Mail Last week, we heard how Edinburgh Youth Theatre is managing to keep going online through the lockdown. The company often works with the Film Academy Edinburgh which is also based locally. The academy usually uses the television studios of Edinburgh College at Milton Road; but, like everything else, it’s currently closed. However, the teachers and students (around 60 of them) get t...

Send us Fan Mail Edinburgh Youth Theatre has been one of Portobello’s success stories. Led by the actor Shauna Macdonald, it has brought self-confidence to a generation of young people. But its base at Bellfield is currently closed. Staff, teachers and students have to stay at home thanks to the lockdown – but that DOESN’T mean to say they can’t get together and have some enjoyment online. Like so...

Send us Fan Mail Something good has emerged from the current crisis – and that’s the way in which musicians are finding new ways to reach their audience. Local singer Mairi Campbell has an international following and is using technology – Zoom in particular – to bring them together in what she’s calling Campbell’s Ceilidhs. Once a week on a Sunday, people connect from Canada, Australia, New Zealan...

Send us Fan Mail When you walk along the High Street or down along the Prom, it’s noticeable just how quiet everything is. With a number of exceptions, most shops are closed, as are the cafés, bars and restaurants. For the owners of those businesses, it’s a very worrying time despite the significant help coming from the Government. They don’t know when they’ll be able to open again or whether thin...

Send us Fan Mail Walking or cycling along the High Street, it's unnaturally quiet. a lot of shops are closed - and those that are open are enforcing, rightly, a one person at a time policy. We know that some are providing delivery services - but, just like the supermarkets, it can be hard to sign up to get a slot. And, in any case, how do people hear about them? We've been speaking to th...

Send us Fan Mail The Dalriada has been a fundamental part of life in Portobello for many years. Music has played a large part of that with both organised and impromptu sessions regularly taking place in the bar. The Sunday Sessions were particularly popular with musicians and the public alike. They were the brainchild of Jed Milroy who was looking for a new venue – he had been hosting sessions at...

Send us Fan Mail What has emerged from the current near-lock-down is even more evidence of the strength of community spirit in Portobello. Individual streets have been forming WhatsApp groups to keep in touch with each other and especially with those who may be self-isolating for whatever reason. And there’s now been a group set up to help those confined to their home with their shopping. It’s cal...

Send us Fan Mail The coronavirus is getting in the way of so many things. Events all over the world are being closed down and international travel restricted or banned. Last month, Dr Bruce Durie, historian, genealogist and fellow of Edinburgh University, should have been on his way to the USA. A former Fulbright professor in North Carolina, he’s a well-respected figure on the North American-Scott...

Send us Fan Mail Being in a locked down country is pretty hard; but the current pandemic may be in the process of changing all our lives in ways we don’t expect and can’t predict. Over the coming weeks, the plan it to use technology to keep the podcast running, to find out how people are coping and caring for each other when we can’t get out and about as we used to. This week, we hear from a coupl...

Send us Fan Mail Just last night, the Prime Minister ordered all pubs and clubs, cafes and restaurants, leisure centres and theatres to close in a bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus. We’ve already seen Tumbles and the Porty Swim Centre shut down for the duration as well as community projects such as Tribe Porty; Bellfield is about to follow suit. With the school year effectively ending yest...

Send us Fan Mail The problems surrounding The Boat House at the western end of Portobello Prom are well known. It opened to great fanfare last year, just in time for the lucrative summer trade, It was a substantial expansion of the old Cropley's Bar and the vast majority of people saw it as considerable improvement. With a bar and restaurant, it was another reason to head to the bottom of Kin...

Send us Fan Mail The future of Portobello Town Hall is in the balance. It’s been neglected for years and it’s showing! It was forced to close its doors last year – we spoke then to Morag Phillips of the Lothian Dance Academy who almost had to cancel its annual show. It only went ahead after urgent work was carried out. Subsequently, a detailed inspection confirmed that it needed a huge amount of e...

Send us Fan Mail Back in the autumn, we heard about a project – a residence – which came out of the annual Porty Art Walk. For many years, Portobello had a thriving pottery industry. Portobello ware was exported all over the world. But homes now stand on the ground where the workshops had been – and all that remains are the two kilns on Bridge Street. But the people who worked there are still with...

Send us Fan Mail For some older people, there can be a problem of loneliness and isolation. They may live alone, their families may have moved away, and there are many other reasons why they don’t feel confident enough to get out of the house. It was an issue recognised some 27 years ago by what was then known as the Council of Churches in Portobello. They decided to get together to form the Porto...

Send us Fan Mail It’s one thing to dream about writing a play and seeing it on a stage. It’s a completely different game to write play and actually book a venue at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe! However, that is what Claire Wood has done. We’ve heard from Claire once before when staging a show at Bellfield this time last year. But her ambition this time is to reach out to a much wider audience.

Send us Fan Mail Some of you may have had people knocking on your door asking you to sign up to make regular donations to the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home. We have heard that some Porty residents have been put off by this approach, especially when given the impression that the Home has had a ‘difficult year’ financially. They also wonder why the charity is employing what one described as ‘door-to-do...

Send us Fan Mail The Portobello Bookshop opened six months ago this week. It took the team six months to convert and renovate what had been Mike’s Fishing Tackle Shop. This allowed them to uncover the columns that are now a feature of the shop's interior – they had been hidden beneath plasterboard walls. The aim was to create a warm, modern, open space, one in which it was a pleasure to spend...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we’re moving a little outside our Portobello boundaries because, this year, our near neighbours in Craigmillar celebrate the centenary of their incorporation into the growing city of Edinburgh. A new local charity, Craigmillar Now, has been set up to mark this. Right at the end of last year, it got access to the former Craigmillar Community Arts building, itself the for...

Send us Fan Mail Portobello seems quite well served for places to eat. However, this past week we’ve seen quite a buzz on social media – mainly Twitter – about a new vegetarian and vegan takeaway on the High Street. It’s called GoGo Beets and it only opened a week ago right on the cross roads between the High Street and Brighton Place. We decided to find out more. GoGo Beets is open 7 days a week...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year! May 2020 be good to the people of Portobello! Let's start with a good, heart-warming story. As some of you may have seen, Spokes Porty has this week produced the first in a series of videos about the pleasures of cycling. However, not many people may have heard of Spokes Porty and what it stands for - it is after all a relatively new organisation, run entirely...

Send us Fan Mail This weekend’s episode of the Porty Podcast is a little different. This is the last one of 2019 – and it’s also the 150th, which, looking back, is something of an achievement. Everyone one of them (bar one) has been produced by David Calder, the only exception being the 50th episode where Bob Jefferson took control of the microphone. On this occasion, David has decided to reflect...

Send us Fan Mail Portobello has looked in some detail at the idea of producing its own energy – or at least earning some money for the community by doing so. The project to have a wind turbine on a coastal site at Seafield made considerable progress almost 10 years ago, only to fall at one of the final hurdles. The idea has not gone away however – and, with the Scottish Government’s commitment for...

Send us Fan Mail You may have seen their work during the Porty Art Walk. You may have seen them in their own exhibitions at the arts complex in St Margaret’s House near Meadowbank, where they have their studios. However, Jacqui Higgs, Jude Nixon and Mary Walters have got together this year to put on a ‘pop-up’ gallery in the New Town, at 17 Dundas Street, a street that’s also home to some of the b...