The annual Christmas tree burning on the beach. Another community event with only the loosest of organisation. As a result different groups make their own bonfires along the beach. It seemed this year that there were more different groups doing their own thing than in previous years which slightly diminished the size of the biggest bonfire near the foot of Bath Street. Presumably people further along the Prom didn't fancy dragging their trees any further along the beach, which is understandable but a pity. Still there were still plenty of trees gathered on a rather damp evening for a good blaze.

The Loony Dook (or should that be Douk?) at Portobello is a much more haphazard thing than the much larger and more organised event along at South Queensferry that gets much more media attention. They are both recent institutions compared to the event in Broughty Ferry, Dundee that has been going since the 1890s!
There are no official organisers in Portobello and it's usually a case of people spreading the word when they will be heading down. This year there were several dooks along the beach although the largest one was at the foot of Bath Street at 1pm   

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

As 2018 comes to a close a quick look back through my year in Portobello. Lots of pictures down on the beach but also other places in Portobello. Scenery and weather, birds and sea creatures and plenty of community events. Some personal highlights were the reopening of Bellfield, the Big Beach Busk, Art Walk Porty, the Ganesh Festival and the Christmas Street Festival but I also love the little details I have spotted and photographed through the year.

A chance for some networking over breakfast and then some updates from the different elements of Marketing Edinburgh. After the break a keynote talk from Chris Fair on "The Second 'M' in DMMO". DMO used to be Destination Marketing Organisation but it is increasingly morphing into Destination Management Organisation. Combining the two gives DMMO. This is all about ideas of 'place-making' for residents and visitors, directing more spending to managing better places to live and visit and the marketing will follow (through visitor/resident generated content on social media).  

The Edinburgh Anaesthesia Festival (EAF) has become the largest Anaesthesia meeting in Scotland with over a third of its delegates travelling from all over the world.
The 2018 programme (13-15 August 2018) was crammed with renowned national and international speakers delivering topical lectures on a wide variety of anaesthesia, intensive care and pain medicine related subjects.
The event took place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre with an evening dinner at the National Gallery of Scotland at The Mound.

The Big Walk came to Portobello on Saturday 26th May. Organised by the Eden Project four walkers set off from Morecambe to walk home, one to each of the nations of the UK. The Scottish walker, Angus McLeod, was heading for Dundee when he stopped off in Edinburgh and walked along the Prom at Portobello. I took some pictures of his visit, and chatted with him for a while to hear about his experiences on his walk. 

In March 2018 Self Directed Support Scotland (SDSS) held a national event - SDS National Voice - at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. The overarching aim of the event was to promote and showcase good self-directed support practice across Scotland. Delegates from across Scotland participated in a range of sessions.

AOC Archaeology Group are undertaking of a series of archaeological works on land previously occupied by warehouses and offices in Baileyfield Crescent, Portobello.
The project was undertaken on behalf of Barrett Homes Ltd and started in the summer of 2017. The most substantial part of the works involved the large-scale excavation and recording of structural remains associated with both the Abercorn Brick & Tile Works and the subsequent United Bottle Works. These remains included early 19th century brick kilns, floors, flues, chimney bases, brick drying structures and numerous wall foundations. The remains represented all phases of the brick works development as illustrated on historical mapping from the late 18th century to its demolition in the early 20th century.
The works also revealed that significant late 19th to 20th century infilling and levelling had taken place on site, with dumped material exceeding 4m. These deposits were especially deep along the southern and eastern parts of the development area.
A large number of small finds were recovered from the dumped material infilling the structures. These consisted of bottles, glass slag, stamped bricks and stoneware from the surrounding factories. The majority of the material appeared to date to the early 20th century and had been deposited once the brick works had been partially demolished and the area incorporated within the United Bottle Works.
A significant number of stamped fire bricks were recorded lying in situ within the drying kilns. These bricks represent the final firing undertaken within the brickworks before the operation went out of business between 1909 and 1919, with the site then being taken over by the United Bottle Works. [Information from the AOC Archaeology Group website]

There was an Open Day on the site, although there was some confusion over the date!