Police are appealing for information and witnesses, following the serious assault of a cyclist on Blackhall Cycle Path, near to Davidson Mains.
The incident took place around 6.05pm on Tuesday, 2 September, 2025. The cyclist, a 46-year-old man, was cycling away from the Drylaw area on his green vintage-style Dutch bike.
The suspect was riding an offroad dirt bike and is described as white, around 5ft 10 and slim build, but their gender is unknown. They were wearing a black full-face helmet and black puffer jacket.
Detective Sergeant Rob Finch said: “We are appealing for anyone who was in the area or witnessed this attack to please come forward.
“Enquiries have established that two members of the public provided aid to the victim, so would ask them to contact police as soon as possible.
“Anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident 1961 of 3 September, 2025. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, if you wish to remain anonymous.”
Commemorating those who fought and died in the campaigns in the Far East
YESTERDAY (Saturday 16 August 2025) The Royal Scots Regimental Association led a memorial service at The Royal Scots Memorial Garden at Lauriston Castle, Edinburgh, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Victory over Japan which marked the end of the Second World War (VJ Day, 15 August 1945).
Those on parade included descendants of those who fought in the Far East between 1941 and 1945, former Royal Scots and their families as well as representatives of other services and arms that were involved in the various campaigns.
Having formed up in front of Lauriston Castle, they marched the short distance to the Royal Scots Memorial Garden behind the Royal Scots Association Pipe Band and their Association Standards.
A short service was conducted by Reverend Dr Iain May, Chaplain to The Royal Scots Regimental Association. The wreath laying was led by Brigadier George Lowder, President of The Royal Scots Regimental Association.
The Royal Scots, recruited predominantly from Edinburgh, the Lothians and Peeblesshire, were involved from the first day to the last of this bitterly fought campaign.
Their 2nd Battalion fought in defence of Hong Kong from 8 December 1941 and 144 of those who survived were among the 828 prisoners who perished when their ship, the Lisbon Maru, was torpedoed in October 1942; the remainder, if they survived, endured four years of captivity.
The Regiment’s 1st Battalion fought through the later campaign in Burma, including the Battles of Kohima and Aradura which marked the turning point in the war against Japan and led to the final victory on VJ Day, 15 August 1945.
Malcolm Warrack, son of Lt Col Morren Warrack who fought at Kohima with the regiment, said: “A group of Royal Scots Veterans felt very strongly about the lack of some form of local memorial specifically for their fellow soldiers who did not come back from the Burma Campaign and Kohima in particular.
“George Rogers, Ian Henderson and Morren Warrack co-ordinated the preparation and creation of this Memorial Garden; they spoke often about the “Forgotten Army” in the Far East so it is particularly fitting that 80 years after VJ Day we remember them.”
Gerry Borg, son of Lisbon Maru survivor John Borg, said: “We can never fully appreciate the suffering and pain endured by the brave men who were Prisoners of War in Japan.
“From a very young age we were taught that the word ‘starving’ was forbidden in our house. Dad would remind us that we never had, and hopefully never would, experience true starvation.
“On the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, it is right that we remember the sacrifice made on our behalf. We must preserve the history of the events and, honour those involved.”
Brigadier Lowder added: “Having had the privilege as a young officer to meet some of the survivors of the 1st and 2nd Battalions and hear first hand their accounts of their experiences in the Far East, Hong Kong and in captivity, this 80th Anniversary of the end of the war against Japan was particularly poignant.
“The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) will never forget their service and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Queensferry Road will be closed in both directions between Drumbrae North and Clermiston Road North from 10pm on Thursday, 19 June until 1am on Friday, 20 June, 2025.
The closure is to allow for a collision reconstruction as part of enquiries into a crash which happened on Tuesday, 8 April, 2025.
Diversions will be in place and motorists are advised to avoid the area if possible.
Police Scotland thank the public for their patience and their understanding.
We will be running outdoor sessions on Wednesdays at 11:30am every fortnight that the bus is available, starting from next week, Wednesday 21st May.
As this will be outdoors please be prepared with hats, sunscreen etc, and that it may be cancelled at short notice if it is raining. We look forward to seeing you there
Three Edinburgh-based community projects have been awarded a total of more than £14,000 in research funding by the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and Williamson Trust to promote healthy living.
