"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

16 September 2006

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather, flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. There are so many such graphics worth including that a separate "colour supplement" is created so as not to totally overload the Newsletter. Here is this week's crop!


Most golfers will recognise the Turnberry Golf and Leisure Resort in South Ayrshire. It was built by the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company 100 years ago in order to cater for the increasing numbers playing golf at that time; the "golfers' railway" closed in 1942. Since 1977, Turnberry's Ailsa course has taken its place on the roster to host The Open Championship. Access roads which did not cater for large crowds have resulted in Turnberry not hosting The Open since 1994, but improvements should see it reinstated in 2009.


Dunure Castle is the ancient seat of the Kennedys of Carrick, later the Earls of Cassilis. The original 13th century tower was later extended and altered. In the middle of the 17th century the castle appears to have been set on fire and blown up and by the end of the century it had been abandoned. The dovecote (on the right) is the best preserved part of the site.


In May this year the Colour Supplement featured the lovely white flowers of the Sloe (also known as Blackthorn). The flowers appear on the bare branches, before the leaves appear. Now, some of those flowers have developed into these luscious purple sloe berries. Sloe berries are used by herbalists for treating stomach problems and blood disorders. They are still used in wine, gin and vodka as flavouring.


Arran (seen in the distance from the Ayrshire coast at Maidens) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and is often described as "Scotland in miniature". It has a mountainous north (Goat Fell is over 2,800 feet high), the geological Highland fault line (which marks the edge of the Highlands on the mainland) runs through it, and there are hills in the south, which mirror the Southern Uplands. Brodick, the largest town on the island, has a resident population of just over 800.


They always say to never take a photograph facing into the sun, but this one, across the Firth of Clyde in the evening, shows that there are always exceptions to rules like that!


The volcanic rock of Ailsa Craig looms out of the sea off the Southern Ayrshire coast, opposite Girvan in the Firth of Clyde. Less than a mile across, its sides rise straight out of the water to over 1,100 feet. For a long time, curling stones were made from its granite and even today some of its rock is inserted in modern curling stones.

If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page





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