Scotland's Most Powerful Windfarm - So Far
The Crystal Rig wind farm in the Lammermuir Hills near Dunbar, in East Lothian, was officially opened this week by the Deputy Enterprise Minister, Lewis Macdonald. With twenty large turbines producing 50 MegaWatts of electricity, it is the most powerful to date in Scotland, generating renewable energy for the equivalent of 33,000 homes. The Scottish Executive wants to develop and encourage Scotland's renewable energy industry so that overall UK renewable energy targets can be met. Scotland has even higher targets and the Executive aims to produce 40% of Scotland's electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The company running the Crystal Rig wind farm is seeking permission to increase the number of turbines from 20 to 56. It is claimed that the 100-metre-high turbines on the remote site are virtually invisible from public roads.
Government Advises Customers to Switch Companies
Scottish Gas announced this week that prices will rise by 12.4% for a million residential customers while 500,000 residential electricity customers will have to pay an extra 9.4%. The companies claim that the rises are due to soaring oil prices - even though gas is piped from the North Sea, its price is linked to the cost of other energy sources. Surprisingly, the Scottish Executive took the unusual step of encouraging householders to "shop around" and change to other energy suppliers. There is now theoretically a competitive market for gas and electricity supplies. This includes smaller, independent companies as well as Scottish Gas providing electricity and Scottish Power (an electricity generator and supplier) selling gas to householders.
Glemorangie Whisky Company For Sale
Glenmorangie, the company which makes the most popular malt whisky in the domestic market, is to be sold by its owners, MacDonald and Muir. The MacDonald family own 52% of the distillery and marketing company, which is likely to have a price tag of up to £300 million. The announcement this week came as a complete surprise to the industry and has created uncertainty at the Easter Ross distillery, overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Earlier this year the company reported that sales had been growing at 18%, more than twice the rate of the wider whisky market and that profits had risen by 10%. The firm sells 1.6 million cases of whisky each year and employs 390 people.
Landslide Check on All Scottish Roads
The recent road closures on the A9 Perth to Inverness road and the A85 north of Lochearnhead has prompted the Scottish Executive to commission a survey of all Scotland's major roads to carry out an "audit" of roadside hills and soils. Weather forecasters are predicting that due to global warming and climate change, there is an increasing risk of heavy downpours, similar to the ones which caused mud, rocks and trees to slide onto roads in recent weeks. The survey, which will take two years to complete, will use satellite data as well as on-the-ground test borings to examine depth and moisture content.
"Little Venice"
Work has begun on a £5.6 million project to create a "Little Venice" in - wait for it - Glasgow. The work involves reconnecting a spur from the main Forth and Clyde Canal to the Pinkston Basin in Port Dundas for the first time in 40 years. The wharves and basins of Port Dundas in Glasgow were a vital part of the canal after it was completed in 1790. The docks were a major hub for the explosion of commerce which fuelled the growth of Glasgow in the 19th century. Trade from Europe was channeled along the canal from Grangemouth on the east of Scotland and land their cargo in the burgeoning city. But when the £78.4 million project to renew the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal was being formulated, the additional 200 metres to Port Dundas were left out in order to keep the bid for funding within limits. Lying to the north of the M8 motorway, which swings round the centre of Glasgow, the area is currently rundown and derelict. But it is hoped that if the Spier's Wharf area can be regenerated, it will become attractive for future residential or recreational development. So the City of Glasgow Council has raised the cash needed to complete the canal project.
Scotland's First "Welcome Tsar"
Eric Milligan, the ebullient former Lord Provost of Edinburgh, has been appointed to lead a task force which will try to improve Scottish hospitality at entry points such as airports and railway stations. During his thirteen years as Edinburgh's leading citizen, Mr Milligan gained a reputation for frequently travelling to foreign parts. He famously went to New York one year to do his Christmas shopping, much to the disgust of local traders. But he was an effective ambassador for the city and in his new role he will investigate customer service and quality of transport as visitors arrive in Scotland. Maybe he should maybe start standing on the windy platform at the railway station at Prestwick Airport with no information on the time of the next train or try to get a taxi at Edinburgh airport (instead of having a chauffeur waiting for him).
