Job Fears as Clyde Shipyards Face Takeover

Concern was being expressed about the long term future of Glasgow's last naval shipyards this week as BAE Systems began negotiations for the sale of the yards at Govan and Scotstoun on the Clyde to VT Group. VT (formerly Vosper Thorneycroft in Southhampton) have been rivals of the Clyde yards for Royal Navy shipbuilding contracts for many years. The two companies are currently working together on the £2.9 billion project to build two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. The future of 2,300 jobs on the Clyde depends on this contract. BAE Systems are the prime contractor but there are fears that if they are taken over by VT Group, more of the carrier work could be farmed out to their own yards.

Parking Charges at Glasgow Hospitals Cause Pain

Plans by Greater Glasgow Health Board to introduce car parking charges at all of Glasgow's hospitals were severely criticised this week. Some Members of the Scottish Parliament said that charging patients and visitors was against the whole ethos of the National Health Service. The charges will come into force next April and will apply to staff as well as members of the public. The Health Board say that the move is to comply with the Government's legislation encouraging the use of public transport and reduced reliance on private cars. Car parking at most city hospitals is also overstretched and out-patients often have to park in nearby streets, where they are likely to risk parking fines. Charges have already been introduced at Edinburgh hospitals, so no amount of protesting is likely to change the decision.

Scottish Seafood Restaurant Hits Headlines

The Loch Fyne Oyster Bar was the unlikely focus of press attention earlier this week. It became known that the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown had stopped in the car park there on the way back from the memorial service for the former Labour leader John Smith. The gossip-mongers had it that the two were hatching a plot to oust Prime Minister Tony Blair from office because many Labour Members of Parliament are said to be increasingly seeing him as a liability going into the next General Election, likely to take place next year. Of course, the pair denied the rumours vehemently, with the down-to-earth Deputy Prime Minister telling reporters that they had got it all wrong, not only on what had been discussed, but also on what they had eaten. As an "old Labour" man, Mr Prescott insisted that he had bought kippers (a low-cost, smoked herring) rather than oysters....

22% Increase in House Prices

According to government data published this week, house prices in Scotland rose by 22% in the last twelve months with house prices in central Scotland (covering Perthshire, Angus, Fife and Stirlingshire) soaring by an average of 31%. Unlike figures published by mortgage lenders, the government data include residential sales for cash, where there is no mortgage, which, surprisingly, occurs in more than 20% of transactions. The Scottish Residential Property Market exceeded £13 billion for the financial year 2003/2004. Further details of the quarterly report (which covers the period January to March 2004) are available from Registers of Scotland at www.ros.gov.uk/pressreleases.html.

Numbers of Students in Higher Education

The number of students in Higher Education in 2002-03 ( 267,026) was 24.6% higher than in 1995/96, according to Scottish Executive statistics published this week. Of these, 78% studied in Higher Education Institutions (such as universities) while 22% studied in Further Education Colleges. The increase was largely due to larger numbers of women going into Higher Education - between 1995/96 and 2002/03 the number of female higher education students increased by 40 per cent to 148,556. Over the same period the number of male higher education students increased by only 10 per cent to 118,470. There were 134,825 new entrants to Higher Education in Scotland in 2002/03. This was a decrease of 4.7 per cent on the number of entrants in 2001/02, but that year had the highest recorded number of entrants in a single year.

Retail Sales Growth Slows

The Scottish Retail Consortium has reported that retail sales in Scotland fell from 6.3% in March to 4.4% in April. For the first time in nearly a year, the growth was lower than in the UK as a whole where retail sales rose from 4.4% in March to 4.9% last month. In April last year, sales growth hit a peak of 9.9%. The decline between March and April in Scotland was largely due to lower sales in the food sector, after a record-breaking performance last Easter - non-food retailers are still seeing strong growth.

