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100 Weeks of Scotland: Gullane|Applecross|Rob Roy video
ACTRESS Shonagh Price is the first image from this week. Taken at Gullane beach on a perfect May morning this photo forms part of a series of images I have been working on entitled ‘Magnetic North’, a project in which I am photographing artists, actors, writers etc.
Lost Edinburgh: The Royal Patent Gymnasium
THE view today looking down onto King George V Park from Royal Crescent at the northern edge of Edinburgh’s New town offers little evidence that it was once the site of one of the most remarkable and unique attractions in Victorian Britain.
Seeking spiritual enlightenment on Iona
A NEW dawn on Iona. The bright sun bounces off buoys and creels and shines like a benediction on skipper Davie Kirkpatrick’s beautiful wooden boat, Iolaire, Gaelic for eagle, as she leaves the harbour for Staffa.
Edinburgh Sketcher goes in search of giants in Edinburgh
Look to the trees around Holyrood to see who’s looking back
World Whisky Day: Scotland’s global export
The ‘water of life’, especially in single-malt form, is one of Scotland’s most enduring exports. But should it really be mixed with condensed milk? Fiona MacGregor reports
Readers’ pictures of the week; 10-16 May video
A SELECTION of pictures submitted by our readers in the past week to The Scotsman picture desk.
Scottish fact of the day: first TV signal broadcast
OPENED in 1883 and designed by the Edinburgh-born architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow - known to locals by its original name the Central Hotel - has a rich and fascinating history.
A Night at the Museum: What’s the appeal?
THE Museums at Night festival opens today and is expected to attract 120,000 visitors all over Britain this year. But is there really any magic of a museum after dark? Alice Wyllie went along to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh to find out
Bid to save Skye terrier from extinction
DEVOTED dog breeders are campaigning to save the elegant Skye terrier – the Scottish breed with royal history and Greyfriers Bobby fame – from extinction.
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Mingary Castle in Lochaber to undergo restoration
WORK is underway on a project to save Scotland’s best-preserved 13th Century castle.
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EdinburghSketcher: Can you place this sketch?
WELCOME TO our monthly dip into the EdinburghSketcher’s WhereArtI? quiz. Can you name the Edinburgh location sketched above?
Skye business facilities plan gets funding boost
PLANS to develop new business facilities on Skye – supporting up to 80 new jobs – has been handed a £1.9million funding boost announced by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
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Edinburgh museums to close as staff begin strikes
THE National Museum of Scotland and National War Museum will be closed until lunchtime tomorrow as part of a three-day strike over pay and pensions.
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Lost Edinburgh: Elsie Inglis Memorial Hospital
THE outstanding career achievements of Doctor Elsie Inglis have undoubtedly secured her place among the most notable medical heroines in Scottish history. How fitting that the Edinburgh maternity hospital that was named in her honour has become as fondly recalled as the doctor herself.
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Call for national holiday to mark World Whisky Day
THE creater of World Whisky Day says that a national holiday should be created to mark Scotland’s national drink.
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A Dalry apartment has an A-listed ceiling bearing the crests of the 17th century king Charles II
EVEN keen renovators sometimes need a break, and the catalyst for that break can be finding a property that’s too good to miss, and simply doesn’t need any work.
Mary, Queen of Scots death warrant to go on show
THE document that sealed the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots is to go on show in Scotland for the first time since it was secured for the nation.
Online map shows Scots areas where names in decline
The first online map of Scotland’s most popular surnames shows that certain families retain their historical dominance in some areas, while others have been overtaken by names originating from the south.
The Royal Caledonian Ball keeps it reel in London video
Once a year the Grosvenor Hotel in London is turned into a floor-shaking bacchanal when the tartan aristocracy take the floor for the Royal Caledonian Ball
2 commentsMary Queen of Scots to be cast in bronze
Campaigners are planning to erect the first public statue of Mary Queen of Scots in her homeland.
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Edinburgh naval officer’s Trafalgar letter found Picture gallery
IT is remarkable eye-witness evidence of the heat of the most famous battle in military history.
Now, more than 200 years after the Battle of Trafalgar, a Scottish naval officer’s first-hand account of the scenes he witnessed has been unearthed in his home city.
New excavations to find lost Pictish kingdom
ARCHAEOLOGISTS are planning a major dig to uncover one of the lost Kingdoms of the ancient Picts, the tribe of legendary warriors whose empire stretched from Fife to the Moray Firth before they mysteriously vanished from history.
5 commentsHistoric golf clubs found under floor in St Andrews
A HISTORIC set of golf clubs has been discovered at the site of a 19th-century factory during renovation work.
Spitfire replica tribute unveiled in Grangemouth
A FULL-SIZE replica Spitfire has been erected as a memorial to 71 pilots killed during training in the Second World War.
