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Simon Holledge

@holledge.bsky.social
259 followers 328 following 434 posts

Conservationist | Hoffmannist | Scaligero | Tōfuist | Kyotophile | Internationalist | 36 operahouses/48 countries | 老霍 | Born@310 ppm | 🦋🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺🇯🇵🇨🇳🇭🇰 + 🇬🇱 | Pro devolved & empowered local democracy |

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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
How exactly was that image put together?
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Andy Arthur💃🏰⚓🦌 Threadinburgh 🧵 @threadinburgh.scot · 09/10/2026
I am once again asking/begging cultural, heritage and environmental groups in Edinburgh to stop using Gen AI images of a city that has been photographed from nearly every conceivable angle and for which a vast portfolio rights-free images already exist to use if you don't have a budget to pay
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Elisabeth - Elisabetta ☮️ @elisabethphi.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
2/… youtu.be/7jgLs5NidfE?...
youtu.be
Gorgeous Venice, Italy, dressed in a winter fog | Venezia Autentica [HD]
YouTube video by Venezia Autentica - Discover and Support the Authentic Venice
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Friends of Princes Street Gardens @princesstgardens.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The FRIENDS now have a WEBSITE. It is made with Wordpress using the Kadence theme — at the moment a bare bones iteration, that we hope we can gradually make more elegant. It will be a site for news and information about the gardens. princesstreetgardens.org
princesstreetgardens.org
Friends of Princes Street Gardens
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Friends of Princes Street Gardens @princesstgardens.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The LAUNCH of the Friends of PRINCES STREET GARDENS is on Tuesday 20 October at 19.00 — at the The City of Edinburgh Council Chamber, High Street EH1 1YJ. All welcome. Free tickets available on Eventbrite: shorturl.at/Db5r3 SAVE THE DATE!
The City of Edinburgh Council Chamber, venue of the launch of the Friends of Princes Street Gardens, 20 October 2026
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Huge appreciation to Marina Hyde who has just written her final column for the Guardian. Where is she going? @theguardian.com
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
MARINA HYDE: "The latex Osama [bin Laden] was carrying a toy AK-47...I’d propped him against the door of the [ French] embassy to get the picture, it swung open and I was pulled inside...Things escalated fast...the incident was attended by 10 police squad cars..." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
It's true: this is my final column. You have exactly 24 hours to complain before my inbox self-destructs | Marina Hyde
Yes, after 25 years I’m signing off, and I’ve cherished every moment – especially storming the French embassy with a (toy) AK-47, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Good. It would be excellent if the labour-intensive routine ticket checking can now be replaced by spot checks — as done in almost all European cities.
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Mr and Mrs Trellis @thenorfolkcoast.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Ofcom rules say broadcasters cannot use politicians as newsreaders, interviewers or reporters in any news programmes. Demand that Ofcom takes immediate action.. bestforbritain.org/petition/far...
bestforbritain.org
Farage on GB News: Demand that Ofcom takes immediate action - Best for Britain
These cookies are needed for the website to work properly.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
LIB-DEMs: Edinburgh boring? Prefer Rio’s COPACABANA Beach? LIB-DEMS to the rescue! Yes — with R Murphy’s help — they can turn Princes Street into COPACABANA, concreting, sorry ‘mosaicing’, a long slice of gardens for your samba party. That is what you wanted, right? @scotlibdems.org.uk
‘Focus on Edinburgh City Centre’, Summer 2026 From your local Lib Dem team and Charles Dundas.Copacabana Beach with Portuguese pavement, Rio de Janeiro
Photo: Mteixeira62, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
BBC: "The more cuts the BBC makes, the more its services suffer. This makes it more difficult for the broadcaster to justify public spending, which in turn leads to further cuts. The BBC is at risk of entering an inescapable doom spiral." www.theguardian.com/media/2026/s...
theguardian.com
BBC ‘risks entering inescapable doom spiral’ as further cuts hit TV and radio
Warning from union comes as corporation cuts local specialist correspondent roles as part of plan to save £500m
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Pathetic performance by a Prime Minister.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Physical possession? Of the Cuillins? Like hanging off a ledge somewhere for a long period of time? I think in most countries high mountains are owned by the state.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Was that it? Mr MacLeod claims the mountains on the basis of some unclear old documents and the presumption is that he owns them, so it's OK? Something seems to be wrong here.
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Andy Wightman @andywightman.scot · 23/09/2026
In March 2000, John MacLeod announced that he was selling the Cuillin. 1/5
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Layla Moran MP 🔶🕊️ @laylamoran.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
It is disappointing that the Government have broken their pledge to seek legal advice towards recognising a genocide of Uyghur Muslims in China. I urge the Government to honour this commitment and waste no time in raising concerns over human rights abuses. www.politicshome.com/news/article...
