Off to Coburg Street to the home of Lind & Lime Gin in the giant blue hangar that used to house Sports Direct - which saw much of me during my younger football, cricket, and racket sport days.

These busy beavers are also the folk behind the remarkable Port of Leith Distillery, which has added a new silhouette to the already populous Leith skyline.

The company behind these landmark projects, Muckle Brig, are here to let us know more on their latest venture: The publication of The Leith Annual.

Co-CEO Ian Stirling explains: “We are fortunate to operate in a remarkable place, and we wanted to capture and document that wonder for local residents and visitors, as well as future generations.”

The Leith Annual’s editor, Johanna Derry Hall, says: “It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with local writers, illustrators, photographers and artists in celebration of the area exactly as it is now, and we will hopefully continue to chronicle the neighbourhood for many years to come.”

I was very impressed by the set up here, their aesthetic is all over this place. The Lind & Lime bottle is already a classic and the wrapping paper they use in the gift shop could be framed and put on your wall. No, really!

Co-CEO Paddy Fletcher is a bundle of energy, full of vim and vigour, outlining future projects. He elucidated on four or five plans during our 5 minute chat.

I predict he and his cohorts will be a force for good in the Old Port for years to come.

As I left (with the redoubtable Willy Barr) Paddy told me that The Leith Annual came in to being when he found out that The Port of Leith Authority published a yearly annual/album of their fiscal year including the business of the port, it’s traders and workers etc, in book form. And a light bulb popped…

Which was good news for me. In his manifest generosity he gave me a copy of the Port of Leith 1956 to compare and contrast. So, here we go!

The first 20 pages cover auxiliary services, passenger services, consuls, consulates and public transport to and from the docks. Some good pictures though.

The next 30 pages focus on rates and charges on; goods, vessels, dry docks, cranes etc, auxiliary services and other charges.

Pages 51 to 68 covers the Chamber of Commerce, Banking, Insurance, Shipowners and Shipping Agents which essentially names in detail those on the board and their shareholders.

Then 10 pages of adverts before we hit the meat of this compendium, pages 77 to 122, which documents the unbelievable amount of trades and industry that kept Leith families in work for generations.

The 1956 book turned it’s gaze inwards towards the port. Whereas the new Leith Annual looks outwards to the Leith neighbourhood and the people who live here: within you’ll find chapters on Arts & Creatives, the Environment, Brewing & Distilling, the Port itself, Hospitality, the Built Environment, Transport & Infrastructure, Charity & Community and Sport.

The 2024 iteration is beautifully designed and there is much to chew on...

‘Leith’s Custom House is on course to become home to Scotland’s first fully digital museum, and while the interiors are transformed the outside will see Custom Lane become a place for dining and socialising’.

‘Leith School of Art’s bespoke Foundation Course is testament to the fact that each student is supplied with all the materials for their practice. What they provide is an arts education like it used to be up to the 1980s. Until it became financially challenging to do so’.

Finally, a few words from Sheena. “I don’t like Leith… I love it! I’ve only been here for 7 years, my husband died and I didn’t want to stay by myself in Fife. People here are so friendly.”

The Leith Annual 2024 is the inaugural issue of what will be an annual publication, available in retail shops across Leith and Edinburgh and Port of Leith and Lind & Lime distilleries. ■

Info: www.leithexport.com