"Scottish Snippets"

The Rampant Scotland Newsletter

Issue Number 350

Review of 2003 - January to June

As in previous years, over the Christmas and New Year period the normal "Scottish Snippets" of current news, events and culture is suspended. In its place is this "Review of Scotland in 2003" covering many of the main items of news from January to June in the past year. July to December 2003 will be circulated next weekend. The normal Newsletter will resume on 3 January.

   Rampant Scotland Newsletter is also available by e-mail! Just send an e-mail to Scottie with "Subscribe Newsletter" as the subject line and a text version of these Scottish snippets of news will arrive in your mailbox every weekend!

January 2003

Current Affairs Scotland Shivers in the Cold There are many parts of the world which are a lot colder than Scotland in winter. But overnight temperatures fell here this week to -18.5C (-1.3F) in Aviemore on Tuesday, the coldest January for nearly 20 years. Even Glasgow Airport saw the thermometer down to -11C (12F). The east coast saw some falls of snow too, with the north-east experiencing heavy falls. On many days, however, particularly in the west, there was a good amount of sunshine, though it was weak and the sun was low in the sky. The low temperatures lasted all week as high pressure dominated and winds came direct from the Arctic north. The illustration is not of snow - all that white on the grass and shrubbery at Finlaystone Country Park is frost on the grass. Last of the "Blue Trains" When the suburban railway system around Glasgow was electrified back in 1960, the carriages were painted a bright blue colour and the service was immediately, if predictably, named the "Blue Trains". But the last service by a blue Class 303 locomotive pulled out of Queen Street Station in Glasgow on its way to Helensburgh this week. Railway enthusiasts and ordinary passengers collected special commemorative tickets - and a free dram of whisky - to mark the final run. The Blue Trains (they were repainted in orange in the 1970s, but continued to be known as Blue Trains) should have been decommissioned two years ago. But problems with their replacements, the Juniper trains, meant that they had to keep rolling on until this week. One Blue train is to be preserved at the Summerlee Industrial Heritage Museum in Coatbridge and another at the Scottish Railway Preservation Society in Bo'ness. Glasgow "Leads the Fat League" A survey to be published in next month's edition of the magazine "Muscle and Fitness" suggests that Glasgow is the worst of 27 cities in the UK based on factors such as health, fat, natural environment and urban attitudes. Glaswegians were found to consume the most junk food and alcohol, smoke the most cigarettes and watch more television. However, while not entirely defending Glasgow's unhealthy living record, nutritionists at the University of Glasgow rejected the magazine's study as "unscientific" and suggested it should be "consigned to the wastepaper basket." The magazine (largely unheard of until it published this survey) claimed that it had used methodologies used in the USA. Escape to the Sunshine A record number of 400,000 people (8% of the Scottish population) escaped the cold weather which gripped Scotland over the festive period and went on vacation - many to warmer climates such as the Canary Islands, Portugal and Spain. Battle for Supermarket Chain The face of food retailing across the country is about to change as the Safeway chain (the third largest in Scotland) became the subject of a takeover battle. Northern England company William Morrison, one of the medium sized supermarkets, surprised everyone with an offer worth £2.6 billion. But UK market leaders Sainsbury and Asda-Walmart then entered the bidding. If they were successful, as seems likely as a result of their financial muscle, the Office of Fair Trading is likely to step in and order the sale of some of the outlets because it would be seen as creating too big a monopoly in some areas. That is where Tesco (which took over the Scottish-based William Low chain some years ago) is likely to step in and snap up the surplus premises. While larger food retailers are likely to produce even more competitive supermarkets, farmers and other producers expressed concern. It could mean that they would have fewer companies to sell to - and would have to reduce their already low prices accordingly. Police Station Gets Calls for Overnight Stays Due to a misprint in 300,000 copies of the accommodation brochure produced by the Argyll, the Isles, Loch Lomond, Stirling and the Trossachs Tourist Board (yes, their long title does trip off the tongue, doesn't it?) the police station in Oban is now getting calls from people looking for overnight accommodation and bed and breakfast. The Chief Inspector is taking it all in his stride and quips "We do have en-suite accommodation but we're not sure how many stars the Scottish Tourist board would put on it." However, the police station has done some detective work and give callers the correct number for the self-catering establishment being advertised with "fantastic views over Loch Linnhe." Choc Full of Surprises Even though tap water is free (if you ignore the water tax) there has been an increasing consumption of bottled water over the years. A number of companies in Scotland have catered for this demand and one of the major suppliers is Strathmore. Of course, supplying plain water in a competitive market is not enough and fizzy, carbonated water outsells the plain variety. Now Strathmore are introducing a chocolate-flavoured mineral water - claiming that it is "guilt-free" as it contains only one calorie, despite it's definite