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Osbert Lancaster @osbert.org · 22/09/2026
Connecting changemakers to explore what's happening and discuss what's next! Please join us and invite your networks! @greenspacetrust.bsky.social @thecockburn.bsky.social @caltonhill.bsky.social @scotlink.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social events.humanitix.com/what-if-edin...
events.humanitix.com
What if Edinburgh was designed for wildlife as well as people?
A networking discussion for changemakers working for environmental and social change: exploring how we can respond in the climate, nature and human crisis.
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Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 22/09/2026
YouGov’s latest poll shows that 628 constituencies want to rejoin the EU. Only 4 don't. It’s time to talk about EU membership. bestforbritain.org/uk-membership-mo…
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Imagine buying a WHOLE state like it's a garage sale item. This is NOT a fake news." denmarkification.com?utm=.share.b...
denmarkification.com
Help Denmark Buy California – Because Why Not?
Buy it from Trump, the bigliest crowdfunding ever
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evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Inside you are two wolves: one wishes to write a quick snarky headline and the other chimes in with "actually, it's much more nuanced than that" and begins to write a 2000-word blog post.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"AI’s applications enhance productivity across both high-carbon and low-carbon energy supply pathways simultaneously. Whether AI enables more emissions than it avoids depends on the global balance between these competing pathways." www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
AI-driven productivity gains enable more CO₂ emissions than they avoid in a global energy–economy model - npj Climate Action
npj Climate Action - AI-driven productivity gains enable more CO₂ emissions than they avoid in a global energy–economy model
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
After her speech on Palestine I would like to nominate Lara Bird MP @larabirdleakey.bsky.social.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The council propose to allow private motorised vehicle access along a footpath within the public park (Common Good) area of Calton Hill. The problem is also compounded by practical difficulties — the footpath is very narrow.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The concern is that residents' concerns will simply be disregarded. The legal ('dded of servitude') stuff is obscure and people may not react until their path is actually blocked by a vehicle, by which time it will be too late.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
FYI @andywightman.scot The proposed 'deed of servitude' would give private motorised access through a 'Common Good' public park. Are there precedents for this? Is it normally allowed? In this case it would block access by foot.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Let's start with North Bridge and South Bridge. Wider pavements. No through double decker bus routes. No cars. Only essential transport serving that area. It can be done. Almost every other medium-sized European city already does it!
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TechnicallyRon @technicallyron.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Due to a typo in the telegram chat a group of sad men are trying to protest with baklava on their faces.
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The Edinburgh Reporter @edinreporter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Rare wartime photographs go on display in Edinburgh Hundreds of long-hidden photographs have gone on display in Edinburgh, revealing life in rural Italy during the Second World War....
theedinburghreporter.co.uk
Rare wartime photographs go on display in Edinburgh
Hundreds of long-hidden photographs have gone on display in Edinburgh, revealing life in rural Italy during the Second World War. FERNANDA: LE FOTO RITROVATE - Undiscovered Photos of Italian Rural Life 1930-1950 has just opened at the Italian Institute of Culture on runs until 1 October. Dating from the 1930s to the 1950s, the photographs were discovered by filmmaker Giordano Viozzi after the death of his aunt, Fernanda Millevolte, with the original negatives having spent years in a drawer. The photographer and many of those pictured remain unknown, but the collection offers a rare glimpse into life among contadini - impoverished sharecroppers from southern Le Marche.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
It's Common Good land. Council policy is not to allow motorised vehicles in parks. Greenside has been proposed as a LOCAL NATURE RESERVE. It's already a LOCAL BIODIVERSITY SITE with badgers, hedgehogs etc. We don't want the animals run over by cars. It's easy to just park on Blenheim Place.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Indeed. Almost all local residents in that area park on the road. They don't have private drives.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I know that path well. At its narrowest it's 2.8 metres or less. There are bollards at the Greenside Row end. I've never seen a car attempt to go up it. It would only be viable if it were widened — or a new drive was made on the other side of the drying green.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I measured the width of the path at between 2.8 and 3.2 metres. Ironically it wouldn't have been needed if planning permission hadn't been given — against expert advice — for the strip of land along the road, between Greenside Church and the office on Blenheim Place.
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
@caltonhill.bsky.social Have the CALTON HILL CONSERVATION TRUST published any opinion/statement about the proposed road access through Common Good land on public park area of Calton Hill? FYI @spurtle.bsky.social @edinburghminute.com @ntbcc.bsky.social @threadinburgh.scot @edinreporter.bsky.social
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Friends of Princes Street Gardens @princesstgardens.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Our mailing list signup is now available — see tally.so/r/zxAAG1
tally.so
Friends of Princes Street Gardens: Mailing List
Made with Tally, the simplest way to create forms.
