Annika has been a splash hit with actor Jamie Sives

New Scottish crime series Annika continues this week, with the fourth instalment of the detective show. Starring Nicola Walker as Annika Strandhed, the head of the Marine Homicide Unit at the fictional Scotland Police, she is joined by Scots actor Jamie Sives as one of her co-stars. In the fourth episode, when writer Cara Gibson…

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Working with an architect to get the best design possible

Every time I begin a new architectural project – whether it’s designing a new house, renovating a farmhouse, or rethinking a traditional shooting lodge – I go back to the basics of what a great building should be. A building is for now and for the future. It should uplift our spirits and create good…

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Virtual gin tasting evening will boost a worthy cause

The team behind Scotland’s premier shooting club for women are holding a special charity evening next month. Glad Rags Events, who run Glad Rags and Cartridge Bags, are holding a virtual gin tasting evening in partnership with Stirling Distillery, in aid of Children1st. This will take place on Friday, April 2, at 6.45pm. There will…

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Minister appalled by abuse of gamekeepers

SCOTLAND’S new rural affairs minister has condemned “the abuse and unfair harassment” of gamekeepers and their families. In a letter to the British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC), Ben Macpherson said he was “appalled to hear of the experiences” reported by Scotland’s gamekeepers. Almost two thirds of keepers have experienced abusive behaviour, according to…

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Shooting body calls for restraint during cold snap

THE British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC) is calling for voluntary restraint in Scotland during the cold snap. Britain’s largest shooting organisation highlighted the need for voluntary restraint when hunting ducks, geese, wading birds – including woodcock – coot, and moorhen. BASC Scotland director Colin Shedden said: “We are fully aware that the current…

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Lockdown cupboard clearing reveals secrets in historic family home

Lady Dorothy Ogilvy unearths the past as she clears out the cupboards at Winton Castle in East Lothian. WHAT did you do in Lockdown? I did what most people without any medical training did: stayed at home, oversaw home-schooling, shopped for my endlessly hungry teenagers and shielding parents, did the day-job via Zoom, cleaned the…

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US election could boost rare Trump dram

A bottle of 26 year old GlenDronach single malt whisky that was bottled in 2012 to commemorate the opening of Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, could get an election boost when it goes under the hammer in Glasgow. McTear’s Rare & Fine Whisky Auction will take place on November 6, three days after the…

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Point of no return?

A recent study of 121 black grouse leks (breeding sites) by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has shone a light on the parlous state of numbers in Scotland. The black grouse population has now declined to the point where the species is a high conservation concern and action is needed to halt their decline.…

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Recently-built property is an excellent family home

A beautifully finished detached contemporary home which provides excellent family accommodation is now for sale. Stalmero, at 49A Mary Street in Dunoon, is a very well presented and recently constructed detached house of timber frame construction and white pebble dash finish and all under dark grey slate effect concrete tiles with low to no maintenance…

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Scottish public values its iconic heather moorlands

Scotland’s bonnie purple heather is one of the country’s most characteristic habitats with heather, berries and grassland accounting for around 50 per cent of all Scotland’s uplands. But how much do we love it, and expect to see it in bloom in late summer, and do we know the many benefits it brings? With the…

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