Porty People and Nearby Places

Edinburgh, like the rest of the UK, ground to a silent halt at 1100 to mark Armistice Day. I was at the televised event on Princes Street. The silence of the city, briefly, was most moving.

I then went to an equally impressive commemoration at one of Edinburgh's schools. To see the young generations embracing this commemoration is a great encouragement.

Later we went to a screening of a film about Wojtek The Soldier Bear. A campaign is nearing completion to erect a permanent memorial in Edinburgh to the bear that was enrolled in The Polish Army and served alongside the Polish troops in the second world war and ended his days, sadly, behind bars in Edinburgh Zoo.

Local Blippers will see one of the Edinburgh City buses bedecked in a giant graphic of Wojtek - this bus will be seen across the city for a whole year. By chance I spotted it on Princes Street on the way to the film!

Today is also Polish Independence Day when on 11th November 1918 the new Republic of Poland was recreated when the map of Europe was redrawn after the end of the First World War. We send our special wishes to all our Polish friends today.