Overhaul of Licencing Laws for Sale of Alcohol

An overhaul of Scotland’s licensing laws for the sale of alcohol was outlined in a long-awaited government White Paper published this week. Under the Executive’s proposals there will be a crackdown on irresponsible drinks promotions which encourage binge drinking and lead to antisocial behaviour - but there is no outright ban on "happy hours." As expected, the present inflexible system of ‘fixed’ opening hours with extensions will be replaced with a tailored ‘premises by premises’ approach to hours. The monitoring of licence conditions will be enhanced through the introduction of liquor licensing standards officers. They will mediate in the first instance and manage the relationship between the local community and the local trade - but they will have the power to take complaints to the local licensing board for appropriate sanction if necessary. Children will be allowed into licenced bars and restaurants although of coures they will not be allowed to consume ant alcoholic drinks.

Amazon Comes to Gourock

Amazon.co.uk has announced that it is planning to open a second UK "fulfilment centre" in Gourock, Renfrewshire. The new facility, which is set to be operational later this year, is expected to create up to 300 new jobs within 18 months. The move to the unemployment black-spot of Gourock will be assisted by a £1.6 million government grant. The company has chosen a Scottish Enterprise-owned building in Gourock to house their facility. The 300,000 sq ft building at Faulds Park is the size of five football pitches. Scottish Enterprise is currently refitting the building and provided the first phase of this work is completed on schedule in June, the project will proceed with the fulfilment centre expected to be operational by the second half of 2004.

Deputy First Minister in Talks with Czech Airlines

Jim Wallace, the Deputy First Minister, flew to Prague this week where he held talks with Czech Airlines (CSA) about increasing the number of direct routes between the Czech Republic and Scotland. The airline already provides a service between Edinburgh and Prague and, in the first year of operation, flights have been running at over 80 per cent capacity. This recently led CSA to double the number of flights between the two cities. Figures indicate that 13% of flyers continue on from Prague to other destinations such as Ljubljana, Budapest and Bratislava in the new European Union accession states. A Glasgow-Prague route has been suggested and the Deputy First Minister says the Scottish Executive would like to support such a route from Glasgow if it meets the government's Route Development Fund criteria. This helps to support new international routes from Scotland and has helped 20 new routes since it was established in November 2002.

Radical Restructuring for Church

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, meeting for the first time with a female Moderator at its head, has agreed a radical slimming of its management structure as it tries to cut costs in the face of falling revenues and membership. A new Assembly Council of 16 members will be created to administer the church between the annual meetings of the Assembly. Until now, power has been decentralised and all major decisions were taken at the annual meeting. Over the past four years, expenditure in the Kirk has exceeded income by £20 million and its assets have declined in value by over £35 million. And its pension fund is estimated to be £50 million in the red.

Chef of the Year

A chef from Ballachulish Country House, near Glencoe in Argyll, won the prize as Scottish Hotel Chef of the Year this week, defeating nearly 300 other top chefs from across the country. Last month, Allan Donald was also named hotel chef of the year at the Scottish Hotel of the Year Awards and in January he was awarded a coveted Michelin star which is given only to a few outstanding restaurants - there are only nine in Scotland. The hotel is in a 17th-century house in Glencoe where Captain Robert Campbell, who was ordered to carry out the massacre in Glencoe, once lived. This was the 8th year of the Chef of the Year Award and was reported to have been a very close competition.

All Aboard for Pets Abroad

Cats and dogs who have their own pet passports will now be able to travel direct to and from Scotland. The Superfast Rosyth to Zeebrugge (Belgium) ferry has been authorised as the first ever Scottish travel route for qualifying cats and dogs. Owners whose pets meet the requirements of the Pet Passport Scheme, will now be able to take their pets to selected countries direct from Scotland rather than having to travel through England. The announcement was made this week by Rural Development Minister Ross Finnie during a visit to the Superfast Terminal in Rosyth on the second anniversary of the start of the route. The Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) has been developed to allow owners to take their pets to qualifying countries under strict conditions that ensure the welfare of the animal is protected and the risk to animal health is minimised. Under the scheme pets do not have to undergo the statutory six months quarantine period. Instead, they are vaccinated and blood tested and then have a micro-chip to prove they are free from rabies and other diseases.

