Scotland Magazine

I’m often asked what’s the best way to travel around Scotland, and although I’ve always been an independent traveller at heart and I get a buzz from planning a trip and all the research and coordination that goes with it – plus the unexpected things you find along the way – in recent years I have discovered the value of letting the experts take the helm. In Travel that gets you closer (p17), we bring you some of the best cruises and tours in Scotland that will give you an experience like no other. I’ve experienced many of them myself so can vouch for the invaluable access and insights that trips like these, run by people that know the areas you are visiting extremely well, can provide. Elsewhere this issue,…

[STATELY HOMES] IT’S BINNS CLOSED FOR TOO LONG The 17th-century historic home, the House of Binns, near Linlithgow, has finally reopened to the public after being closed for several years for restoration by the National Trust for Scotland. Built for a butter merchant, Thomas Dalyell, in 1612, the house has been passed down through the Dalyell family for 400 years and is home to many apocryphal tales, such as the board game between General Tam Dalyell, or ‘Bluidy Tam’ and the Devil, in which the Devil, upon realising his opponent was cheating, launched the card table across the room causing it to land in a pond outside. The table is one of thousands of artefacts that can be viewed on a house tour. nts.org.uk/visit/places/house-of-binns…

One of Scotland’s traditional industries is in danger of dying out forever, according to a new crowd-funding campaign. In January 2023 Scotland’s last maker of traditional hats in the ‘Bonnet Toun’ of Stewarton, East Ayrshire, Robert Mackie, shut up shop after 178 years, leaving the area with no bonnet makers for the first time since the 1600s. Now an online bonnet seller is planning to open a mini factory to ensure production continues in the town. However, it says it can’t do so without funding. In its GoFundMe plea, the Bonnet Shop & Bonnet Factory, which has a target of £120,000, writes: “We are looking for your help with immediate funding to set up this new Bonnet Factory & Shop and start training some younger workers. Urgent action is needed…

A Skye bakery has been crowned winner of the first ever Highland Shortbread Showdown – an event launched by Visit Inverness Loch Ness that sought to sift out the most delicious take on this Scottish delicacy in all the Highlands. Paul Mackintosh of Mackenzies Bakery on the Isle of Skye took first prize for his salted caramel and sea salt shortbread in a competition judged by some of Scotland’s finest food experts – including the Kilted Chef who we featured in the July/August 2022 (Sept 22) issue. Second place was shared by Speyside Centre’s Clootie Dumpling shortbread and Apartment at No. 8’s traditional shortbread cake. Both venues are based in the Cairngorms. The third spot went to Atholl House on Skye for its traditional shortbread bake. visitinvernesslochness.com/shortbread-showdown…

Very much appealing to fans of Scotland, the Simply Scottish podcast by Edinburgh-born Andrew McDiarmid regularly takes deep dives into the lives of well-known Scots like John Muir and Robert Burns, and has interviews with Scottish experts and icons, such as Braveheart writer and filmmaker Randall Wallace. Andrew began his broadcasting career in the US in 1999, hosting a Scottish-themed radio programme with his late father that initially went out across airwaves in the Rio Grande Valley and northern Mexico, eventually reaching listeners as far afield as Canada and Australia. Launching in 2011, Andrew describes Simply Scottish as ‘‘a virtual trip for listeners. They feel this magnetic pull towards Scotland, and the show nurtures that.” Simply Scottish is available wherever you get your podcasts, you can also listen and learn…

Visitors to Edinburgh early this summer will be able to see Scotland’s most significant document for the first time in 18 years. From 3 June to 2 July 2023, the 700-year-old Declaration of Arbroath will be free to view at the National Museums of Scotland. The Declaration is a letter dated 1320 written by Scotland’s freeholders and barons during the long and bloody Wars of Independence, which urged Pope John XXII to both recognise Scotland’s independence and Robert the Bruce as its rightful king. It is considered by many to be a blueprint for the United States Declaration of Independence. The display has been organised in partnership with the National Records of Scotland, who are custodians of the document. nms.ac.uk…