Posts by Kenny Smith
Crofters give their backing to rockets galore
Plans for the UK’s first spaceport to blast off in north-west Scotland have taken a major step forward. Melness Crofters Estate (MCE), who own the prospective launch site for small satellites, on the Moine near Tongue in Sutherland, have confirmed their intention to work with development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) towards agreeing heads…
Read MoreUnique war poster collection a part of remembrance
A selection of unique original First World War posters from Scotland is playing a part in an act of national commemoration. They will feature in a projection of the names of all those who died serving on behalf of Scotland in WWI onto the Scottish Parliament building on Remembrance Sunday. The recruitment posters are part…
Read MorePapers of exiled Stuart kings published online
A major new digitisation programme is giving unparalleled insight into the social, military and personal worlds of the exiled Stuart dynasty and their Jacobite followers. It relates to the Stuarts’ fight to regain the thrones of Scotland, England and Ireland between the late 17th and early 19th centuries. The Stuart and Cumberland Papers project has…
Read MoreStornoway is Scotland’s hidden jewel of the north
There is a tale, possibly apocryphal, about an old crofter from one of the outlying districts on the island of Lewis who visited Stornoway for the first time in the early years of last century. Seeing the stretch of green woodland that lies on the other side of the bay from the town, he reeled…
Read MoreScotswoman who braved the wilds of Australia
If America’s frontiers were expanded westwards by cowboys and cattle ranchers, so Australia’s interior was also opened up by the bullock drovers. These days we are used to images of ‘road trains’ in which huge trucks pull multiple wagons bursting at the seams with cattle, but in the nineteenth century, before a network of highways…
Read MoreThe critics have their say on Scots film Outlaw King
The newest film to be set in Scotland – Outlaw King – has arrived on Netflix today. With a reported budget of more than $90m, Star Trek star Chris Pine plays Robert the Bruce, leading the Scottish fightback against the English occupation of the nation. To mark the occasion, on Twitter, Netflix UK has even…
Read MoreNico Simeone to open new Glasgow gastropub
Scots chef Nico Simeone is to open a new gastropub in Glasgow. Chef-Patron of Six by Nico and 111 by Nico, both in Glasgow, Nico Simeone, will open Public House by Nico on Great Western Road in the cities vibrant West End. Public House by Nico’is set to become one of the most charmingly old-fashioned…
Read MoreAnyone want a major property challenge?
A ruined Scottish cottage with beautiful lochside views offers a huge development potential opportunity. Tigh Na Rathaid Cottage, near Kilfinan, Tighnabruaich, is presented for sale by Robb Residential. The purchaser will buy the cottage ruin with a right of access over track, from where the access road will be formed by the purchaser to the…
Read MoreThe love story that produced beautiful Paxton House
Unusually for Scotland, Paxton House, situated on the banks of the meandering River Tweed in Berwickshire, has its origins in a love story. It began when Patrick Home met and fell in love with Prussian heiress Sophie de Brandt whilst at Leipzig University in 1750, and continued when, being affable and charming, he eased his…
Read MoreThe Flying Scotsman keeps coming back – time and again
Think of the golden age of steam, and the chances are you will think of The Flying Scotsman, the world’s most iconic steamtrain. The Flying Scotsman which has endured a rollercoaster ride from spotlight to sidelines and back again, yet it still remains one of the most iconic images of Britain’s railway. Designed by eminent…
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