A selection of pictures from the year, with a particular emphasis on the Beach busk and the Art Walk, when I took a LOT of pictures! Just some of the many varied activities that were going on in our little bit of Edinburgh that give a flavour of the very real sense of community that exists here. Something that was recognised by the Academy of Urbanism that awarded Portobello their Great Neighbourhood Award 2020 at the 2020 Urbanism Awards in November 2019.

Some of the people and events I have photographed this year.

A fabulous fortieth birthday party at the Ghillie Dhu in central Edinburgh. An international gathering with a very Scottish flavour!

International FIRST conference at EICC - six days of lectures and networking with delegates from all over the world.

Larry the Lobster and local children keeping the beach tidy in Portobello, in a campaign supported by local business St Andrews Restaurant & Takeaway.

EGTG rehearsal for their production of The Lark at Bellfield, Portobello.

A few images of the team and residents at one of Community Integrated Care's residential properties. The images were needed for an awards dinner as the team had been shortlisted for an award.

Portobello Prom is a place for Art. Some of it is official, literally part of the fabric of the Prom like these two modern mosaics close to Westbank/Tumbles.

Other elements are remnants of specific projects, notably the annual Art Walk, which takes place every September. While much of the commissioned public art is temporary, some pieces last longer. The most notable of these is Cressida, the sculpted metal octopus at the end of the groyne at the foot of Bath Street. Initially installed for the first Art Walk in September 2015 she was twice claimed by the sea during winter storms but was successfully rescued and re-installed. (In fact the story of Cressida is probably worth a blog post all of its own, so I'll come back to that!) For now here is a recent picture at a high Spring tide with Cressida almost completely submerged.

Last summer's Art Walk had a strong musical element, including the Bandstands project which is still present on the Prom at the sites of two former bandstands, There is an app related to the project with music and archive photographs to download when you get to the locations.

Great as it is to see these works of art along the Prom, there are also other, unofficial, pieces that appear and stay a while. They can vary in size - some are large and unmissable but others are small and tucked away so you can overlook them if you aren't paying attention. Like the Portobello Public Pencil Sharpening Project installations. So far I have found four of them - I wonder if there are any more?

There were a number of wooden objects at different points along the Prom but most of them seemed to have gone except for the Fish, Fish, Not Fish piece. 

I wonder what art will appear next on the Prom?

A trip to Dunfermline for the football thwarted by the March weather. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade...

A PR Event for Japanese beer brand Asahi Super Dry in Tigerlily on George Street, Edinburgh with pub games.