Snow in Edinburgh Bemuses Tourists

OK, so the temperature in May in Scotland can sometimes be a bit nippy, but there were a few jaws dropping in Lauriston Place Edinburgh recently as snow swirled along the street. Fortunately, it was not global freezing, but a publicity stunt to launch the capital's newest Novotel Hotel and the billowing snow was being created by a machine. TV personality Jackie Bird was at the event and the winter scene painfully reminded her of the cancellation of the New Year's Eve TV show from the capital last December. This had to be cancelled because of inclement weather!

For Sale - Scotland's Largest Estate Agents

Former building society Bradford and Bingley has spent the last six years integrating a network of estate agencies across the country into its branch network. But this week it announced that it was to sell off Slater Hogg & Howison, Scotland's biggest estate agency which employs 3000 people in 291 branches, as it is "non-core" to the bank. Slater Hogg have had a roller-coaster history. Created in the south of Glasgow the 1970s by a group of estate agents, it was bought by TSB Bank Scotland in the mid-1980s, before the "gold rush" as banks snapped up estate agents in the belief that they would channel mortgage business to the new owners. It became part of the Black Horse chain when TSB was taken over by Lloyds Bank in 1995. Lloyds then sold the chain to Bradford and Bingley in 1998.

Saltire on Top of Everest

A 51-year-old Perthsire woman became the oldest woman from the UK to climb to the top of the 29,035ft high Mount Everest this week. Former businesswoman Vicky Jack quit her top job in North of Scotland Water as head of personnel in 1997 to take up mountaineering. She has also achieved the "Magnificent Seven" with the climb as she has now conquered the highest peaks on the seven continents. She had to abandon an attempt on Everest last year only 300 feet from the summit due to bad weather

Green Power to Cost a Billion Pounds?

Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Electricity, two of the main power companies in Scotland, have applied to the utility regulator with proposals which would result in charges to customers rising by an extra £1 billion. They say this is needed to pay for the extra cost of upgrading the network to allow power generated from wind and water driven sources to feed into the national grid from the north of the country. These new "green" energy sources using renewable power are needed to meet government targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to reduce global warming. The transmission line which needs to be upgraded runs down the backbone of Scotland from Beauly near Inverness to Denny, close to Falkirk in central Scotland. The regulator will now examine the proposals to see if they are justified.

Rooftop Wind Turbine Pilot Launched

The first installation of a world-leading rooftop turbine took place this week at a Fife school. One rooftop turbine is being installed at each of five Fife Primary schools in the new pilot, and if successful, the turbines could be sited on houses and buildings across Scotland. The revolutionary Swift turbine has been developed by Edinburgh company Renewable Devices Limited, and is at the cutting edge of global renewables technology. These small turbines can be installed on roofs in urban or rural environments and directly power the building with no need to feed into the grid. Their development was assisted by government award scheme finance. Each turbine can generate up to 4000 kW hours of green electricity each year, saving up to 1720kg carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas and cutting the school’s energy bill by up to £284. They generate minimal vibration. Pupils at Collydean Primary School in Fife have been working for some time on projects about the turbine being installed on the roof of their school.

First Osprey Chicks Hatch

The Scottish Wildlife's Webcam at Lowes Wildlife Reserve near Dunkeld in Perthshire beamed live pictures around the world of the first osprey chick of the year as it hatched earlier this week. Other eggs were expected to hatch over the following few days. The male osprey, who has been having a leisurely time in recent weeks, will now have to start working hard to keep the chicks supplied with fish from the surrounding lochs. They catch the fish by diving from 200 feet and lifting them from the water in their talons. After eight weeks of intensive feeding, the chicks will take their first flights - watched by visitors in nearby hides. See www.swt.org.uk/Home_latest_news/home_popup3.htm for a view of the nest.

Tartan DNA

A company which has been set up by scientists at Glasgow University has begun work on creating a DNA database which will allow people to trace their ancestors and identify which clan they belong to. The company is working with a number of clan societies to establish people with known clan genealogy and then look for the genetic markers which are specific to various clans. Crucial Genetics already works with the police, immigration officials, insurance companies and doctor to carry out DNA tests. Two people with a match in 16 genes means that there is a one-in-a-billion chance that two people are not related. The tests are used regularly in paternity cases and to reunite orphans with their siblings. Establishing clan links may not be so straightforward as clans were not always made up of people who shared a common ancestor. Over time, other family groups became members and others changed their names to gain protection. When the MacGregor name was outlawed, many clan members took alternative surnames and many did not revert to their original name when the prescription ended. But once the test is established, it may be possible for those from large clans such as McDonald and Campbell to find out which branch they belong to.

