As fit as a fiddle as walk inspires a Highland Symphony

Stepping out and walking miles of Scotland’s drove roads provided the inspiration for a soundtrack that captures the spirit of one of the last natural wildernesses in the UK. Scots fiddle supremo Paul Anderson revealed a new string to his bow when he penned a classical symphony that encapsulates the majesty of the landscape of…

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Scottish lodge with a link to Queen Victoria for sale

A Victorian granite built former shooting lodge in a peaceful countryside location is now for sale. Glendavan House was built in the 1880s, within the Cairngorms National Park, as a country retreat for Queen Victoria’s surgeon in Scotland – the eminent Professor Alexander Ogston. It is presented for sale by Savills. He engaged the services…

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New festival to celebrate a Scottish river town

A new festival celebrating the history and heritage of a Scottish town is to be held later this year. The Dumbarton Festival, which will run from 4-7 June, will be part of celebrations for Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 2020. The packed programme will include a range of family friendly events celebrating the area’s…

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School backs ban on mobiles during the day

One of the UK’s most famous boarding schools is putting its weight behind calls for all schools to ban the use of mobile phones during the school day. The Principal of Gordonstoun, Lisa Kerr, says this is the only way to help the next generation develop the social skills they will need to succeed in…

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Glasgow’s National Whisky Festival is 19 days away

The fourth National Whisky Festival of Scotland in Glasgow is just under three weeks away. Taking place at the city’s SWG3 on Saturday 25 January, the festival will span two impressive tasting floors spread across the TV Studio and Galvanizers rooms in the popular warehouse events complex. Maintaining the format of previous festivals, the 2020…

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New release from Nicola Benedetti’s Foundation Orchestra

Nicola Benedetti and her Foundation Orchestra have released Mascagni’s Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana digitally worldwide on Decca Classics. The work is one of the pieces the young people attending the Foundation’s workshops – The Benedetti Sessions – are learning and the very first sessions kicked off this weekend in Glasgow. The Foundation Orchestra represents every…

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The life and times of Runrig’s Donnie Munro

Donnie Munro toured the world with his band Runrig but these days there is nowhere he’d rather be than home on Skye. I was born in Uig on the north-west side of Skye, just like everyone else on the island who happened to be born before 1966. That was when a maternity hospital was built…

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Postcards from the edge – the life of George Robertson

An idyllic childhood on Islay gave George Robertson the best start in life – and keeps him coming back to his island refuge. Rt Hon Lord Robertson of Port Ellen is one of the 16 Knights of the Thistle, Scotland’s oldest and highest order of chivalry whose members are personally chosen by the Queen. A…

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Get ready to see in the New Year from the comfort of home

BBC Scotland has an extended Hogmanay offering of music, chat and entertainment plus celebrations from around the country as the country counts down to 2020. With the surprise retiral of Jackie Bird from BBC Scotland earlier this year, comic Susan Calman fronts the Hogmanay festivities on television this year in an extended offering, including a…

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The Steamie returns for a short run at The Hydro

One of the most iconic and best-loved Scottish plays, Tony Roper’s The Steamie, returns for a limited run at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow from today, until 31 December. A 13-strong dance and music ensemble joins the starry cast of Louise McCarthy (Magrit), Gayle Telfer Stevens (Dolly), Mary McCusker (Mrs Culfeathers), Fiona Wood (Doreen) and…

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