A Year of Celebrations at St Andrews

3 days ago

St Andrews recently received an award for being one of the country’s most creative places. The town has been given a cash prize of 150,000 as a winner of Creative Place...

St Andrews recently received an award for being one of the country’s most creative places. The town has been given a cash prize of 150,000 as a winner of Creative Place Awards, a national initiative as part of the Year of Creative Scotland 2012 that aims to reward the hard work and imagination of local organisations in contributing to the cultural life of the community.

The application for the award was led by The Byre Theatre and the St Andrews Partnership who are now working together to host the St Andrews Year of Celebration, showcasing the fantastic variety of cultural events in and around the town throughout the year.

The Year of Celebration will show why St Andrews was a deserving winner of the Creative Place Awards with a wide range of cultural events to suit all tastes. From poetry to outdoor performing arts, opera to wine-tasting, St Andrews hopes to become the artistic hub for Fife, drawing together the diverse events and organisations under the united banner of the Year of Celebration. Continue reading…..

Forgotten Railway Trains of Dunaskin

30 days ago

Mark from Abandoned Scotland sent me an email to point out their stunning Youtube channel. They are not the usual Scottish Landscape videos but beautifully edited scenes of former industrial and...

Mark from Abandoned Scotland sent me an email to point out their stunning Youtube channel. They are not the usual Scottish Landscape videos but beautifully edited scenes of former industrial and other sites, the forgotten and abandoned places in Scotland.

The video below shows the forgotten railway trains of Dunaskin, not far from Ayr. Mark wrote: “It started life as an Ironworks in 1840 but as the times changed it was uneconomical to keep open and was closed in 1921. It was then used as a brickworks and for coal mining used all the way up to 1988 when the last brick was produced. The Ayrshire Railway Preservation Group now run here stripping the trains down to renovate or to repair other trains. In 2012 there will be Steam Open Days at Dunaskin where everyone will get the chance to ride on various steam trains.”

Make sure to check out the other videos on his Youtube Channel as well.

Support The Russian Arctic Convoy Museum and See the Enigma Machine

65 days ago

It was in August 2011 that the community around Loch Ewe held a 70th anniversary Memorial Service to commemorate the first of many convoys that set sail from Loch Ewe on...

It was in August 2011 that the community around Loch Ewe held a 70th anniversary Memorial Service to commemorate the first of many convoys that set sail from Loch Ewe on their perilous journey taking war supplies to Russia. Between 1941 and 1945 the local Wester Ross community supported this key part of the war effort, and today’s local community are now working hard to
raise money for a Museum on the shores of the loch. They are determined to create a lasting legacy to the 3,000 men who died and to all who took part in this remarkable story from WWII.

The importance of highlighting the legacy of the WWII Russian Arctic Convoys is central to the project plans for a Russian Arctic Convoy Museum to be based on the shores of Loch Ewe, North West Scotland. The regeneration project needs to raise 3 million GPS to build the Museum and a new Community Centre for the village of Aultbea, which was designated HMS Helicon during WWII.

The Russian Arctic Convoy Museum group are planning an exciting event in early May. Entitled ‘World War II and the Arctic Convoys’ Week, the week of 7th – 12th May is shaping up into a fascinating range of lectures, exhibitions, dances, tea parties and reunions to be held in the Wester Ross area – all around the Wartime 1940′s theme. All proceeds will go towards the Museum Project.

During this week there is a chance to see and use the world famous Enigma machine. There will be ‘Hands On’ sessions available. Dr Mark Baldwin, a world expert on code-breaking, is the keynote speaker at the event. He is bringing his Enigma machine with him when he lectures on ‘Enigma and Bletchley Park’, as well as ‘U-Boats and the Convoys’. There will also be a Families Hands-On session, where the whole family can come along and use this remarkable device.

The German military used the Enigma cipher machine during the war to keep their communications secret. The German authorities believed in the absolute security of the Enigma. However, with the help of Polish mathematicians who had managed to acquire a machine prior to the outbreak of WW2, British code breakers stationed at Bletchley Park managed to exploit weaknesses in the machine and this gave the Allies a key advantage, which, according to historians, shortened the war by two years thus saving many lives.

To support the plans of the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum group in Wester Ross and to learn more about this exciting and important project please visit www.russianarcticconvoymuseum.co.uk

Visit Loch Ewe and Visitor Centre

90 days ago

If there is one Loch in Scotland that has a somewhat unusual history it’s probably Loch Ewe. Why? Loch Ewe played an important part in WW2, it was a Convoy Collecting...

If there is one Loch in Scotland that has a somewhat unusual history it’s probably Loch Ewe. Why? Loch Ewe played an important part in WW2, it was a Convoy Collecting Point for the Arctic convoys to Russia. During that time Loch Ewe was protected by light and heavy anti aircraft guns, the remains of these gun emplacements and other buildings are still present and dotted around the Loch.