Time to Terminate Terns Tenure

The Arctic tern may be an endangered species but the good folk of Montrose are trying to encourage them to take up residence outside of the town. When they are nesting, the birds become very territorial - and their aggression applies not just to other birds but they dive-bomb parked cars and anyone walking past. Several hundred have taken up residence on an industrial estate in the town and arrive from their winter feeding grounds in the Antarctic in early May. But a new "home" has been created at nearby St Cyrus National Nature Reserve. As these birds seem to prefer rooftops, false structures have been put up on the reserve and decoy terns have been set up to attract them there. As they are a protected species, care has to be taken in how they are discouraged. Loudspeakers broadcasting gull calls may help as the terns are put off by these larger birds. A harris hawk from a falconry company is also being employed to deter the terns - so long as it is just a threat and doesn't attack them. The birds are notoriously fickle about their nesting sites. They moved from St Cyrus some years ago for no apparent reason and it is hoped that gentle persuasion will encourage them back there.

Weather in Scotland This Week

Last weekend Aberdeen reached 21C (70F) and the city basked in nearly 11 hours of sunshine last Sunday. But as winds shifted round to the north and a number of weather fronts passed over Scotland, the thermometer in Aberdeen dropped to 10C (50F) by the end of the week. Those weather fronts also brought in a lot of showers but there were lots of bright spells in between. On Thursday and Friday in particular there was a fair amount of sunshine in Edinburgh where over 9 hours of sunshine were recorded on Thursday. The sun was again much in evidence on Saturday and the weather outlook for the next few days is also good, particularly in the west.

With the explosion of growth at this time of year creating a riot of colour in Scottish gardens (whether they are large or small) the problem with selecting illustrations for the current week has been which ones to select. Especially as I have taken over 400 photographs in a wide range of gardens! So there are five graphics here this week, more than usual, beginning with a deutzia from Glendoick Garden in Angus (above), followed by a magnolia wilsonii from the National Trust's Greenbank Garden. Below are an abutilon, also from Greenbank, a vivid blue mecanopsis from Glendoick and a yellow paeony from the same garden.

Royal and Ancient Commemmorative Banknotes

In recent years, the Royal Bank of Scotland has issued a number of limited-edition banknote designs to commemmorate historical events - including the 100th anniversary of the death of Robert Louis Stevenson, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Graham Bell and the 100th birthday of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Now the bank has issued a new £5 note which marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews on 14 May 1754. It shows the R&A clubhouse, the Captain's silver clubs and golf balls, the famous Claret Jug presented to the winner of The Open and a portrait of Old Tom Morris, one of the early golfers from St Andrews from the 19th century who won the Open Championship at the age of 17. Two million of the banknotes have been printed and are in general circulation. However, collectors who keep their notes in pristine condition know that they will increase in value over the years. American golf legend Jack Nicklaus unveiled the new note at a press conference last week.

Cinema Celebrates 65 Years

On May 18, 1939 the Cosmo cinema opened its doors on Rose Street in Glasgow for the first time. Now the Glasgow Film Theatre it will soon become the oldest active cinema in the city when the Odeon closes shortly to be redeveloped as offices and retail outlets. The Cosmo was the first cinema in Glasgow to show "continental" and art films, many of which did not reach the main cinema circuits. The cinema's logo - a bowler-hatted Mr Cosmo - became part of Glasgow life in a city where cinema-going was particularly popular. It became the Glasgow Film Theatre in 1974, continuing the movie-house tradition with 60% of the films screened coming from Europe.

