Summer in Leith reminded me of pre-tram days, but with added bewildered tourists. I had a great business idea of throwing a tarpaulin over the Balfour Street tram stop, adding a bucket, and renting it out as an Air BnB. Or a Fringe venue. Perhaps I should’ve. The festival drives me to crazy thoughts. 

Local theatre company Grid Iron are my favourite festival date. Every year they produce a stunning site-specific theatre piece – this year ‘Mayflies’ in Brown’s engineering warehouse on The Shore. It was a beautiful production of Andrew O’Hagan’s sixth novel, set in the eighties with an awesome soundtrack. If you love theatre, I urge you to join the Grid Iron mailing list on their website www.gridiron.org.uk – their seasons usually sell out in advance. In previous years they’ve done an end-of-the-world drama all around Leith Academy. I loved the post-Covid outdoor performance they did at Newhailes in 2022 complete with campfire.

The Musselburgh flower show mid-August was a wonderful escape to the honest toun. Did you know that the Musselburgh horticultural society is over 150 years old? Their shows have been somewhat depleted in recent years with not enough exhibitors. I decided to try my luck and entered a few plants. I’m now the proud owner of an award-winning cactus and chilli plant. Woo hoo! Just don’t ask me how many entries were in those classes (one).

Back in the throngs, the Thermos Museum popped up at the Cannons Gate pub with the Free Fringe. The ticket was value-for-money and our Curator has not only a dislike of thermoses (thermii?) but also looks like he’d rather be somewhere else. Deadpan humour can either hit the mark or not. He’s done Leith Festival numerous times, and frankly I’m hugely entertained by the humdrum stories of Frank Simpson, the retired television engineer. Be warned he’s hopeless at tech, so you may end up helping him with the projector, or even PowerPoint. A great thing about the Thermos Museum is that it’s rarely crowded, so you can have a nice rest and enjoy a daft tale. Five stars.

August is a month of watching people do stuff, a lot of it in pubs. It’s been nearly five years since I stopped drinking booze and I now more enjoy spending late summer outdoors. There may be less bramble patches in Leith than before (RIP blackberries on the hill behind Leith Depot), but you can still find enough to make a nice bottle of cordial. When foraging, be sure to leave plenty berries for the bees and other people. Or the nettle gods will sting you next time.

Summer in a Bottle Recipe

(You can use supermarket berries)

Destalk berries and put in a saucepan with lid. Cover with boiling water on a low heat and stir, the more water you add, the more dilute the cordial will be. Cook on a low heat and stir, mashing the berries a bit. For a wee while, until… You get bored and turn the heat off. Pop a lid on and allow to cool, sometimes I leave mine overnight.

• Strain into a big jug, squishing the berries to get all juices out. You can compost the skins.

• Give the pan a rinse to clean and then return the juice to the (now, clean) pan.

• Add 1 kg white sugar per Litre juice, heat until sugar is dissolved. Cover and cool.

• When cold, decant into reused plastic water bottles.

• Freeze your haul and bring it out mid-winter for a treat.

• I usually dilute 1 part cordial to 8 cold (or hot) water. Mega yum.

Another late summer treat is simple not-smushed apple.

• Peel and chop some apples, 4 to 8 is a good number, up to 20 to freeze.

• Immediately after chopping, pop into a pan just covered with some water. Sometimes I add a squeeze of lemon.

• Cook on a low heat, rarely stirring (you don’t want to end up with smush). Add a spoon or two of sugar, honey or maple syrup. I like adding cinnamon and / or vanilla essence sometimes.

• When the apple starts collapsing, take off the heat and allow to cool.

• When cold, pop into leftover takeaway containers, label and freeze. Or eat. Enjoy!

Savour the last of summer (or freeze it for later). Sometimes the simple pleasures in life are good / cheap / healthy / easy / right in front of you. 

Bluesky: @tracygriffen

3 Balfour Street IRL