Anne McAlpine discovers the power of peat in new documentary series

From the boreal peatlands of Canada, to the expansive peat plains of Finland and the beautiful blanket bogs of home – Anne McAlpine takes us on a journey exploring spectacular peatlands around the world.  The BBC ALBA documentary series takes us to Iron Age bog bodies, remarkable pool systems, shielings which built communities on the…

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High flying: Dream job on stunning Scottish island Benbecula

A high-flying dream job on a stunning Scottish island is currently being advertised. Highlands and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL) is looking for an air traffic controller on the picturesque island of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. Advertisers HiJOBS.net said the job could be perfect for a career-starter or career-changer looking for a new challenge, with…

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SCOTLAND THROUGH A LENS: TOM CLARK – AUGUST 2023

Sammi Minion speaks with Tom Clark about his beautiful Hebridean landscape photography, as featured in the August edition of Scottish Field magazine.  You clearly know the Western Isles inside out. Are you from there, or did you grow up somewhere else? It’s a place I’ve only been going to since 2021. I’m from Dumbarton, down at…

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Scotland gets ready for the coronation

COMMUNITIES throughout Scotland are preparing for King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday. Glasgow’s lord provost, Jacqueline McLaren, will this morning become the first person to sign the Dear Green Place’s “Book of Congratulations” to mark the coronation. She will sign the book in the foyer of the City Chambers, before it’s opened to the public…

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Whisky news round-up: Orkney, Glenfiddich, and more

Peter Ranscombe rounds-up more whisky news from Scotland. ORKNEY is getting its third whisky distillery. Stuart and Adelle Brown have unveiled Deerness Distillery, which will be the first to open in the county for 138 years. Construction work on the six-figure distillery is expected to begin in the coming weeks after planning permission was granted.…

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Spirits news from the Hebrides

THREE spirits stalwarts on the Outer Hebrides are having a busy start to the year. Angus A MacMillan and Angus E MacMillan, the father-and-son team building Benbecula distillery, have unveiled the first three bottles from MacMillan Spirits. They’ve launched: “Wheelhouse Whisky”, an eight-year-old single cask Islay single malt; “Machair Gin”, a gin that contains heather…

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Islands share £100m investment

ORKNEY, Shetland, and the Western Isles will share £100 million of public funding once an “islands growth deal” is signed today. The deal pulls together cash from the Scottish and UK governments. Ministers hope the money will trigger a further £393 million of investment from businesses over the next ten years, creating up to 1,300…

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Whisky news round-up: Deacon Blue, festivals, and more

Peter Ranscombe sticks his tongue in his cheek to round-up the latest news from the world of whisky. THE National Whisky Festival of Scotland returns to Edinburgh tomorrow. The festival is back at Summerhall, the arts centre in the former Royal Dick Vet School near the Meadows. Gareth Croll, the festival’s co-ordinator, said: “It’s such…

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Preserving history with Traditional Tales for Tiny People

Live Music Now Scotland is excited to announce Traditional Tales for Tiny People as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022. Bringing the traditional stories, language and music of the Orkney islands and the Western Isles to early years and families, Traditional Tales for Tiny People will feature live performances from some of Live Music…

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A bygone Scotland captured in photography

This is a concise paperback edition of the bestselling Scottish photographic book. In the early 1960s, in the course of recording a Dunfermline mill building that was scheduled for demolition, RCAHMS surveyors discovered an incredible collection of over 800 glass plate negatives. Taken between 1880 and 1919, the photographs are a remarkable record of a…

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