Next Week in History

• May 24 1153 - King David I died at Carlisle and Malcolm IV crowned at Scone.
• May 24 1819 - The future Queen Victoria was born.
• May 24 1852 - Robert Cunningham Graham born. Son of a Scottish laird, he organised the Scottish Labour Party with Kier Hardie, wrote over 30 travel books and was elected first president of the Scottish National Party.
• May 24 1916 - Conscription to the armed forces began for the first time.
• May 24 1928 - Actor and comedian Stanley Baxter born.
• May 24 1972 - Rangers win the European Cup Winners' Cup in Barcelona.
• May 25 1713 - John Stuart, Earl of Bute, Britain's first Scottish Prime Minister, born.
• May 25 1967 - Celtic Football Club won European Cup.
• May 25 1971 - Invergordon aluminium works starts production.
• May 26 1424 - The parliament convened by King James I approved the arrest of a number of the Scottish nobility - and also banned the playing of football.
• May 26 1909 - Birth of football player, coach and manager Sir Matt Busby . He was manager of Manchester United Football Club 1945-69, winner of European Cup 1968.
• May 26 1950 - Petrol rationing, introduced during WW2, was ended.
• May 26 1995 - In the opening game of their Rugby World Cup programme, Scotland defeated Ivory Coast 89-0. Skipper Gavin Hastings scored a world record 44 points.
• May 27 1936 - Maiden voyage of liner Queen Mary.
• May 28 1503 - Papal Bull signed by Pope Alexander VI confirming the marriage of King James IV and Margaret Tudor and the "Treaty of Everlasting Peace" between Scotland and England.
• May 28 1841 - Seven church ministers of the Presbytery of Strathbogie were removed from their posts by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for obeying civil rather than ecclesiastical law.
• May 28 1887 - 73 miners were killed in a firedamp explosion at Udston Colliery, Lanarkshire.
• May 28 1905 - Construction of the King's Theatre in Edinburgh commences.
• May 28 1937 - National Government formed under the leadership of Neville Chamberlain.
• May 29 1630 - King Charles II born.
• May 29 1660 - King Charles II returned to England. Royal Oak Day.
• May 29 1687 - Order of the Thistle founded by King James VII.

Piping Hot Festival

Building on the success of the annual World Pipe Band Championship (WPBC) held on Glasgow Green every August, the City of Glasgow Council and the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) are organising a week-long festival from August 9 to 15, culminating in the Championship itself. Last year 40,000 spectators watched and listened to 7,500 of the top pipers and drummers from around the world competing for the top prize. This year the "Piping Hot" festival will include concerts, ceilidhs, workshops, forums, a pipers’ parade and a series of free performances around Glasgow city centre. For more details, see www.pipingfestival.co.uk/.

Cash Boost for Scottish Opera?

The Scottish Executive proposal to give up to £5 million more of publc funding for the over-spent Scottish Opera, provided that the company goes part-time and cust administrative posts, was leaked to the media in advance of the details being given to the staff or the Scottish Parliament. It was the leak rather than the cuts which grabbed most of the attention in the press thereafter. The plan was apparently presented to the Scottish Opera board members last Friday - but was in the Sunday Herald within 48 hours. The £5 million is likely to be used to pay for transitional costs, including staff redundancy payments.

Live TV Wildlife Watch for Bass Rock

BBC TV wildlife presenter Sir David Attenborough described the Bass Rock off Norh Berwick as one of the natural wonders of the world with the world's largest single rock gannetry. Now Bill Oddie, the popular presenter of BBC2's "Britain Goes Wild", is to show live pictures from the rock for a week as part of the series. The project starts at the end of the month and will follow the hatching and early rearing of some young gannets at two nests on the rock. Gannets are known for their aggressive behaviour and disputes with nesting neighbours are common! There are over 100,000 gannets on the Bass Rock. From a distance, it looks white - but that is due to the tens of thousands of birds. The birds travel as far as Norway in search of food and fly to the west coast of Africa in winter. In addition to gannets, the rock is home to guillemots, razorbills, puffins, fulmars, kittiwakes and herring gulls.