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Rainforest Action Network @ran.org · 09/09/2026
The recent flooding disaster in #Nepal was caused by melting glaciers in the Himalayas loosening the rocky mountainsides. The glacier collapse read as a 5.2 magnitude earthquake. As climate change worsens, more of these flash floods are prone to happen. cnn.it/3UxpJVE
cnn.com
What we know -- and don't know -- about what cause the Nepal flood wave | CNN
It will take weeks to establish the exact causes, but a team of international scientists believes a huge chunk of glacier sheared off and fell into the valley below.
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Friends of Princes Street Gardens @princesstgardens.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Edinburgh Council report, "Non Statutory Planning Guidance - PRINCES STREET and WAVERLEY VALLEY STRATEGY UPDATE ”, Planning Committee, 9 September 2026 is here: democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s1...
Report to Edinburgh Council Planning Committee on Princes Street and Waverley Valley Strategy, 9 September 2026
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Friends of Princes Street Gardens @princesstgardens.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Do you want a say in what happens to PRINCES STREET GARDENS? Or do you want to leave it to council officers & erratic, volatile political groups who agree one thing today, another thing tomorrow? Sign up to the FRIENDS of PSG mailing list to stay in the loop: tally.so/r/zxAAG1
tally.so
Friends of Princes Street Gardens: Mailing List
Made with Tally, the simplest way to create forms.
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Friends of Princes Street Gardens @princesstgardens.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"PRINCES STREET would see a widened pavement, lifts down to the GARDENS and shelters turned into small cafes under proposals recommended by COUNCIL OFFICIALS. . . ." 1/ www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/edinbur...
edinburghnews.scotsman.com
Edinburgh council recommended to take less radical option on future of Princes Street
‘Ambitious pragmatism’ v ‘radical rethink’
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Liz Webster 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧🇪🇺 @lizwebster.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Brexit did not restore sovereignty. It exposed Britain to subjugation as America’s poor relation: a market to penetrate, an asset to strip and a country too isolated to negotiate as an equal. The answer is not another flimsy reset, Britain needs to return to the European table.
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Liz Webster 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧🇪🇺 @lizwebster.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
🚨 This Irish Times report demolishes the myth of Britain’s “special relationship” with America. When Washington complains that Britain is not “taking advantage of Brexit”, it means Britain has not yet surrendered enough to American commercial interests. 🔗 www.irishtimes.com/business/202...
irishtimes.com
US says Britain not taking advantage of Brexit
Choosing Brussels over United States ‘a problem’ for trade deal
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Edinburgh Council @edinburghcouncil.bsky.social propose ROAD ACCESS to the back of GREENSIDE CHURCH along GREENSIDE CHURCH PATH on COMMON GOOD LAND belonging to CALTON HILL ("Proposed Deed of Servitude over Common Good Property: Greenside...") consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/cg/greenside/
consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk
Proposed Deed of Servitude over Common Good Property: Greenside, Calton Hill, Edinburgh - City of Edinburgh Council - Citizen Space
Find and participate in consultations run by City of Edinburgh Council
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Normal Island News @normalisland.co.uk · 02/09/2026
The BBC has explained that presenter Katty Kay's comments did not meet is editorial standards because those standards include not telling the truth about Israel and looking the other way when genocide is taking place 👀
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Shame on Google Maps. They once had a motto "Don't be evil". What should it be now?
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The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Tomorrow's front page of The National – our Programme for Government special
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
The Fringe overwhelms Edinburgh in August. The people on the street are not the arts/music crowd. They’re here for other reasons. Would it be better to put the EIF and other arts festivals in SEPTEMBER and start again to bring back the JOY of ‘GOING TO THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL’? 3/
The Usher Hall during the Edinburgh International Festival, 22 August 2027
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
EIF is no longer a major European festival. Does it need to be rebuilt? With more programming depth? A defined purpose? Better identification with its audience? A festival should be more than its parts — not just a random set of performances by fly-in/fly-out artists. 2/
The Queen's Hall during the Edinburgh International Festival, 27 August 2027
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Was the 2026 EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL a success? The quality of everything I attended was excellent — but tickets were expensive — was everyone I know in the Usher Hall Upper Circle? — nothing sold out, many empty seats. #edinburghfestival #EIF #Edinfest 1/
Notice outside the Queen's Hall during the Edinburgh International Festival, 27 August 2027
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Liz Webster 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧🇪🇺 @lizwebster.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
🧵 This 👉first test of Burnham’s promised EU reset. Next week, the EU bans Brazilian beef/chicken after 🇧🇷 failed to comply with rules restricting antibiotics, incl medicines critically important to human health. Britain has *not* followed, ministers seek “information and assurances” from Brazil
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
There are some Forum agendas. I haven't seen anything else. www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/fi...
edinburgh.gov.uk
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Simon Holledge @holledge.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I think a tourist tax is essential for a city dominated by tourism. Barcelona had one in 2012. We could have had one much earlier. Do you know what happened to the Edinburgh Visitor Levy Advisory Forum? I wonder if this is still in the picture?
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