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Bridges collapse as river level hits 50-year high

Two historic footbridges have been washed away as water levels on the River Annan hit a 50-year high.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) recorded the figure at its Brydekirk station near Annan.

The rail line between Dumfries and Carlisle has been shut for safety checks on a viaduct in the town.

Four people also had to be rescued from premises on the Whitesands in Dumfries as heavy rains continued to hit southern Scotland.

A major incident was declared in Hawick on Thursday as water levels rose but police said it had now been stood down.

Emergency services were called out early on Thursday evening to the Whitesands as the River Nith poured out across nearby car parks and roads.

Police and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service helped four people out of premises - they were all said to be safe and well.

Some of the worst issues were suffered in Annan where two footbridges were washed away.

Annandale South councillor Richard Brodie said the town was "still in shock" at the loss of the Diamond Jubilee Bridge and the Cuthbertson Memorial Bridge.

"They are so much a part of our DNA in the town, that it is essential that they are replaced as soon as possible," he said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-59089076

 

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@MUFC

[Stan]

This happened near me yesterday. Very frightening.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-62044438

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Remains of Edinburgh’s incredible lost Victorian railway depot unearthed by housing developers

The remains of an historic railway depot dating from the Victorian era have been unearthed by developers, with an open event planned for this weekend that will give the public a chance to glimpse a fascinating example of Edinburgh's industrial heritage.

The remains of a once sprawling Victorian railway depot that hasn’t seen the light of day in decades have been uncovered by developers working at Meadowbank.

Archaeologists have discovered remnants of the old St Margaret’s Locomotive Railway engine turntable, buried underneath years of bricks and cement, and, this weekend, members of the public are being given the opportunity to view it for themselves.

Situated on the north side of London Road near present-day Meadowbank Stadium, St Margaret’s depot and works was purpose built by the North British Railway Company in 1845, and later used by LNER.

During its peak, it was one of Scotland’s most noisy and smoky engine depots.

This Saturday, local railway enthusiasts and those with a keen interest in history, will be able to peer back almost 200 years and see the remains of what was once a bustling hub of activity.

Ahead of the public event on August 27, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Councillor Jane Meagher said: “It feels appropriate, somehow, that we’re transforming what must have been one of the most polluted parts of the city into one of the greenest neighbourhoods in Edinburgh.

“It’s really fascinating to get a glimpse of the area’s past as we do this. Wherever we build in Edinburgh, others have gone before us and in this case it’s quite the trip through time.”

Council officers are working with archaeologists and locals to create ways of memorialising the findings, and hope to keep parts of the wheel on show - creating a centrepiece for prospective residents of the new homes. City Archaeologist, John Lawson, said the remains are of huge national archaeological significance.

He said: “The remains of the engine turntable are a rare survival and take us back to the beginnings of our Victorian Railways in the 1840s. The turntable in use until the closure of the works formed part of one of the most important Locomotive works on the East Coast of Scotland.”

The depot and turntable were closed in 1967, just recently enough for some Edinburgh locals to recall the site in its prime.

Two office blocks, St Margaret's House and Meadowbank House were later constructed on the site of the old depot.

Kevin Tierney, who once lived nearby, said: “I visited this very busy site through the two large wooden doors when going down the Smokey Brae while going to school. I used to get to stand on the engine plates and often observed the turntable in action.”

Derek Campbell, who held onto some snaps of St Margaret’s for all these years, commented: “My grandfather John Moffat was a foreman engineer at St Margaret’s works in the ‘30s.”

Derek’s grandfather was one of many working at the depot, with 200 steam locomotives on site during the yard's heyday. Lindsay Dunbar, Project Manager at the Archaeology firm handling the dig, said: “The works would have employed a large number of the local populace as engineers and workers keeping them busy on site with maintenance of the locomotives and running gear with numerous workshops.

“Much of the activity would have been focused around the turntable and the associated engine sheds. It is amazing to think how this now empty brownfield site was such a hive of industrial activity, and these excavation works are looking to expose what remains of the long demolished turntable which has been crucial to the running of the depot.”

Developers are currently in the process of creating a new housing development on the the site of the old works, which is promised to be one of the capital’s ‘greenest neighbourhoods’.

While developments continue at Meadowbank, it’s nowhere near the chaos that was once seen in the turntable days - but you can get an idea of what once sat there. The open event is on August 27, between 10am and 4pm.

Access to the event will be through the gate along from the pedestrian entrance to the new Meadowbank Sports Centre, with the excavation sitting at what was once the old stadium's car park.

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/history/remains-edinburghs-incredible-lost-victorian-24843014?fbclid=IwAR2pJWaNMy5bxZDDBH74gXVj2t_WdaZI9DoNQDiLWLY5rzVzDLBAJEAmirM

 

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More than 200 reports as mysterious ‘fireball’ lights up sky
There have been more than 200 reports of a mysterious “fireball” crossing the night sky over Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The UK Meteor Network said it began receiving reports of a fireball spotted about 9pm on Thursday.

The network said it was “investigating to ascertain what the object was, meteor or space debris”, adding that most reports had come from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Danny Nell, 21, was walking his dog in Johnstone, just west of Paisley and Glasgow, when he saw the fireball.