Film Funding for Scotland

Speaking at Cannes International Film Festival this week, Culture Minister Frank McAveety detailed a new scheme which will fully fund three low budget feature films and give them worldwide distribution. The initiative is supported by BBC Films, BBC Scotland, Scottish Screen and ContentFilm. The Culture Minister was attending Scotland Day at the Film Festival in order to promote Scotland as a film location and to promote the work of Scottish film makers. The Low Budget Feature Film Proposal Scheme is an initiative to fully fund three low budget features over three years at a budget of £1.2m per film. The aim of the initiative is to support emerging filmmaking talent to step into the feature film arena with support and assistance from Scotland's two major funding organisations, Scottish Screen and BBC Scotland. Additional support will be provided by ContentFilm, who have guaranteed to distribute the three films in the UK and internationally, ensuring domestic and world wide exhibition.

Football Results Last Sunday

Celtic 2 Dundee United 1
Dunfermline 2 Rangers 3
Heart of Midlothian 3 Motherwell 2

League Tables

Henrik Larsson played his last league match for Celtic last Sunday - and scored both goals for his club to end the season 17 points ahead of Rangers. Hearts, in third place, were 13 points behind the Ibrox side (or put another way, 30 points behind the champions).

Partick Thistle are still waiting to get final confirmation that Inverness will accept promotion to the Scottish Premier League, which would result in their relegation.

Scottish Cup Final

Earlier in May, with the League Championship sewn up, Celtic were defeated by Dunfermline 2-1. But the Scottish Cup Final is a different matter - although Dunfermline players were no doubt reminded, frequently, of the club's 2-0 triumph over Celtic in the 1961 final. But since then, Celtic have lost only three of the 11 finals they have contested against clubs other than Rangers. Dunfermline were not overawed by the occasion and were first to open the scoring, going in at half-time with a slender 1-0 lead. But Henrik Larsson (who else?) scored twice for Celtic and Stilian Petrov made the final score 3-1. Those two goals meant that Larsson had scored a total of 242 times in his seven years with Celtic - and that included one lenghthy spell on the bench due to a injury.

Scotland 33 Barbarians 40

The Scotland international rugby squad were losing 28-7 at half-time in this "friendly" rugby international against the Barbarian touring side at Murrafield in Edinburgh. But the Scots fought back in the second half, "winning" it 26-12. Despite scoring five tries, Scotland were behind 33-40 at the final whistle.

Inverness Heading for Aberdeen

Although the final details have still to be agreed, it is looking increasingly likely that First Division champions Inverness will accept promotion to the Scottish Premier League and play their "home" matches at Aberdeen's ground. Their own stadium is not yet up to SPL standard as it does not have a large enough seating capacity and the pitch does not have undersoil heating. Aberdeen are also in a strong position to negotiate a deal which will see them making a good profit. Inverness received a boost to their hopes with the news that the supermarket chain Asda (part of the Wal-Mart group) is ready to renew their £17.5 million bid to buy land which includes the club's stadium, releasing cash to create a new stadium meeting the SPL requirements. Asda previously had such a development rejected by the Highland Council but that decision might be reversed by a local planning enquiry.

Record Numbers in Women-Only 10k Race

12,778 women entered the annual 10k race in Glasgow last Sunday. There were so many people in the race that the winner, Kenyan Lornah Kiplagat, had crossed the finishing line in 32 minutes and 29 seconds before the last of the competitors had crossed the start line. Kiplagat has now won this race five times. The race organisers had to apologise later to thousands of competitors who were given the wrong finishing times. A technical error meant that the official times were slower than they should have been. The corrected results had to be reprinted in the Evening Times. Race times had been recorded using microchips attached to runners' shoes. They started the race in colour-coded groups to avoid the congestion of a mass start and the system was supposed to allow for the different starting times of each block - but the time from the first starting gun had been supplied instead to the race organisers.

St Andrews to Host First Women's Golf Tournament

St Andrews may be the home of world golf but it does not allow women members and has never staged a women's professional tournament of any kind. But that situation will change in 2007 when the Weetabix Women's British Open will be held there. The men's Open Championship will have been played at St Andrews 27 times by then. There is no ban on women playing at any of the five courses at St Andrews, including the Old Course. And there is no official ban on women professional tournaments - it's just that they have never been invited to play there.