Ten Questions: William Coles

Published on Monday 22 June 2009 09:32

WILLIAM COLES, 44, is a journalist and author who lives close to Calton Hill

1 What is your earliest memory of Edinburgh? Arriving at Waverley Station on a gorgeous May morning eight years ago – then walking up the steps to be confronted by this quite breathtaking view.

2 What are your memories of school? Running around under the sprinklers with all the other three-year-olds at Miss Samber's, in Plaitford, Hants. There were about ten of us, all naked in the sunshine.

3 Where is your favourite place in Edinburgh and why? Arthur's Seat – what a glorious hill to have right in the very heart of the city. It's best at 9pm after a sweltering day in August. I climb it with friends and a bottle of wine.

4 What are the best things about Edinburgh? High ceilings; cosmopolitan residents; short bikeable distances; and, of course, the Festival. The world arrives at your doorstep.

5 What would you change about the city? Health and safety – not just in Edinburgh, but across the land. A peak-capped official only has to mention the words "Elf and Safety" and steam starts venting from my ears.

6 Describe a perfect Edinburgh day/night out: Up bright and breezy, without a hangover; breakfast at Centotre, with my two boys on moderately civilised form; a walk along the Water of Leith to the Museum of Modern Art; supper for ten at my place, with the grand clean-up left till the next day.

7 Which sports interest you? Tennis, golf and, I suppose, running. I recently signed up for the hellish Marathon des Sables, a one-week slog through the Sahara. Just don't mention the phrase "mid-life crisis".

8 What was your most embarrassing moment? My first newspaper, a weekly in Cirencester, and I've got my first front-page story. Somehow I manage to swap round the names of the bosses of two rival firms. Front page apology the next week; it was excruciating.

9 What is your greatest achievement? Well it's an ongoing project, but I'd like to think that it's my two cheery sons, Dexter, seven, and Geordie, four.

10 Sum up Edinburgh in three words: Cultured, spacious, interested

William Coles' book Lord Lucan: My Story is out now, priced 7.99, published by Legend Press.