Lauriston Farm and local environmental artist Natalie Taylor will benefit from a share of the funding pot, along with Leith-based Earth in Common.
Lauriston Farm, run by a workers’ cooperative, is dedicated to sustainable food production, biodiversity, and community. They will use their award of £4550 to develop a sustainable alternative to chemical fertilisers using Aerated Compost Teas, a process of mixing compost with water and then introducing oxygen into the mixture.
Despite their potential, practical guidance for integrating compost teas into commercial market gardens and the potential benefits remains limited. The project is aiming to bridge that gap by refining recipes and protocols to make knowledge of Aerated Compost Teas production accessible and effective for both commercial growers and people at home.
Grower and Coop Director Jossie Ellis said: “This funding will enable us to advance our experiments using Aerated Compost Teas in the Market Garden, which will help to improve soil health, crop resilience, and sustainable food production.
“With this support, we hope to refine our methodologies, share findings with growers, and contribute to a more regenerative food system.”
Environmental artist Natalie Taylor has received £4500 for her Scran Fir Bees project to extend a series of existing public space artworks incorporating wildflowers to provide nectar-rich habitats and food sources for pollinators.
Her long-term vision is that these artworks, using large-scale text cut into the landscape, will join up to eventually form a bee corridor across the North of Edinburgh.
Natalie Taylor said:“I am so pleased to be able to work alongside local communities to design, develop and implement the new environmental artwork, sharing skills in meadow maintenance and strategic seeding to increase local biodiversity.
“Through fun, creative workshops, I will highlight the importance of our relationship with insect pollinators, which contribute vital services to roughly one-third of our food. I see this creative action for biodiversity as really important at the moment due to the ongoing crisis in pollinator populations, especially in urban environments such as Edinburgh where there are so many natural spaces where we can potentially help them.”
The Edinburgh projects are among 16 innovative community-led research projects across Scotland to receive funding from the RSE and the Williamson Trust.
A total of £73,625 has been given to a range of creative projects to foster healthy communities as part of the Healthy Planet, Healthy People awards.
Meanwhile, Earth in Common, based at Leith Community Croft, which includes a market garden, an orchard, and a community area shared by over 100 growers, has been awarded £5000.
The Croft is situated on Common Good land inspired by the Gaelic concept of dùthchas – the deep-rooted connection between people and the land.
They will use the funding to gather data on cultivated and wild plants and pollinators, which will help formulate strategies for biodiversity conservation and inform a guidance manual for urban green spaces across Scotland.
Evie Murray, CEO of Earth in Common, said: “This award will boost our mission to demonstrate that urban crofts, such as our model Leith Community Croft, can effectively address multiple societal and environmental issues. With its orchard, wild areas, market garden and unique system of group-shared food-growing plots, it has already been shown to foster great biodiversity.
“This will empower our ‘Crofters’ – local residents – to develop citizen-science skills to monitor and further increase biodiversity. This should benefit them as individuals and foster pride and engagement in land stewardship in densely populated Leith.
“We hope that the methodology we collectively develop will be widely shared and can have a significant positive impact on nature and people’s relationship with it across Scotland.”
This is the second year of the awards, generously funded by the Williamson Trust, a charitable organisation. The strength of the applications in the second round of the funding programme resulted in four additional projects being awarded financial support.
Professor David E Salt FRSE, Chair of the Williamson Trust, said: “This year, we again have an amazing diversity of projects, from dolphins, bees, seeds, orchards, woodlands and lochs to food banks, composting, urban crofts and coffee shops. We truly look to invest in hope and the power of ideas wherever they arise.
“The trustees at the Williamson Trust are excited to fund 16 great community-led projects from across Scotland.
“Applications to the Healthy Planet, Healthy People Community-led Research Awards continue to grow, demonstrating the strong desire of communities in Scotland to develop local solutions to the ongoing global challenges to our environment, our communities and our food.
“The Trust hopes that these locally focused projects can find solutions to the challenges the local communities face and that these solutions can also have wider application.”
RSE Vice President, Research, Professor Anne Anderson OBE FRSE, commented:“This marks the second round of RSE ‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’: Community-led Research Awards, which were introduced to expand the Society’s range of awards and the type of research we support.
“The health of people and the environment are closely connected, and I hope that these awards will strengthen these innovative research groups and drive positive change in both areas. I look forward to following their progress and achievements over the coming year.”