“I was walking my dog and it was strangely enough 10pm on the dot and I just saw the flash in the sky and pulled out my phone and recorded it,” the Glasgow resident told the PA news agency.

“I thought it may be a firework at first because there was a lot of Scottish football on but quickly realised it wasn’t and just grabbed my phone to see if I could catch it.”

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/more-than-200-reports-as-mysterious-fireball-lights-up-sky/ar-AA11QDhe?li=AAnZ9Ug

 

 

 

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Shit. The aliens are landing. 

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The lost Edinburgh scheme pub so rough they had to sell beer in plastic cups

Flat roofed and windowless, the notorious north Edinburgh boozer had a fearsome reputation but was loved by locals until its sudden closure almost 10 years ago.

There are few scheme pubs in Edinburgh that can ever hope to achieve the infamy The Gunner had back in the day.

Situated at the end of Pennywell Road in Muirhouse, the flat roofed boozer had a fearsome reputation and was the kind of place the faint of heart dared not enter.

What The Gunner lacked in windows (rather terrifyingly, it had none), it certainly made up for in atmosphere - just ask any of its former regulars. Everyone knew to be on their guard of course, but as long as you knew folk you were normally alright.

READ MORE: The notorious Edinburgh pub once dubbed 'a waiting room for prison'

While older drinkers will have known it as the Penny Farthing, most knew it as The Gunner - a name derived from the HMS 'Gunner' naval base that operated at Granton during wartime.

Resolutely working class, the Boom Boom, as regulars affectionately called it, was at its most lively on the weekends, whether that be during the karaoke or pool competitions or the inevitable argy bargy at chucking out time.

By most accounts, The Gunner was no stranger to a bit of violence, nor was it particularly uncommon for a dodgy-looking individual to try and sell you high value electrical equipment from a black bin bag.

The pub even had to resort to serving pints in plastic glasses for a spell to prevent serious injuries in the event of glasses being thrown when fights broke out. CCTV was installed at the entrance.

Mind you, none of this stop floppy-haired telly host Jonathan Ross from drinking there. The English TV personality is said to have sampled the pleasures of the Gunner in the 90s after having learned of its notoriety from the novels of Irvine Welsh.

In more recent years, the pub, which was aptly run by Punch Taverns in its latter years, was also frequented by Hibs stars including Anthony Stokes and Derek Riordan.

Have a search on the internet and there are loads of reminiscences relating to The Gunner. Some of them recall fond memories and amusing stories of what was a good old community boozer, while others are slightly more unnerving to say the least.

Writing on the Muirhouse Memories page on Facebook, Sam McIntosh said: "Loads of funny stories from the Gunner. A friend years ago was sold a leather coat in there by someone who rapidly disappeared only to find the owner of the coat had been in the toilet!"

Gordon Guthrie commented: "Worked for Punch Taverns in here! Walked in, in a high viz jacket and a mobile radio on! Cleared the bar in seconds."

Half joking, Jackie Doig added: "If your house was robbed in the area you could go there and buy it back."

Over on Twitter, @Camthebam66 said of The Gunner: "This place had a fabulous, but unused and slightly decrepit, function suite upstairs. With some TLC would have made a great small venue for live music."

The Gunner was often making headlines for all the wrong reasons. In 2015, the Daily Record covered the story of a chancer who tried to punt Rolex watches in the pub hours after having committed an armed robbery on an Edinburgh jewellers.

One local said at the time: “No one could believe it. You’d think if it was connected to the robbery he’d have waited until things calmed down.”

The Gunner called last orders for the final time in 2015 and the pub was subsequently demolished.

Heartbroken landlady Maria McGovern said she'd done everything in her power to keep the pub going but lay the blame at regeneration plans in the area which had knocked down much of the old community and left The Gunner starved of customers. New housing now stands on the site of the former boozer.

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/history/lost-edinburgh-scheme-pub-rough-26086966?fbclid=IwAR0N_QU0u2MxmI0TkO4Ac8WjCGrJR6MTiqySzHi5HCHxMMwOSLaFbtKD9Uk

 

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Mystery carvings came from dismantled royal church

For decades, Daren Frankish wanted to know the story of the ancient stone carvings on the wall of his Edinburgh workshop.....

 

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Edinburgh home 'stuck in time' after owners 'poisoned' even has table set for tea

A home near Edinburgh that’s been left untouched since the ‘60s has been pictured by an urban explorer - showing the frozen in time property where the owners mysteriously died from ‘poisoning’.

Eerie images taken inside an abandoned home near Edinburgh have shown a property frozen in time since the owners died a week apart from ‘poisoning’ in the ‘60s.

The detached two-bedroom home near the capital still has a table set for two, furniture covered in cobwebs and a vintage living room. Grant Vincent, an urban explorer who documents abandoned buildings, took some snaps around the home.....

 

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20 things you didn't know about the real Mary King's Close in Edinburgh

One of Edinburgh’s top tourist attractions, The Real Mary King’s Close, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, so we took a trip down memory lane to find out some facts about the iconic area......