Send us a text Earlier this week, the programme for the Portobello Book Festival was launched. Throughout the first weekend in October, the library will be buzzing with writers launching new books, talking about them, discussing the work of others and laying bare what it means to be an author. This is the 16th Festival and is probably alone in the …

Send us a text Dementia affects around 90,000 people in Scotland. Across the UK, the total is currently around a million. Those figures however are expected to increase by 50% by 2050. That will put an ever increasing strain on the services which offer day care and other support services. One of those in Portobello is The Cottage in Milton Road, ru…

Send us a text St Mark’s Episcopal Church in the High Street has received some good news. The National Churches Trust has awarded it a £100,000 grant to help preserve this historic Georgian building. The church first started fund raising about five years ago but that was hit by lockdown and other issues which delayed the whole project. But when Dav…

Send us a text Here at The Porty Podcast, we were delighted to learn that a group of primary school children at Towerbank had come top in their age-group in a programme called ‘Academy 9’. The aim was to get schools across Scotland involved in real life science and technology projects - in this case the dualling of the A9 north of Perth. The pupils…

Send us a text It almost seems hard to believe but Portobello Town Hall has been running – and more important running successfully – for a year now. And it’s five years, almost to the day, when Miss Morag from Lothian Dance Academy found the doors barred when she was getting ready to put on its Annual Show. Thankfully, it did go ahead despite conce…

Send us a text If you were looking at Facebook earlier in the week, you may have seen the lovely photograph of a beaming Morag Donaldson. She’s just been presented with an award recognising all the voluntary work she’s done in Portobello in recent years, most recently in connection with Bellfield. She came in to record an episode of the podcast wit…

Send us a text It's the first of June. The longest day is just three weeks away. And on Midsummer's Day, The Portobello Sea Rising Festival will take place. In this episode, Hazel Darwin-Clements from Porty Community Energy has been out on the Prom and Beach, occasionally getting her feet wet not to mention a little chilly in the breeze, to tell us…

Send us a text The dark nights of 2020 were enlivened by the brilliant pictures and illustrations people put up for the first Window Wanderland. The event just before Christmas helped us cope with the restrictions of lockdown. This year it’s back but moved to the first weekend of March to remind us all that longer nights and better weather are on t…

Send us a text It’s been over six months since the community took over control of Portobello Town Hall. Inside, it’s now strikingly different from what had been before - it now looks quite vibrant and fresh and there’s an air of excitement because of the activity held there. Outside in the grounds that surround the Hall, it’s a different story - an…

Send us a text Belly dancing is synonymous with the Middle East. Some of remember films from the 50s and 60s which feature these exotic looking dancers. However, belly dancing has attracted followers all over the world, not least here in Scotland. Tonight, you can see it in action at Bellfield in the first of seven such events to be held there this…

Send us a text Just over three months ago, Storm Babet caused considerable damage across the East of Scotland. Although Portobello was sheltered from the worst effects of the storm to a certain extent, we still saw large swathes of the beach swept away, groynes left at crooked angles and damage done to the sea wall and Prom. At the time, local Coun…

Send us a text What did you do in lockdown? Well, one Porty couple set about starting their own TV show called Moreish TV. At first, it was found on YouTube but its growing popularity meant that it attracted attention not just from up and coming stars from a whole range of different media but from ever more interesting, important and influential st…

Send us a text Over the past few days, we’ve heard reports that, for instance, Portobello Swim Centre could be earmarked for closure. That was followed a statement from Edinburgh Leisure which insisted there had been misleading media articles regarding venue closures. The very idea that a major Porty facility could be under threat was enough to get…

Send us a text It’s just over six months since Tills and Company arrived in Portobello High Street. It’s more than just a second-hand bookshop, but a place where you can meet friends over a coffee or spend time reading or quietly meditating. It’s taken a while to reach the management for an interview to find out more about this business – but in th…

Send us a text Panto is back at Portobello Town Hall! Oh no it isn’t! Oh yes it certainly is! The new production of Cinderella is brought to us by Stage Door Entertainment, the same company that produced the highly successful ‘Oliver’ last month. Rehearsals are now under way in the Town Hall itself and the show opens on the 8th of December. To buy …

Send us a text Over the past quarter of a century, a group of men, aged between 65 and 100, have been taking on a labour of love to recreate a unique piece of aviation history – building from scratch a replica of the WW1 fighter, the Sopwith Strutter. Today, it’s the only one of its type flying in the world. The project has been described as a "Men…

Send us a text There are several blue or black plaques to famous men in Portobello – from Hugh Miller to William Russell Flint to Harry Lauder. However, there’s only one to a woman – Helen Hopekirk, a talented musician who was born here, emigrated to America and was celebrated in her day as a composer and concert pianist. But surely she was not alo…

