Born: 9 July 1957 at the Elsie Inglis Hospital, Edinburgh. I was brought up in Meadowbank then spent most of my teenage years in Dalry Q: When/why did you first start drinking in the Tynecastle Arms?
A: About 12 years ago. I used to work in the area and the Tynie was the best of a bad bunch. Really though, it's the best pub in Gorgie
Q: Why do you keep going in?:
A: I run the Tynecastle Arms Angling Club. There's 9 of us in the Club and we go fishing every week, all over Scotland, particularly the Borders, but basically, we will fish anywhere. I put a fluorescent sign of all the forthcoming fishing trips on the Tynie noticeboard, but they still come up to me and ask me where we're going next. I think I'll have to put lights on it or something!
Q: What is your favourite tipple?
A: McEwans Export - the best buy in beer (if Stevie's cleaned the pipes)
Q: What is your favourite song?
A: I like all types of music. (Andy is the Tynie Arms Karaoke King.) I love Tamla Motown, but for karaoke, you can't beat a bit Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra or UB40. I like to stick with the familiar ones I know I can sing
Q: What place in Edinburgh do you think every visitor to the city should see?
A: As a fisherman, I love the Water of Leith. It runs nearly 20 miles, right through the centre of Edinburgh but so many people don't even know its there. It's real birdlife country. I'm very country-orientated and like watching for mink, kingfishers and herons while I'm walking along the river. It's also interesting to see how many houses round about there have swimming pools. I feel priviledged to have such a fantastic place running through the centre of the city I live in. From the source at Balerno, all the way to Roseburn is probably my favourite part and really makes you feel like your in the wild. Or through Colinton Dell from the back of the Tickled Trout you get the feeling you could be absolutely anywhere. 20 miles is a long stretch of river. There's also an amazing cottage up the back of Lanark Road. It was a shell, but it's been restored and has this amazing grass roof. It's well worth seeing
Q: What don't you like about Edinburgh?
A: The traffic congestion. Parking is a nightmare and the traffic wardens - I won't go there but I don't think anyone would disagree with my feelings about them. There's also a lot of vandalism to people's cars from drunks coming home from nightclubs (not that I'm getting at Edinburgh nightclubs.) When I go out for the rolls on a Sunday morning, its disgusting the amount of cars have had the windscreen wipers, number plates, aerials etc pulled off them overnight.
For more from Andy:
"ANDY'S PURE GOLDEN BROWN TROUT"