For some the history of this Loch is reason enough for a visit but for most it’s the sheer beauty of the place. Loch Ewe and surrounding area is a stunningly beautiful part of Wester Ross. There are lovely wee villages and you will find magnificent scenery, plenty of opportunities for short and long walks and cycling, an abundance in wildlife such as otters and sea eagles and many other things to see and do. My wife and I visited Loch Ewe many times over the last ten years and the length and number of our visits are increasing.

Just after our Autumn visit in 2011 I was contacted by long-time Poolewe resident Tracy McLachlan after she had found my Loch Ewe webpage. Tracy almost single-handedly started up a new visitor centre in the Village Hall on the seafront at Poolewe, to promote Loch Ewe and the surrounding area. The new visitor centre will open on the 26th of March but the website is already live and packed with information about the area. For more information visit www.visitlochewe.com or connect through social media via Twitter or Facebook.

Make sure though not to miss the visitor centre itself when you’re in the area. I understand from Tracy that the centre will provide lots of practical information, accommodation tips, guides, leaflets, maps etc. to get the most out of your visit in this magnificent part of Scotland.

Skiing and Ski Resorts in Scotland

97 days ago

If you think you need to head for the Alps for some decent skiing you can be wrong. Scotland offers some great skiing in the five resorts of Glenshee in Aberdeenshire,...

If you think you need to head for the Alps for some decent skiing you can be wrong. Scotland offers some great skiing in the five resorts of Glenshee in Aberdeenshire, Lecht in Strathdon, The Nevis Range in Inverness-shire, Glencoe in Argyll and on the Cairngorm mountain range near Aviemore.

I’ve added a new page to the Scotland Info website where you can read all about Skiing in Scotland as well as about the five major ski resorts. There is news widget where you read about the current snow situation on the ski slopes and the amount of runs available for each resort. Check out the new Scotland Skiing Page for more info. To show you what I mean I’ve added a video which has been shot in the five ski resorts mentioned above.

Background on Hogmanay In Scotland

140 days ago

While New Year’s Eve is celebrated around the world the Scots have a long rich heritage associated with the event and even have their own word for it – Hogmanay. Theories...

While New Year’s Eve is celebrated around the world the Scots have a long rich heritage associated with the event and even have their own word for it – Hogmanay. Theories abound about the derivation of the word ‘Hogmanay’. The Scandinavian word for the feast preceding Yule was ‘Hoggonott’, while the Flemish words – many of which came into the Scots language – ‘hoog min dag’ means ‘great love day.’ Hogmanay could also be traced back to the Anglo Saxon ‘Haleg monath’, holy month, or the Gaelic ‘òg maiden’, which refers to ‘new morning. But the most likely source seems to be the French ‘Homme est ne’, translated ‘Man is born.’ In France the last day of the year when gifts were exchanged was called ‘aguilleneuf’, while in Normandy presents given at that time were known as ‘hoguignetes.’

In Scotland a similar practice to that in Normandy was rather disapprovingly recorded by the Church in the Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence of 1693 thus: It is ordinary among some Plebians in the South of Scotland to go about from door to door on New Year’s Eve crying Hagmane.’ Some historians believe that we inherited the word from the Vikings who, coming from even further north than ourselves, paid much more attention to the passing of the shortest day. In Shetland, where the Viking influence is at its strongest, New Year is called Yules and taken from the Norse language. Continue reading…..

Scotland’s Reindeer in the Cairngorms

147 days ago

Reindeer were re-introduced to Scotland in the Cairngorm Mountains in 1952 by a Swedish Sámi by the name of Michal Utsi. The Cairngorm Reindeer are the UK’s only free-ranging herd, and...

Reindeer were re-introduced to Scotland in the Cairngorm Mountains in 1952 by a Swedish Sámi by the name of Michal Utsi. The Cairngorm Reindeer are the UK’s only free-ranging herd, and they roam the slopes of some of Scotland’s highest peaks, feeding on the only sub-arctic territory in the UK. As a herder it was my job to ‘roam’ out and locate them throughout the year. These reindeer are still managed today in much the same way as they were when Mr Utsi brought them here. They spend almost their entire life on the mountains with minimal fuss needed from the herders.

The herders know each reindeer by name, and they are so tame they come running when you call them. Despite this, they are incredibly independent, and are only really comfortable in these wild environments. However, all of them must make a living somehow – and each of the male reindeer are trained to pull Santa’s sleigh! They will all take it in turns to pull Santa in street parades throughout the UK during the festive period, before returning to the slopes for the rest of winter.

As an Arctic animal, they are found in the worlds harshest environments. But their range enabled the people of the Arctic to survive there too as they took on the role of cow, horse, sheep and goat: reindeer pull sleighs of people, packages and houses; their pelts provide the best thermal clothing; their solid antlers are valuable tools; they provide meat and even milk; in some parts of the world they are even ridden.
What better animal to make it around the world and back in one night?

From this place I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a great 2012. Thanks for visiting my website and blog.

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