A tour of Scotland and exploring Broken Britain

Kellan MacInnes’ first novel, The Making of Mickey Bell, employs an unusual style of writing that launches a refreshing new literary talent into the Scottish fiction firmament. Jumping from the voice of the narrator to Mickey’s inner monologue, MacInnes leads us away from the rough Glasgow streets to a different kind of rough in the…

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Six of the best English still wines

There’s more to English wine than its award-winning sparklers, as Peter Ranscombe reports. IT’S hard to argue with the prowess of English sparkling wines, with the “Auld Enemy’s” bubbles scooping prizes at competitions ranging from the Sommelier Wine Awards through to consumer group Which?’s annual taste test. Along the way, the industry has chalked up…

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Scottish Album of the Year to be revealed in Edinburgh

The most prestigious night in Scotland’s music calendar is heading to Edinburgh It has been confirmed that the Scottish Album of the Year Award will make its debut in the capital city in September. Now in its eighth year, The SAY Award is Scotland’s national music prize and celebrates, promotes and rewards the most outstanding…

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Make more of your pumpkins this Halloween

An old Scots proverb is likely to be true over the next week – ‘Wilful waste makes woeful want’, as we could throw out around 1.1 million pumpkins at Halloween. Research shows that out of the 1.8 million pumpkins carved in Scotland a year, a frightening 1.1 million are thrown away. That’s why Zero Waste…

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Tips to save you money this World Food Day

Zero Waste Scotland’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign is urging the nation to Chill the Fridge Out this World Food Day (16 October). A new survey revealed half of the population don’t know what temperature their fridge should be. Scottish families waste on average £60 a month, or £700 a year, throwing away food that…

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Janet fought back from chemo to find her artistic bent

It took a brushing encounter with chemotherapy to open an unexpected new chapter in Janet Ollason’s life. It was 2003 and the drug treatment was sapping her stamina. Her supportive husband John was encouraging her to take up a new activity which would keep her busy but not tire her out even more. So she…

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Underbelly celebrates its Fringe success

A Fringe venue which spent over £500,000 on 2018 shows this year has been delighted with its best year of awards, critical reception and ticket sales. Over 200 shows, 17 awards and nominations, over £40,000 raised for charities, over 500 four and five star reviews made 2018 a terrific Fringe for Underbelly and its companies…

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Jazz master Arturo takes audience on a journey

Internationally renowned jazz saxophonist, Arturo Tappin performed a 5 star concert at The Outhouse, demonstrating his all-round professionalism and extraordinary talent on everything from the clarinet to saxophone and flute. The programme was a musical trip around the Caribbean Islands and took in all-time classics from Acker Bilk to modern jazz. Thrown into the mix…

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Toys standing the test of time with Scottish children

A Glasgow shopping centre has revealed that today’s toddlers would rather play with the toys their parents loved as children – with LEGO, action figures and dolls, such as My Little Pony, proving to stand the test of time. The findings are released following a poll of parents in Scotland and a toy testing workshop,…

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Fringe review – Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience

Faulty Towers: the Dining Experience offers two hours of capers and a three course dinner served by the irrepressible Basil, Sybil and Manuel. The chaos starts from the outset and all the usual jokes are thrown into the mix, from the rat to the jokes about Barcelona. Only grump is the lack of bar staff at the…

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