Brutal.

This is no longer about saving the corner building. It's lost. All the SFRS can do is try to prevent what would be a catastrophic spread to Glasgow Central Station.

📷 Vyro Media

Louis MacNeice, Ted Hughes, TS Eliot, WH Auden and Stephen Spender pose uncomfortably around a staircase. MacNeice, Hughes, Eliot and Auden are holding small glases of Faber & Faber's house wine. Spender does not.

No cheating your last saved picture is your therapy group

Tom. This is brilliant. You've captured one of the fleeting moments of light and joy that we see when we're doing something else - walking home from work, going to ScotMid for a bottle of wine, taking the dog out- that make living here so interesting.

Beautiful stuff, Andrew. See (and hear) you there.

Lovely stuff, Tom. A very happy 2026 to you.

Bless you, Ben. And very merry Festivities to you.

Absolutely! Thank you! I'll DM you.

Huw! As a shamefully late arriver to the teatles party, how might I get on your distribution list? Thanks for all that you do. Your friend in tea, in Beatles and in Teatles. Ed

I dunno, Dan. I respect your opinion and everything but.... it just *sounds* dead Christmassy, doesn't it? (Feel free to block if this opinion violates your feelings).

Standing Here could have / should have been on the LP. Beautiful tune either way. 🍋

It's so grim, Michael. Until the internet killed it, my ambition was to be a reporter for my local paper. But now... it's so hard for most people to read about what's really happening where they live. Everything online is either advertising or influencing. Thank you for cutting through the noise.

One of the few things I took away from reading history at uni was this thought: "I can't wait until I have the time to read this book properly." 25 years on, I still haven't found time for it... Enjoy. And please give your postie a tenner this Christmas.

For those of us who prefer to read than listen, is there a written version of this anywhere?

Another beauty, Ian. Thank you for posting these and, albeit briefly, transporting me to a more interesting place.

I'm wary of binge reading the whole series and spoiling it for myself, Lissa. And I love the feeling of having a series of books up my sleeve. I'll try and hold off until next spring. Or perhaps until next November 18th...

I finished reading this today, Lissa. It's exactly as you say. The loneliness of it all was almost- almost - too much. Are you going to push on and read volume two right away? or let it sit for a while?

Great stuff, Michael. Thank you. Proper journalism. I hope we can - collectively - find a way to fund more of it.

How can it be possible for a pedestrian to "crash" into an SUV? How fast was he walking? Was the SUV stationary? Would it not be more accurate to say that this poor man was simply "run over"?

Hang in there, Sirius; I'm sending you many delicious biscuits.

If he's prepared to listen to the advice from a man from the other (i.e. wrong) side of the Pennines, let him know that Kay's on Jamaica Street will, for a price, sell him a well-kept pint of Theakston's.

I live on this street. Trees would be an excellent addition for many reasons- but particularly for noise reduction. What this photo doesn't convey are the vast numbers of Ubers hammering over the setts 24/7 as they take tourists out to the airport.

Houseplant: Oh! You gave me half a drop more water than I wanted!! I’m going to drink it all anyway. Goodbye cruel world.

Garden weed: oh, you pulled me out of the ground with most of my roots did you? Not bothered mate, see you in a week.

Looking forward to the show: it's always the high watermark of high summer. You'll already have Le Plat Pays by Brel on your list, won't you? Merci. A sincere "chapeau" to you as ever.

You just don't want to repaint your ghastly accent wall, Ross.

I find it astonishing that you find it astonishing, Edwin. What would be the realistic alternative? What might the UK's class-bound and nostalgic Downton viewers have bought instead? What would you have approved of?

Mordew's Alex Pheby for Waterblack at Topping & Company Booksellers of Edinburgh

Hello Scotland! This is happening in Edinburgh next week. Tickets still available - will be an excellent event. (Please RT so people get to hear about it...)

www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/edinb...

Brilliant picture, Tom. But trying to pin down where you took it from is driving me crazy. Put me out of my misery: where is this?

He's the complete writer. Ask and he'll write thousands of words, effortlessly summoning astonishing new worlds and incredible creatures in the highest-definition prose. Equally, he will sit and write his own name. Again and again and again. Indefatigable. I can't wait for Waterblack.