Scotland Magazine November/December 2021

After being kept away from the places I love, as soon as lockdown lifted, I couldn’t wait to get out on the road in Scotland again, which is why you’re hearing quite a lot from me this issue. First up, in City of culture (p14), you can hear me wax lyrical about one of my favourite cities, Glasgow, which is filled with more heritage attractions than you might realise, and is also the launchpad for many a Scottish trip. Next up, in Written in the stars (p24), I visited Mount Stuart, one of the most outrageous stately homes I’ve ever come across, and handily, it’s very accessible from Glasgow. And my final big piece this issue, Rewind, rewild (p30), was fuelled by a trip I managed last summer (between lockdowns), which…

[PROPERTY] WHO WILL BE KING OF THE CASTLE? Residents of the small island of Rum must wait patiently to find out who – if anyone – will become the new owner of Kinloch Castle, a crumbling ruin that was once a popular visitor attraction/hostel. Whoever it is will have to prove they have sufficient funds to restore it, as it’s thought that necessary renovations to the red sandstone turreted castle would cost around £20m. It would cost £50,000 alone to restore the orchestrion – thought to be the world’s oldest – that once belonged to Queen Victoria. The castle has been looking for a buyer for some time and previous attempts to save it by the Kinloch Castle Friend’s Association and even The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, have failed for one…

SCOTLAND 25 November 2021 - 2 January 2022 CHRISTMAS AT THE BOTANICS, EDINBURGH The Royal Botanic Garden in the capital returns with its festive, illuminated trail. rbge.org.uk Until 23 January 2022 THE LOVING EARTH PROJECT, DUMBARTONSHIRE An exhibition at the Scottish Maritime Museum Dumbarton of a selection of textile panels created in response to the climate emergency. scottishmaritime museum.org Until 9 January 2022 INSPIRING WALTER SCOTT, EDINBURGH On the 250th anniversary of Sir Walter Scott’s birth, experience his novels through objects that inspired him at the National Museum of Scotland. nms.ac.uk 28-29 January 2022 BURNS SUPPER, EDINBURGH All aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia for its annual Burns Supper. royalyachtbritannia.co.uk 4 February 2022 THE ERSKINE BURNS SUPPER, GLASGOW Celebrate Scotland’s national bard in the stunning baronial setting of Sherbrooke Castle. erskine.org.uk…

One of the many advantages of island life is the prevailing community spirit. Being fortunate enough to divide my time between our family base in the Outer Hebrides, and my home on the Black (almost) Isle, I am part of two close-knit communities and have recently had reason to realise what that means. Stupidly, I lifted an extremely heavy sack of rubble into the boot of my car, and then up into a dustbin. This resulted in a trapped nerve in my chest, which was so screamingly painful that I couldn’t sleep and was a moaning wreck. Word of my misfortune spread round our community like a pandemic. While I was trying to get through to our surgery on the telephone to ask for advice, a neighbour marched into my…

UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT… IDENTIFIED At the bottom of page 51 of your article on David Livingstone (Issue 117), there is a picture of something that you refer to as “an object owned by Chuma and Susi”. This is a powder horn used for carrying gun powder for muskets. I am a retired American Civil War re-enactor and while I was in the artillery, some of us carried muskets as well. I thought you’d like to know. Tom Bowman, by email DRESSED TO IMPRESS Congratulations on the lovely magazine, and congratulations to the sharp-eyed reader, Carol A Suarez of California, who spotted the photos of two young girls in the drawing room at Kinloch Lodge. When I saw the smocked dresses, I retrieved the attached photo (above), me circa 1949, wearing the…

Though Edinburgh may be known for its World Heritage Status, Glasgow is not short of an accolade or two – being named European City of Culture in 1990 and UNESCO City of Music in 2008, which was just as well, as it had been down at heel for a while before that. In the 1980s, people had pretty much written off Glasgow, as mass unemployment caused by the collapse of the ship industry as well as the closures of its steelworks, coal mines, and factories, took their toll. However, Glasgow is nothing if not a master of reinvention, and by the 1990s it was proving itself as a cultural powerhouse, filled with creative energy and vision. Thankfully, it didn’t have to start from scratch, but built on the foundations that…