Send us a text When graffiti appears in Porty, a small band of people from Keep Porty Tidy are on hand to remove it. This small group also carry out gardening in public spaces around our community and well as keeping the benches in the public parks looking fresh and new. In today’s episode, we meet two of them – Colin Cornwall and Chris Cowie.…

Send us a text It was quite a shock to discover just how much sand had been stripped from Porty Beach after Storm Babet had passed through. The damage done was the main topic of conversation at this week’s meeting of Portobello Community Council. There are lots of questions that still have to be answered – exactly how much damage has there been, ho…

Send us a text It will soon be Halloween. In the imagination of some, it’s a time of witches, warlocks and things that go bump in the night. For others, it’s a time when children go guising in the streets offering (to use the American expression) tricks or treats. But it’s also the time when a new production starts its tour around Scotland. It’s ca…

Send us a text Life is definitely returning to Portobello Town Hall. There’s a fund raising ceilidh at the end of the month. There’s a production of the musical ‘Oliver’ coming early in November, And yes, there will be a panto this year –Cinderella – which will run from the end of November right through to the end of the year. Tickets are available…

Send us a text If you go to the Porty Market in Brighton Park today, look out for a stand selling bottles of a drink called Pochle. It’s the name chosen by the man who’s making Scottish Calvados or cider brandy or eau d vie from our excess apples. Rather than see them go to waste, Chris Miles will collect and store them until he can turn them into …

Send us a text For Edinburgh Assassins Kickboxing Club, this has been a year of celebrations. This is their 30th Anniversary – and, for most of that time, they trained at Portobello Town Hall. They had to find new premises when the Hall closed four years ago. They’ve just enjoyed considerable success at the European Championships a few week ago wit…

Send us a text Late at night on the 8th of September, a devastating earthquake stuck part of Morocco. Its effects were felt across a large part of the country. While it made the headlines for a few days, it was eclipsed when a flood swept through communities in Libya, killing thousands of people. However, two women from Portobello – Lynn Houmdi and…

Send us a text If you remember the Porty BikeFest from last year, well it’s back. This afternoon, parts of Bath Street and Mentone Avenue will be closed off to cars so that all kinds of interesting two and three wheeled vehicles can be shown off and tried. And it’s also been an exciting week for the Bike Library further along the Prom as its home i…

Send us a text The Portobello Book Festival may be next month – but tickets are already going fast. It runs from the 5th to the 8th of October and in total there are 26 talks and discussions to attract your interest… everything from paddleboards to playwriting. Founded in 2008, the festival has established itself as one of the cornerstone events in…

Send us a text The Art Walk Porty started yesterday. Under the title of ‘Vessel’, it feels like it has a larger, more ambitious programme than in the past – to get the most from it you need four leaflets. And, as David Calder found out from curator Rosy Naylor, the bounds of this year’s event extend well beyond just Portobello.…

Send us a text On the first Saturday of the month, you may have seen a poster outside St John’s Church in Brighton Place. It reads ‘Pamoja Fashion’ and points you towards the church hall where a market selling clothes, jewellery and other accessories is being held. It’s raising money for a charity which for many years has linked schools in Edinburg…

Send us a text Last week, we heard about the news that the keys to the Town Hall has been passed to the community. But that’s not the only Council asset that’s been handed over recently to a different, smaller, less-well known part of the Portobello community. It’s a fairly small plot of land off Mount Lodge Place which has remained locked and unus…

Send us a text Portobello Town Hall has been lying empty for almost exactly four years. We’ve reported on the work done by the local community and Portobello Central in particular to bring it back into use. Now, the dream is reality. https://www.portobellocentral.org/David Calder, Morag Phillips, Jennifer Elliot, Geoff Pearson, Sally Dyson, Wendy Davies, Stewart Reid

Send us a text On Monday morning, a group of cyclists will leave the Cake Stand in Straiton Place Park on what, for one of them, will be an epic journey. Leading them will be Xani Byrne, brother of Alice Byrne, who disappeared on New Year’s Day in 2022. Neither she nor her body were found and the police concluded that she had taken her own life. Th…

Send us a text For much of the past three years, activity on the waters off Porty Beach have been relatively quiet. The pandemic and lockdown meant that, for a long time, people couldn't take part in rowing or sailing, for instance. And any regattas, where clubs came together to race, were completely out of the question. But this year, the races ar…

Send us a text Life for musicians has been tough over the last three years. The Pandemic locked them out of all of the venues they’d played to entertain their audiences. Some of them however saw it as an opportunity, perhaps not at first, to think about their music and to change direction. That’s what happened with the locally based singing partner…

