‘Festival of Farming’ gets underway

THE Royal Highland Education Trust’s (RHET’s) “Festival of Farming” has begun. More than 3,000 school pupils are due to visit Scotland’s farms over the next fortnight. Alistair Marshall, chairman of the RHET, said: “Our ‘Festival of Farming’ will run from 7 to 18 November and, during this time, we will have a designated webpage where…

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Lake of Menteith Hotel partners with neighbours

THE Lake of Menteith Hotel has been forging links with its neighbours after being bought by Karma Group. Aberfoyle Golf Club is now offering hotel guests a 20% discount on its course’s green fees. Ledard Farm Estate is giving a 40% discount to parties of four or more who want to try their hand at…

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Roxy’s Coffee & Tea House in Oban launches baking book

ONE of Oban’s most famous cafés has launched its first baking book, Roxy’s Cake & Bake. Donna MacCulloch, owner of Roxy’s Coffee & Tea House, said: “Over the years of running Roxy’s with my husband, Archie, I’ve had customers asking me for my recipes and telling me that if I had a book they would…

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Food and drink news round-up

Chefs, sherry, and fizz are among the flavours in Peter Ranscombe‘s latest food and drink news round-up. CHEF Michele Di Bonito from Sicilian restaurant Battimandorlo will visit Glasgow on 16 November to cook a six-course tasting menu at Eusebi Deli. Owner Giovanna Eusebi said: “We are so proud to welcome Michele into our kitchen all…

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Peter Capaldi narrates ‘Riverwoods’ tonight on 5Select

THE relationship between Scotland’s fish and forests will be explored tonight in Riverwoods, a documentary on 5Select narrated by actor Peter Capaldi. Riverwoods, which took three years to produce, was made by Mat Larkin, head of filmmaking at Scotland: The Big Picture. “Over many centuries, the loss of natural woodlands alongside rivers has profoundly changed…

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Islanders research aims to map connections

HOW do islanders maintain connections to their communities when they are living on the mainland? That’s just one of the questions being posed by researchers at the University of Aberdeen. Kirsten Gow is exploring “how those with island connections could play a part in the future of island life, including through return migration”. Gow, who…

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Highlands’ folklore and fantasy captured in new book

ARTISTS Alastair Laidlaw and Christine Marsden have dipped into the Highlands’ folklore and fantasy for their latest book. They have combined landscape photography with fantasy images and text by writers Roberta Edwards and James A Whittaker. Laidlaw and Marsden have been working on the book for the past 17 years, since moving to Fort Augustus…

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Charity shop clothes stun at Elgin Museum fashion shoot

PHOTOGRAPHER Mark Smith rummaged through charity shops for his recent photo shoot at Elgin Museum. The snapper chose the Moray institution as his backdrop after being impressed with its history and architecture. Elgin Museum was founded in 1843 and is billed as Scotland’s oldest independent museum. “The clothing we used was from three branches of…

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What will Edinburgh look like due to climate change?

IMAGES of how climate change could affect Edinburgh have been released. In the worst-case scenario, Auld Reekie could look even more dreich by 2100 according to the illustrations, which were created using an artificial intelligence (AI) program. “One of the biggest side effects of climate change that Edinburgh is expected to see over the next…

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Scotland sees more Portuguese men o’ war

STORMS have led to more Portuguese men o’ war being spotted in Scotland’s waters, according to the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). To mark World Jellyfish Day, the charity has released its first “Wildlife Sightings” report, which is based on a longer-running citizen science project. A total of 1,315 jellyfish sightings were reported to the MCS…

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