Dear Spurtle,
Since Her Majesty the Queen's death, there has been extensive reporting from The Royal Mile on the television news.
At 06:30 on 12 September, Sky News showed a number of camera shots of The Royal Mile. I was very impressed with how spotlessly clean Edinburgh's Old Town looked.
There was not one scrap of litter to be seen anywhere, which is all the more impressive when one considers that thousands of people visited there one day earlier to see the Queen's coffin brought to its resting place at the Palace of Holyrood House.
It would be nice to think that Edinburgh Council is turning over a new leaf and ensuring that these exceptional standards of street cleanliness are maintained for those of us who pay the Council Tax year in, year out.
I would like to see similar standards throughout the capital's streetscape. Only time will tell, but if past experience is anything by which to judge, I am bound to be disappointed.
Shane Carter
(East Claremont Street)