Edinburgh Council Rant.

It's not just trams!

Look at the mess RBS got into.

The oil industry has been on the go for over 30 years, and we were promised a bypass round Aberdeen at the start. To date, not one sod of earth has been moved for its construction!


And those in power in Scotland think they can run a country? ? ? ? ?

We should stick to what we're good at - Making whisky and supplying the army with cannon fodder.

All together now - TOO POOR, TOO WEE, TOO STUPIT

Why was the banking crisis Scotland's fault when Westminster oversaw the regulators and most of the irresponsible activity took place outside Scotland ?

Why is is Scotland's fault there is no oil fund when the Scottish government has no control over oil revenues??

The arguments you believe contra-indicate independence are in fact arguments for it.

- W
 
Parking cruise ships under the rail bridge and then ferrying the punters ashore underneath the iconic structure must be a positive, surely? Must be better than Leith Docks or Cockenzie.

As for Port Edgar, I have expressed my views previously. Edinburgh Leisure have milked it for years without any re-investment and it shows. For the first time I have been contacted by PE with an invitation to berth there so maybe the oft quoted waiting list has evaporated. Once it had the selling point of being relatively cheap. No more. My 6 months ashore on the Clyde is ~£250 cheaper than PE, the boat isn't parked a metre off the ground, a cradle is included as is electricity, there is a security system and boat lifts aren't limited by mud and lack of water. If the Solent model is valid, why would anyone keep their BenJenBav at PE for the occasional weekend cruise when they could have any of the marinas on the Clyde?
 
Cruise ships cannot get to the western part of the Forth there is a rather famous bridge in the way which has restricted headroom.

Quite a lot of cruise ships berth at Rosyth. Not sure how restrictive the bridge is, but they will be hoping that the new aircraft carrier can get under it too. I presume it is just the biggies that have to go to hound point.
 
Are they really planning to get the new carriers under there ?

My Dad was on HMS Hermes for a Sea Harrier trial and reckoned they didn't have much clearance, maybe it was the angle.
 
Are they really planning to get the new carriers under there ?

My Dad was on HMS Hermes for a Sea Harrier trial and reckoned they didn't have much clearance, maybe it was the angle.

Ha ha. Presume so since QE is being built at Rosyth, above the bridge!
 
As a lad in Bradford we had trolley buses back in the 60s-great ride;doors that shut;eco friendly and all they needed were overhead wires
 
I presume it is just the biggies that have to go to hound point.

There's a list of this year's visitors to Hound Point at http://www.forthports.co.uk/ports/uploads/forthnotices/NtM_05of2013_CruiseVesselsAtHoundPoint.pdf: certainly the biggies.

Can't remember offhand how deep the approaches to Cockenzie are but I'd guess that they're too shallow for anything worthwhile.

We've got a 5' draft fin and PE is just about the only place we can use at all - or almost all - states of the tide so we put up with pretty carp facilities. Thank goodness for the staff who are excellent.
 
All together now - TOO POOR, TOO WEE, TOO STUPIT

Why was the banking crisis Scotland's fault when Westminster oversaw the regulators and most of the irresponsible activity took place outside Scotland ?

Why is is Scotland's fault there is no oil fund when the Scottish government has no control over oil revenues??

The arguments you believe contra-indicate independence are in fact arguments for it.

- W

As an English ex-pat living in Scotland you sure seem to have picked up a local stereotype successfully; blaming everyone else !

1. RBS was Scots registered, Scots headquartered, its Board was almost exclusively Scots born, educated and resident. It is patently obvious where the responsibility for poor decisions which were made lies; you can't blame the nasty English prefects.
The worst and most disastrous decision was the purchase of ABM and its debt book with little due diligence. Salmond praised that decision.

2. It is not a prerequisite of building a bypass to have an oil fund. Thousands of bypasses have been built by countries without an oil fund. Oh no; you blame the nasty English for "stealing" UK oil!

3. Has anyone EVER referred to Scotland as being too small, too poor, too uneducated to be able to do anything or have you made that up ?

Actually most of your hosts belie the stereotype and do take responsibility. You must have been spending too much time on nationalist grudge blogs.

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You are right, mountain. Independence will make them grow up! But at least they didn't spend the oil money on closing down industry in the midlands etc.
 
No one is really interested because indoor climbing is a standalone sport, it's not a feeder to rock climbing. There is certainly a large bunch of winter users who keep their skills honed for outdoor use in the summer. Its also a fantastic way to keep fit, physically and mentally. Just popping down to the wall appears to be a lot more convenient and satisfying than pounding a tread mill, stepping machine, rowing machine or running in the street, which appears to be the reason for the high demand. I am a regular user of Ratho with my son and it is usually very busy - the office fatties out number the lithe climbers by a large margin. However, clearly there are very skilled outdoor climbers practising their moves. The other big thing is bouldering. There are folks who just appear to go round and round FRP boulders for an hour, sometimes upside down as well! Scottish outdoor climbing is dreich at the best of times, give me coffee and a fairy cake any day. So the council are pandering to a popular venue. Port Edgar is a well used facility as well and their sailing course are very well subscribed I understand. I hope that Port Edgar gets some money spent in the next few years as I am sure the Council will have less and less available over the next 10 years.
I fear you are quite right, the planet has gone soft! When the current presenter of Desert Island Disks asks me what book I want to take, it will be W.H Murray's Mountaineering in Scotland

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary--wh-murray-1302787.html
 
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Seeing DUniv as a post nominal has got to sum the man up...

Victor Meldrew moment coming up!
 
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