John Gibson: It’s the man who bakes all the pies

Not as though the Edinbugh Bakery is booming. Too wee to boom. Couple of sausage rolls end to end and space becomes precious. But it bustles. And it’s aromatic.

James Lynch does agree his place is, shall we say, cramped. But it clicks with his customers, a broad mix of regulars on Newington Road.

Before you can nab one of the pies from his oven he’s talking of increasing his clientele, ideally from the same area. He’s in cahoots with a wealthy Edinburgh businessman about opening a state-of-the-art shop.

“I’ve been here two years now. Baking’s in my blood, rescued from a career in mining. I was reared in Newcraighall, the mining village near Edinburgh, walking greyhounds for them, barely in my teens. It was either the mines or the baking and I’ve no regrets at all about plumping for this livelihood.”

Sausage rolls, pies and cakes galore ahead of him at a still ambitious 33 when he might have gone to the dogs.

Fruity threat

So it’s goodbye banana split, hello dolly mixtures. Peel a banana and you could land somebody in deep trouble.

Office workers at the BBC’s London headquarters have been advised not to eat the fruit on the premises because a female member of staff suffers from an allergy that could bring on “serious symptoms” including tingling of the throat, lips and tongue. Prompt treatment is recommended.

I understand Billy Connolly’s banana boots are exempt.