Talk of the Town: Big hand for royal windscreen tribute

GIVEN the queues of traffic surrounding Holyrood Palace yesterday for the Queen’s garden party, this might be as much as many of the 8000 royal guests saw of their host.

The “Waving Queen” WiperWagger, featuring an animated and smiling Liz, has proved a big seller during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Her gloved hand attaches to the windscreen wiper to deliver a royal wave whenever it is in use.

With bleak conditions raining on the parade for part of the day, the WiperWaggers were no doubt given a good workout.

Hidden attractions given their 15 minutes of fame

THE likes of the Castle and Calton Hill might take centre stage, but now a new bid has been launched to put Edinburgh’s hidden attractions in the spotlight.

The Vintage Guide to Britain aims to unearth the little-known but much-loved beauty spots, bizarre local customs, dishes and must-see sites from the city.

Pub group Vintage Inns is inviting people to submit their hidden treasures on the group’s Facebook page and website.

Phillipa Bonnar, manager of The Hawes Inn, South Queensferry, said: “Edinburgh has some amazing attractions and we are keen to celebrate and share them.

“Whether it’s an ancient local tradition, fantastically idiosyncratic little shop, a long-abandoned yet beautiful Victorian folly or a walk that takes your breath away, we want to hear about it.”

Hoy! We want some more

HE has already been worth his weight in gold to the Capital’s Corinthian culture, but it seems we’re not content with Sir Chris Hoy’s four Olympic gongs and we want more.

Nearly half of city slickers – 43 per cent according to a new poll by Yahoo – are putting their faith in the cycling whiz to collect another haul of medals in London.

Even Kriss Akabusi – yup, that bloke off Record Breakers – has had his say. “Two in five Brits think it’s outstanding sporting ability that makes a memorable moment so the expectation on Sir Chris this year is high.”