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Highland Clearances excavation plan for Kildonan
An excavation is to take place at the site of infamous riots sparked 200 years ago by the Highland Clearances.
Scaling heights of Scottish mountaineering history
A remarkable collection of Scottish mountaineering memorabilia is housed in cardboard boxes in a barn near Fort William. Roger Cox meets the man who has put it all together and hears his dream of one day housing it in a purpose-built museum
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Tarlair open air pool to be saved from ruin
ABERDEENSHIRE councillors are set sanction £300,000 for essential repairs to safeguard the future of a decaying art deco swimming pool complex - granted Category-A listed status because of its outstanding architectural and historic importance.
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First World War centenary plans announced by FM video
Edinburgh Castle is to host a re-enactment of a frontline military service, commencing a five-year commemoration of the centenary of the First World War.
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Campbeltown cinema celebrates 100 years of films Picture gallery
FROM whisky moguls enchanted by the burgeoning era of silent film to modern families eager to see the latest Hollywood blockbusters, it is a vital resource which has long spared cineastes on the Kintyre peninsula an arduous 180 mile round trip for popcorn and thrills.
‘Ghost’ of Montrose air base to be honoured
HE was the young pilot from the Royal Flying Corps whose ghost is said to haunt the former Angus airfield where the fledgling unit had established Britain’s first operational military airfield.
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Scottish word of the week: Gubbed
WITH the Scottish football season coming to a close this weekend with the Scottish Cup final, there’s one word that fans of Celtic and Hibs won’t want to hear used to describe their team - ‘gubbed’.
HMS Edinburgh bids farewell to capital namesake
THIS JUNE, a 300-year-old tradition will come to an end - for it will be the first time since 1707 that there won’t be a naval vessel carrying the name of Scotland’s capital. HMS Edinburgh, a type-42 destroyer launched in 1983 - and the last of its class - will be decommissioned following a farewell tour.
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Scottish fact of the week: Italian Chapel, Orkney
AN ORNATE Catholic chapel sited on Lamb Holm in Orkney, the Italian Chapel was built by Italian prisoners of war during the Second World War, who were held on the island while they constructed the causeways designed to block access to the Scapa Flow.
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Fire destroys Al Fayed’s Highland vistor centre
A PROBE is underway into the cause of a major blaze which destroyed a popular visitor centre in the Highlands, owned by ex-Harrod boss Mohammed Al Fayed.
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Atholl Estates photo contest winners announced Picture gallery
FOUR amateur photographers could see their work travel across the globe this year, after winning a photography competition run by Atholl Estates.
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Edinburgh most popular with overseas tourists
Edinburgh is the most popular destination in Scotland for overseas visitors, and the second most popular in the UK as a whole, according to new figures.
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Zambia to hail Dr David Livingstone’s legacy
THE 200th anniversary of Dr David Livingstone’s birth is to be marked in his beloved Zambia with a cultural festival to celebrate the Scots explorer’s contribution to the country, it was revealed yesterday.
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BBC Hebrides programme ‘to be shown across UK’
THE BBC has confirmed the popular series Hebrides: Islands on the Edge is to be broadcast across the UK – but an MSP has called for it to be shown in time for the summer tourism season.
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Edinburgh Sketcher goes in search of giants in Edinburgh
Look to the trees around Holyrood to see who’s looking back
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.
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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.
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.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South west