Poor Reception for Members of Scottish Parliament
Members of the Scottish Parliament are sometimes accused of being out of touch, but it seems that when they are in their new £430 million parliament building they will be incommunicado - at least as far as their mobile phones are concerned. Some areas in the building are getting signals blocked and the MSPs offices, the ministerial suites and the media tower are badly affected by the massive amounts of concrete and steel in the structure. The building is also at the foot of the Canongate in Edinburgh and low-lying areas are notorious for poor reception. Communications experts are being called in to advise on how to resolve the problem - with MSPs complaining that it should have been identified and resolved a long time ago.
Teachers Told Not to Shout
Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young people has told school teachers that they should not shout at pupils because it can cause psychological damage by undermining their dignity and make them angry and resentful. She claims that verbal abuse is just as bad as physical punishment. But the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education described the claim as "crazy" and political correctness gone mad. He said youngsters need to get used to criticism if they are to cope with life. 20% of teachers suffer from physical assault from pupils and 90% of teachers say that violence and indiscipline is getting worse, according to the main teachers' trade unions.
Overcrowded Trains Lead to Chaos
It used to be said that the Edinburgh Festival grew to be so successful because of the large numbers of people from Glasgow and the west of Scotland who attended performances in the capital. These days, many of the theatre-goers travel by car and the M8 motorway between Scotland's two largest cities can become busy at the end of an evening's entertainment. But many travellers "let the train take the strain" although Scotrail, in their wisdom, provide a less than satisfactory service. The last train leaves Edinburgh at 11.30pm, despite many Fringe shows ending much later than that. Last Saturday, the last train (only two carriages long) was overflowing as hundreds of revellers boarded at Waverley. It was "standing room only" in passageways and the connecting corridors between the carriages. The train was late in leaving as more and more people tried to push their way on board. It then stopped at Haymarket station, a few minutes along the line towards Glasgow. There were angry scenes as yet more passengers - faced with being stranded in Edinburgh - attempted to get on. As a result of the chaos, Scotrail have said they will look again at increasing its services during the Edinburgh Festival. Of course, the Festival has been running every year since 1947, so it's not exactly a new problem.
Glasgow Turning on the Style?
Glasgow launched a rebranding advertising campaign in March as "Glasgow - Scotland with Style" and it is claimed that it has already had a huge impact on the number of tourists coming to Scotland's largest city. 10,000 more tourists have been staying in hotels and passenger numbers reached a new record at Glasgow Airport in July (though the rising numbers would also be inflated by travellers leaving for sunshine holidays). The number of conference delegates has also gone up and a 14% rise in bookings for short break holidays has been reported.
Weight Restrictions at Edinburgh Airport
No, heavyweight passengers can relax - the weight restrictions being imposed at Edinburgh Airport apply to the luggage not the people travelling. In order to reduce the number of injuries to baggage-handling staff, a weight limit of 32kg (70 pounds) is being imposed. Anyone with a single piece of luggage exceeding the limit will be asked to repack their luggage into a number of smaller units.The airport will even supply bags if necessary, as there is no change in passengers' overall baggage allowances.. A similar weight restriction was introduced at London's Heathrow airport in June. 40% of all injuries to airport staff are due to handling heavy items.
Bountiful Butterflies
Gardeners and conservationists are reporting that there have been larger than normal numbers of butterflies in Scotland this summer, thanks to last year's warm weather followed by a mild winter. But although gardens and hedgerows have been filled with their colourful wings fluttering from flower to flower, the experts are warning that the high rainfall this year will mean that butterfly numbers will decline again next year. Nectar-rich plants have been affected by heavy rain, providing less food for the butterfly population. The butterfly seen in the largest numbers is the lovely Peacock, with its distinctive "eye" spots (as shown here). Migrants such as the Painted Lady and Red Admirals have also been arriving in Scotland from the continent, where they have been enjoying good weather conditions.
