Author Archives: davidsberry

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About davidsberry

Local ex-councillor, tour guide and database designer. Keen on wildlife, history, boats and music. Retired in 2017.

On the Cusp of Peace

Posted on July 25, 2017 by davidsberry

This year sees the centenary of the outbreak of WWI and its terrible loss of life. A much smaller tragedy— but one poignant because it was avoidable— happened as the last warlike act of WW2 not ten miles off East … Continue reading →

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Our Babel Tower of Place Names

Posted on July 25, 2017 by davidsberry

Despite a popular destination now for those seeking quality of life, our corner of Scotland was not always the quiet rural backwater it appears. In fact, it has the richest cultural heritage, pulling together in one place the disparate threads … Continue reading →

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Carlekemp

Posted on July 25, 2017 by davidsberry

You can drive down Abbotsford Road in North Berwick and not even know it’s there. Carlekemp, a magnificent pile of mellow Rattlebags stone, hides in its four acres behind a high wall that retains the grandeur intended when it was … Continue reading →

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Border Rail: Cheap as (Ballast) Chips?

Posted on July 25, 2017 by davidsberry

For decades now, East Lothian’s economy has been driven by Edinburgh’s. While the council, electricity generation, tourism and agriculture all provide local jobs, these are dwarfed by the 25,000 people who choose to combine East Lothian’s high quality of life … Continue reading →

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The Parallel with Parnell

Posted on April 20, 2017 by davidsberry

(corrected Aprol 25th) This last year has been a busy one for anyone in politics. One year ago the SNP retained its hold on the Scottish parliament. Last June, the David Cameron government committed harikari over Brexit and just when … Continue reading →

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Derek’s Deckchair Dispositions

Posted on December 18, 2016 by davidsberry

Our Finance Minister Derek Mackay  may be new to his job but the boyish looks deceive; he is no rookie. Bred in the rough-and-tumble West Central politics of Renfrewshire Council, he built the SNP Group there into  formidable opponents of … Continue reading →

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Phoenix: Rising Fast…but Then Ashes?

Posted on December 3, 2016 by davidsberry

Jet-lagged and shocked by temperature differentials, this may not be cohesive. especially after a 3-month hiatus in writing this blog. A month in the capital of Arizona is a real experience of the American Dream writ large. At 4.3m people … Continue reading →

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Britain’s Dinosaur Defence

Posted on August 22, 2016 by davidsberry

On a recent visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia, I was struck by two ‘birds-eye’ illustrations hanging in the corridor of the state rooms. One shows the Coronation Naval Review at Spithead in 1953 and the other the similar Silver … Continue reading →

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Blowing the Inheritance

Posted on August 18, 2016 by davidsberry

Edinburgh deserves its status as a World Heritage Site. Its New Town is—along with Bath—the shining example of magnificent Georgian architecture. Its regular streets of coherent facades are interspersed with circles, squares and gardens and gifted with wide views of … Continue reading →

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Dunkirk Spirit Doesn’t Age Well

Posted on August 7, 2016 by davidsberry

During the last decade or so, arguments that Scotland’s future rest within the union have revolved around two key points: 1) economic advantages of being an integral part of a ‘large’ country; 2) the glorious history that nations of the … Continue reading →

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