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.

Among the Belters

Having grown up in East Lothian and refreshed my knowledge of its newer corners while campaigning over the last year, you’d think I’d be pretty comfortable anywhere in the county. But today I’d been asked to speak to the Tranent … Continue reading

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No Ferries from Westminster Pier

Good for the Hootsmon. Though too often it reveals Wizards of Oz furiously pulling unionist strings behind its editorial curtains, it gave a three-part, 6,000-word platform to ex-Lib-Dem Leader Tavish Scott to harangue us soothmoothers in stereo with the Lib-Dem … Continue reading

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The Beginning of the End

Having been a longtime SNP member and activist, the rocky road I have come was made smoother by the stout hearts and selflessness of others. It is deference to those as much as to the cause of independence itself that … Continue reading

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So They Hit Us

Ian, my best friend at Uni, introduced me to Schultz’s Charlie Brown cartoons and their disarmingly insightful comments on life. Perhaps my favourite showed Charlie sharing his nervousness about approaching the little red-haired girl with Linus. When at last he … Continue reading

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Welcome to Gogledd Island

The rolling countryside to the East of Edinburgh gives East Lothian its rural idyll and fine quality of life. To those living in its small towns and villages, it seems eternal, as if its peaceful pattern of colourful fields, dotted with … Continue reading

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Uprising Upstanding—Outstanding!

North Berwick can rightly claim many great things for itself, but a cool, cutting-edge place for the youth of today was never among them. Then came the demise of Proquip Sports, successor to Ben Sayers, and the end of over a … Continue reading

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Changing Course or Deckchairs?

It seems that my ex-opponent is as good as his word. Within 24 hours of standing tight-lipped across from me as the ERO confirmed his 151 majority and having heard the scale of the SNP victory elsewhere, he declared: “There … Continue reading

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Calling All Unionists

 “Unfortunately, it is true that only one side is even on the park playing in this match.” Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, Scotland’s first minister from 2001 to 2007, on the proposed Independence Referendum. The Scotsman, Sep. 7th 2011. “We need … Continue reading

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“Murdo!” He Wrote

We live in strange times. Wind the clock back a quarter century and Scotland was an unsightly pimple on the alabaster edifice of Thatcherism and about to get handbagged by the Sermon on the Mound.  To suggest then that the … Continue reading

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Hats Off to Pat

This blog has never been shy when it came to criticism. Given my SNP background, it may be expected that it would be particularly harsh with perceived faults in other parties. And, given decades of dominance of my beloved East … Continue reading

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