Scottish Drivers Travel 26 Billion Miles
Travel by private road vehicles was the most popular form of transport in Scotland, according to the latest Scottish Transport Statistics. Car journeys accounted for 79% of the 6,500 miles the average person travels in Scotland each year. But passenger numbers were 1% up for local bus services and 62.3 million passenger journeys were made on Scotrail services, an increase of 9% over 2002. There were 2.4 million vehicles licensed in Scotland, meaning 47 vehicles for every 100 people. But that is lower than the UK average of 54 per hundred.
Scottish Roads Are Worst in Britain
Scottish motorists always thought that local authorities had been diverting money away from road repairs - and we had the pot-holes to prove it. And visitors from the south of England often commented on the poor condition of Scottish roads. We are not talking here of single-track roads in the under-populated Highlands, but main roads in and around our major towns and cities. Now an automobile warranty firm has published a table showing the number of claims made by motorist suffering from suspension failures and Scottish motorists are nearly twice as likely to make a claim as the worst area in England. 35.1% of all claims made under warranty in Scotland are due to suspension problems, while the UK average is only 16.9%.
Princess Sails Into Record Books
The luxury liner Grand Princess will sail into the record books as the largest liner to sail into the river Clyde when she calls at Greenock next week. Weighing 108,806 tonnes and costing £250 million, the liner was the largest and most expensive cruise ship ever built when she was launched six years ago. The Queen Mary 2, owned by Cunard, has now taken both of these records.The Grand Princess carries 2,600 passengers and is just one of 28 liners visiting Greenock this year.
Indian Whisky Curries Favour
A Bangalore distillery has created a new brand of whisky which is aimed at the 200,000 Indian restaurants across Britain. Named "Amrit" after the Sanskrit word for "drink of the gods," it was launched at Glasgow's Cafe India this week. Whisky experts said that in a blind tasting test it would be difficult to differentiate the Indian brand from mainstream Scotch whisky, but did comment that it had a distinct bitterness. Amrit has 5% of the whisky market in the domestic Indian market, where a huge import duty of between 213% and 525% is imposed by the Indian government. This virtually excludes Scottish whisky from the market there.
A Touch of Culture from Edinburgh Cabbies
With a fanfare of trumpets and much publicity, taxi drivers in the English city of Liverpool are being tested to on their knowledge of the city's arts and culture scene in preparation for its role as European Capital of Culture in 2008. There is no similar official exercise in Edinburgh, where the world's biggest arts festival just happens to be taking place. But a reporter for the Scotsman newspaper, posing as an Englishman visiting the city for the first time, questioned a number of cab drivers on various aspects of the city's cultural scene. The drivers all "passed with flying colours"showing an extensive knowledge of their city, including locations with literary connections, art galleries, the best shows to see at the International Festival as well as restaurants and bars. They were full of ideas for places to visit and the reporter concluded that they should all be on the payroll of VisitScotland, the tourism agency!
Weather in Scotland This Week
Another week of changeable weather with more rain being added to the rising monthly total, as well as some sunshine. Meteorologists are already reaching for the record books as August is likely to break the previous maximum rainfall levels in many areas. The largest amount of rainfall has been recorded in the Scottish Borders town of Hawick, where 281.2mm (over 11 inches) has fallen so far this month. RAF Leuchars near Dundee has received 205.8mm (over 8 inches) up to August 22, making it the wettest August since records began at the base in 1922. On Friday, as the sun shone, farmers rushed to bring in some of the grain which had been battered by the rain. As they did so, barley and wheat which had been hanging sodden on their stalks dried out but were blown off by strong winds. Rain returned on Saturday, however.
This week's illustrations of current flora and fauna in Scotland shows first of all the flower of a Himalayan Balsam growing at the Cambo Estate in Fife. As can be seen, the sun was shining brightly that day (Friday). There was not so much sunshine earlier in the week but the Helichrysum at Greenbank Gardens, south of Glasgow, more than made up for that. I'm not quite sure what the small wasp thought of the papery leaves of this "everlasting" flower.
Finally, there are two views of a Red Admiral butterfly seen in the gardens of Kellie Castle in Fife. This is the first time this year that I've had the opportunity tp photograph a Red Admiral. The colourful opper surfaces are shown in the first picture while the final picture shows the duller but still interesting surfaces under the wings.
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