Send us a text There seem to be a huge number of videos showing people doing astonishing feats – climbing buildings, running precariously along railings, leaping across streams. It’s all part of a relatively new sport called Parkour. Part of its popularity seems to come from the fact that it’s not a traditional competitive sport. You challenge your…

Send us a text Cast your minds back to the turn of the year. Five men from Portobello’s Eastern Amateur Rowing Club were thousands of miles away from their families, in the middle of the Atlantic in quite a small rowing boat taking part in the Talisker Atlantic Challenge. It took them 39 days and 8hours but it’s also taken them time to come to term…

Send us a text Walk down any street – not just in Portobello – but almost any town in the UK and you’ll see row after row of cars, mostly just sitting there, hardly used. The Western World is obsessed with private car ownership. They’re a status symbol. And yet, cars – and road transport generally – are responsible for a considerable proportion of …

Send us a text Today, the Portobello Timebank marks its 10th Anniversary with a fund-raising event this afternoon in the Baptist Church Hall. They do hold regular such sessions there – but this one is just a little special – as David Calder found out from some of the members: https://www.portobellotimebank.co.uk/…

Send us a text Portobello has a rich and varied history, dating back about 300 years. And before that, the Figgate Whins were known as the haunt of smugglers and outlaws. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that there are stories of mysterious happenings in parts of the town. But from next week and through the summer, we’ll be able to hear about some of t…

Send us a text Portobello and its sense of community is attracting the attention of the academic world. The latest to be looking at us is a fourth year undergraduate who’s studying geography at Edinburgh University. We will be the subject of his final dissertation and at least some of his source material comes from… listening to The Porty Podcast.…

Send us a text You may have seen the posters about what’s happening at the Town Hall. You may have spoken to people about how the building will be used when it becomes a community asset. You may have your own ideas about events you’d like to see – or even put on – there. But right now, the trustees are looking for your practical help in the form of…

Send us a text Next Saturday, a group of storytellers from around the country are gathering at Bellfield for an event next Saturday evening entitled “Tales of the Gallus Women”. These “Gallus Women” are those who, in their day, made a significant impact on their communities but whose lives and influence have largely been forgotten. The show has bee…

Send us a text In the last few days, the City of Edinburgh Council has launched a consultation about how to turn Portobello into a 20 minute neighbourhood. Over the next six week, local people will have the chance to express their views on how to make local services – shops, cafes, the local surgery - more accessible by foot, cycle, wheelchair or p…

Send us a text This coming Thursday, the Portobello Timebank has arranged a talk at Bellfield to mark to 100th anniversary of the public broadcasting in the UK, which took place at the end of last year. They’ve enlisted the help of Tom Stevenson, a retired professor of Microelectronic Technology at Edinburgh University. His talk - The Story of Earl…

Send us a text The Portobello Community Hub at Bellfield depends on volunteers. Some of them get involved with single projects, other make a regular long term commitment, or even just offer to help as needed. The tasks they take on vary from being Action Porty Board members, to assisting at events, gardening or helping to maintain the building, etc…

Send us a text Portobello is a magic place - quite literally! In Richard Wiseman, we have a magician whose videos on YouTube have spell-bound people from around the world (over 600 million times he says). He’s performed at the Fringe and was a Fringe Festival Director. He’s also fascinated by the history of magic and Portobello’s rich history in th…

Send us a text A new play for schools is about to start touring over the next couple of months. It’s called ‘Maya and the Whale’ and it stars Hazel Darwin-Clements who also wrote it. The production is part of a programme run by Theatre in Schools Scotland. The organisation works with teachers, education colleagues, local authority arts organisation…

Send us a text Thinking back to the Festive Season, cosmetics appear to have been popular gifts. And soap is one of those products that seems to have to ability to keep on giving throughout the year – or rather, good quality soaps. If you do your shopping in Portobello, you may never have come across a small shop at the eastern end of Joppa Road. D…

Send us a text There will shortly be an unusual dance event in Porty. It’s called the Malecon Matinee and will be held next Sunday afternoon. What’s behind the name? Well, it’s the creation of local people who’ve fallen in love with the music and dance of Cuba – and the Malecon is the main road along the sea front in Havana. But what is different a…

Send us a text Happy New Year and welcome back to another season of The Porty Podcast. Have you ever walked along Porty Prom and watched the open-water swimmers on a cold January day braving the freezing air before walking into the cold sea? There’s a bit of madness on New Year’s Day when the ‘Loony Dook’ takes place; but to keep going throughout t…

Send us a text It may only be the second week of December but the Porty Podcast is taking an extended break until the New Year. However, it’s been an interesting year. Both Hazel Darwin-Clements and David Calder have met lots of interesting people with interesting stories to tell. So we thought we should look back on some of the best bits of the la…