Scottish fact of the week: Surgeon’s Hall Museum
SURGEON’S Hall Museum is home to a potted history of Scottish medicine - sometimes astounding, other times gruesome, but always fascinating.
Scottish word of the week: Bonnie
A quintissentially Scottish word if ever there was one, bonnie - meaning pretty or beautiful - is actually thought to be derived from the French word ‘bon’.
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Stornoway black pudding given protected status
THE famous Stornoway black pudding delicacy has finally been granted protected status after seven years of campaigning – putting it in the same league as Champagne and Arbroath Smokie.
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Bevin Boys monument unveiled in tribute to miners
THE Countess of Wessex has unveiled a memorial to 48,000 miners who helped keep Britain fighting in the Second World War.
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100 Weeks of Scotland: Beltane Fire Festival video
IN the run-up to the independence referendum in 2014, photographer Alan McCredie will be telling the story of the nation in photographs.
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Lost Edinburgh: Jacey Film Theatre, Princes Street
THE premises at No.131 Princes Street once contained a cinema that was small in capacity but big in reputation.
2 commentsAlarm over shortage of bagpipe teachers
SCOTS children will have to go to a private school if they want to learn the bagpipes, industry experts have warned.
Peter Martin: We’ve lost the knack of innocent enjoyment
ARE you going out tonight?” Why do hairdressers assume a new hair-do suddenly makes you one of the party people?
Single malt whisky values ‘continue to soar’
THE value of rare Scottish single malts is continuing to soar, despite a significant increase in the volume of rare whiskies being traded throughout last year.
McVitie’s among UK’s most trusted brands
Scottish biscuit company McVitie’s has been named as one of the most trusted and popular brands in the UK.
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20-tonne Pictish sculpture takes the high road Picture gallery
A 20-tonne sculpture – commissioned by a whisky company to stand outside its new bottling plant in Livingston as a permanent reminder of its Highland roots – has been transported by a low-loader lorry from Glenmorangie’s distillery in Tain.
Dundee Verdant Works gets £1.48m restoration grant
DUNDEE Heritage Trust is in line for a £1.48 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to complete the restoration of the Verdant Works, the museum which celebrates the city’s famous jute industry heritage.
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Is this a Loch Ness Monster relative on film? video
THERE HAVE been plenty of dodgy sightings of the Loch Ness Monster in the Scottish body of water of the same name, but video footage has emerged of a Nessie-esque creature filmed in an Irish lough.
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Scottish word of the day: Guddle
THERE are a great many words in the Scots language to describe a mess of rather impressive proportions, with terms like ‘tip’ and ‘midden’.
Is this the end of the age-declared Scotch whisky?
It has enjoyed soaring popularity in emerging economies across the globe, leaving distilleries struggling to keep up.
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We Are Northern Lights film takes on blockbusters video
CROWD-SOURCED, low budget and edited down from over 300 hours of raw footage submitted by more than 1500 people across Scotland, We Are Northern Lights is set to take on the Hollywood big-hitters at the multiplex.
Edinburgh Beltane Festival marks start of summer Picture gallery
Fire illuminated the Edinburgh sky as thousands of people gathered to watch a modern take on an ancient Gaelic festival.
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1707 Act of Union play to precede referendum
A NEW play charting the events leading up to the 1707 Act of Union will be staged at the Royal Lyceum theatre in Edinburgh just months before next year’s referendum.
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Scottish fact of the week: The ‘Harry Potter’ cafe
IF IT wasn’t for the large sign in the window and the occasional queues out the door, you might not realise that the rather plain cafe on Edinburgh’s George IV Bridge is where some of the capital’s most celebrated writers have honed their skills.
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Beatles Dingwall gig venue to be renovated
EXTENSIVE repairs are to be carried out on a historic townhouse famous for hosting a doomed Beatles concert just prior to their rise to stardom.
Lost Edinburgh: Edinburgh Trams 1871-1956
AS the last trams eased down the Mound on the evening of November 16th 1956, the general intention was for them never to return.
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NTS plans £8m overhaul of Brodick castle
IN ITS heyday it was a grand 19th-century hunting lodge for one of Scotland’s wealthiest families and is still home to their vast art collection. Now a multi-million pound masterplan has been drawn up for Brodick Castle on Arran after it emerged it was being run at a loss of up to £450,000 a year.
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Glasgow Barras: Will Games fund save the Barras?
GLASGOW’S faltering Barras heart is to get a £3.5 million boost ahead of the Commonwealth Games but is this just a short-term sop to make it look better for the tourists, or a jolt back to life?
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National Trust Scotland faces strike threat
SCOTLAND’S leading conservation charity is facing a strike threat from staff after imposing a pay deal already turned down by union members.
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Charles Rennie Macintosh jazz suite’s rave reviews
A JAZZ suite inspired by an iconic Charles Rennie Macintosh house is becoming a surprise cult hit on the Scottish jazz club scene.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 7 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
