Posts by Peter Ranscombe
Scotland’s first drive-through apple harvest
THE National Trust for Scotland’s Pitmedden Garden near Ellon held what’s been heralded as the nation’s first drive-through apple harvest at the weekend. Around 400 kilograms of apples and pears were sold to guests in 112 cars. Monique Lanz, visitor services supervisor at Pimedden Garden, said: “Our apple day is the most popular event in…
Read MoreBalmoral brings ‘extended reality’ to meetings
THE Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh has created an “extended reality studio” to help businesses and organisations hold meetings. The virtual events space will allow delegates in the room to connect to others in remote locations. The facility includes a 16-foot by eight-foot stage with a screen as the backdrop, along with two television screens, stage…
Read MoreMum’s curry mix aims to ‘spice up your life’
SPICE mixes developed by a mum in East Lothian are going on sale at more than 1,000 Aldi branches across the UK on Sunday – just in time for national curry week. Melanie Auld fell in love with spices and curries while working and travelling in Indian in 1993. A decade later, while living in…
Read MoreL’Art du Vin launches its wine club
Peter Ranscombe gets a sneak peak at the new wine club from Fife-based merchant L’Art du Vin. A LITTLE dickie bird tells me that Scottish Field readers are fans of wine clubs – and so I have an insider tip for you. L’Art du Vin, a wine merchant based in Fife, has just launched its…
Read MoreLidl hits the spot with French ‘Wine Tour’
Peter Ranscombe bags a bargain with some supermarket stalwarts from France. LIDL’S “wine tours” – six special promotions on limited edition bottles spread throughout the year – can sometimes be a bit hit and miss. I struggled with some of its Spanish wines earlier this year, focusing on its Italian bottles instead. And its new…
Read MoreRegister reopening and Vittoria’s vouchers
THE Register Club, the fourth floor cocktail bar inside The Edinburgh Grand luxury serviced apartments, has unveiled plans to reopen on Thursday. The bar is also launching afternoon teas. Gavin MacLennan, general manager at The Edinburgh Grand, said: “We’re incredibly happy to begin reopening our food and beverage offerings. “One of life’s most enjoyable pleasures…
Read MoreThe very model of a modern music library
SCOTTISH Opera has bought a library full of Gilbert and Sullivan works, which it will hire out to performers across the UK and continental Europe. The D’Oyly Carte music hire library sold 86 crates of music to Scottish Opera. It’s taken the Scottish team three weeks to sort through the crates. Some rarer items are…
Read MoreWider audience for Wigtown young adult books
WIGTOWN YA, the UK’s largest young adult literature festival, continues this week as part of the wider online Wigtown Book Festival. This week’s virtual speakers include Dean Atta talking about The Black Flamingo, Catherine Bruton presenting No Ballet Shoes in Syria and Michelle Thomas explaining My Sh*t Therapist. Previous online events can also be watched…
Read MoreBringing sea salt harvesting back to Fife
SEA salt harvesting could soon resume in the East Neuk of Fife. St Monan’s local Darren Peattie, whose family has lived in the area for more than 200 years, launched his East Neuk Salt Company 14 months ago. Now, he’s starting a crowdfunding campaign to raise the final £28,450 he needs to buy the right…
Read MoreA Week in Whisky: ‘Pat’s’ collection goes under the hammer
THE largest whisky collection ever to come up for auction starts going under the hammer today. More than 9,000 bottles have been assembled by “Pat”, an anonymous collector, and are together expected to fetch $5 million (£3.9m). The first batch will be on sale at WhiskyAuctioneer.com until 5 October. Iain McClune, the website’s founder, said:…
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