John Gibson: Got to be a gong in the post now

GOT A CALL from George Grubb, the Lord Provost himself, saying he "might have something for me" if I was passing his door around noon at the City Chambers.

George, I said, if you've got something for me, make it a ham and cheese sandwich and while we're gabbing I won't talk about RAF Leuchars and Turnhouse if you swear not mention the military in Cyprus. We had an agreement.

He completes his five-year stint as Edinburgh's First Citizen next May. Done his bit. Hasn't hung about. Though I had to stress it's fine and dandy for him with the official limo at his behest while I'd squelched up the Royal Mile in a monsoon. Rustles up a fair old ham-and-cheese nonetheless.

Presumably he and his lady, Liz, had been at Zara and Mike's wedding. No. "It clashed with the 51st anniversary of our own wedding and we lunched that day in Galashiels with a Royal High School chum who lives down there."

Charities and good causes have benefited from George's term in the job, notably he abseiled from the Forth Bridge. He's done it once, Liz thrice. They raised hundreds towards the Forth Bridge Memorial Trust's planned monument to the 70 men who died building the bridge.

Not to mention four civic receptions held at the Conference Centre, each an economic boost for the capital.

"The hundreds of delegates all loved the city, the majority vowing to come back,'' he said, in the face of my admittedly curt reminder that they don't see the warts-and-all city hard-sold in the brochures.

I invariably meet a rub-a-dub-dub Grubb and what kept the smile on his face were the Royal Wedding flowers from the Canongate Kirk, hand-delivered to Liz and him.

Bound to be an MBE at least in the post.