Join us for our Japan Sakura @ Lauriston Castle – a festival spanning 2 days (Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 April) celebrating the blossom at Lauriston Castle.
Nominations close at 4pm on Thursday 17 April 2025.
If you work with networks, groups, or community organisations in any of these areas we would be most grateful if could pass on this information.
Anyone who wishes to stand should complete a nomination form signed in ink, and return it to the Governance Team at Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8BG by the closing date at 4pm on Thursday 17 April 2025. Alternatively, a mobile phone picture or scan of the nomination form can be returned by email tocommunity.councils@edinburgh.gov.uk by the same deadline.
Would you like to join our veg bag membership scheme in 2025?
This is Year 3 of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Veg Bags scheme and we are hoping to provide food for up to 160 households in North Edinburgh.
This year’s CSA will run for 25 weeks (six-and-a-half months), every Thursday from June 5th to Nov 20th.
As well as getting your share of fresh farm veg, you can also choose to add mushrooms from @rhyze.mushrooms, bread from @grantongardenbakery and organic free range eggs from Croft Farm in Penicuik.
Returning members from 2024, and folk who are already on our waitlist have already been contacted via email – so if that’s you, please check your inbox and spam folder and respond before the 22nd April.
As we are increasing membership numbers this year, we are open to new expressions of interest from North Edinburgh residents.
If you are interested in becoming a member, please go to our website for all the details
Modular building will provide essential services for local community until longer-term solution agreed
A new temporary library is being proposed at Davidson’s Mains Primary School, providing Blackhall Library’s key services while plans are developed for a long-term replacement for the previous building at Hillhouse Road.
Blackhall Library has been closed since September 2023, following the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RACC).
Options to replace the RAAC in the longer term are complex due to the extent of work required, the potential costs and the wider condition of the building.
The Council’s latest budget, agreed last month, includes a planned £15m to sustainably replace Blackhall Library.
A 12-week community engagement exercise will open after the Easter break to consider options (including refurbishing the existing building, rebuilding it or relocating to another site) to help find the preferred longer-term solution.
It is estimated it could take three to four years to deliver the final solution.
A mobile library service has been provided since Blackhall Library’s closure, but the limited space means it isn’t possible to deliver the full range of library services that residents expect.
The new temporary building is planned to open in the autumn, with construction works beginning in the summer break to avoid disruption to the school.
It will include provision for both children’s and adult libraries alongside dedicated areas for teens, studying and a multi-purpose meeting space. The building will be fenced off from the rest of the school site with segregated access. Opening hours are still to be determined, but will be different from school hours to prevent congestion at the start and end of the school day.
A number of improvements are also proposed at Davidson’s Mains Primary School as part of the scheme. These include improving the path outside the existing school gate and library site entrance to address concerns around congestion, cutting back hedges blocking the pavement opposite the school, and improving the junction crossing point either side of school entrances with a new continuous footway to make this safer for pedestrians. Parking restrictions immediately outside the school boundary will also be strengthened.
Further improvements to the school and wider area are being considered and a working group involving the project team, the school management team and parent council representatives has been established for the duration of the project.
Councillor Val Walker, Culture and Communities Convener, said: “We know how important it is that people across Blackhall and Davidson’s Mains have access to quality local services in places that are convenient and accessible for them.
“That’s why we’re proposing a temporary library at Davidson’s Mains Primary School until a long term solution can be delivered. At the same time, we’re improving access around the school site to create a safer environment for everyone.
“We want to make sure the school and local community are involved in how the service is delivered and the types of activities that will take place at the replacement library. The school will be able to make use of the facility, and we hope that the closer relationship with the school will bring wider benefits for learning for all.
“We also want to ensure that the longer-term solution delivers the best possible outcome for everyone who uses these services, and we look forward to hearing from residents and people across the local community when we launch our consultation on the full replacement for Blackhall Library in the spring.”
The Council is submitting a Planning Application for the temporary facility. The working group, with the school and Parent Council representatives, will continue throughout the process of delivering the temporary library facility and associated improvements.
Wider community engagement and consultation on the longer-term solution for the library will commence after the Easter break, with details to be published in due course.
On #GoodFriday , Saturday and Easter Monday we have some FREE #Easter & Nature trails at Lauriston Castle. Pop along and pick up the trails & solve a puzzle to get some chocolate eggs.