chocolate taste. Now, if they could only produce a whisky version, with no alcoholic content, but the flavour of a Highland malt, they would be onto a real winner. Air Scotland Apologises The new budget airline, Air-Scotland, sold just seven budget price tickets to Spanish resorts before its Web site collapsed within minutes of its launch ten days ago. The Web site is still down but the company is now taking reservations over the telephone for the £25 flights from Glasgow to Spain. The company, a subsidiary of Greek-registered Electra Airlines, has apologised to potential customers and says that it is installing a more powerful server. The airline is planning to fly its maiden flight on March 29 from Glasgow to Palma in the Spanish Mediterranean island of Majorca. Historical Affairs What Are Scotland's Top Historic Treasures? Recently, a panel of archaeologists announced the top ten treasures held by the British Museum in London. One of these, the Lewis chessmen, related to Scotland. Now, two archaeologists have suggested a "top 10" of Scottish treasures. The selection has been based not just on intrinsic value or aesthetics but on what they tell us about the past. The items at the top of their list, for example, are two polished flint axes found in Banffshire in 1881 - they are 4,500 years old, dating from the Neolithic period, chipped from stone and polished to a smooth finish. The second top item is a bow found in Moffat which is 6,000 years old. Other items in the "top ten" include: ~ The Hilton of Cadboll carved stone dating from 800AD, found in Ross and Cromarty. ~ The Cramond Lioness - from Roman times, 1700 years ago, found in 1997 in the river Almond, near Edinburgh. ~ The Lewis Chessmen - a cache of over 90 carved ivory chess pieces, probably Viking in origin, from the 12th century. ~ The Deskford Carynx- a highly ornate wind instrument from the Celtic Iron Age found in a peat bog in north-east Scotland. ~ The Traptrain Treasure - a massive hoard of Roman silver found in a hill fort in east Lothian, dating from 395-423AD. Most of these items are on display in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Scotland's First Inhabitants Came from Norway It has long been thought that the first settlers in Scotland were nomadic immigrants from southern Europe, who moved into the country after the last ice age. But research at a 9,000-year-old site near Loch Tay, contains flints and tools identical with those found in Norway. The site is 2,000 feet up Ben Lawers and is the earliest known settlement in Scotland. It is thought that the inhabitants in the area moved east to live in Norway and Doggerland (an area now under the North Sea) when the ice age arrived. They may have moved back once the ice began to retreat, 10,000 years ago. Egyptian Halls Saved Most Glaswegians pass by the blackened, run-down building in Union Street without paying much attention. Yet it is one of the masterpieces of the local architect Alexander "Greek" Thomson. The Egyptian Halls were completed in 1872 as a warehouse, with retail premises on the ground floor. Each of the three upper floors has its own characteristic design, like a multi-layered cake. But none of it looks "Egyptian", more the trademark Grecian styles for which the architect became so well known. After years of wrangling and development deals which have fallen through, Glasgow City Council has bought the building under a "compulsory purchase option" - which would have lapsed on 3 February if they had not acted. The arrangement will allow the property developer to complete a funding package so that the building can be converted into shops and offices - and saved for future generations. Entertainment Billy Connolly Biography Tops Best-Seller List The biggest-selling book in Britain in 2002 was the warts-and-all biography of comedian Billy Connolly by his wife, Pamela Stephenson. It has sold more than 500,000 copies since it was published in paperback in July. it had already been a big seller when it was first published in hard-back in 2001. Madonna - New Flower of Scotland The Highlands and Islands Tourist Board is growing a new variety of purple heather which it is to name "Romantic Scotland". It will be presented to the mega-star Madonna and her husband as a second wedding anniversary gift. Madonna and Guy Ritchie married in Skibo Castle near Dornoch two years ago - setting off a boom in couples coming to the Highlands to tie the knot. The new heather will be available to the public later this year. Pantomimes Break Records - Oh Yes They Did It is being suggested that magical films such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are having a positive impact on the number of people attending that other fantasy entertainment - the pantomime. The King's Theatre and the Pavilion in Glasgow have had record breaking runs, with ticket sales close to £2 million. 95,000 people have seen Aladdin at the King's, starring Elaine C Smith (as Widow Twankey) and Gerard Kelly (as Wishee Washee). At the Pavilion, it's the Krankies together with actors from the TV soap "High Road" who star in Cinderella. At Edinburgh's King's Theatre too, Snow White has played to packed houses and has extended its run for an extra week to cope with the demand. Back in Glasgow, the Citizen's Theatre has smashed all its previous pantomime records with Scrooge, with a generous 92% average audience capacity. And ticket sales at the theatre in Motherwell which had put on Jack and the Beanstalk saw ticket sales growing skyward by 22%. Meantime, up in Inverness they calculate that half the population of the northern city could have attended the 52 performances of Sleeping Beauty. Glasgow's Latest Film Role - as Beirut Billy Connolly famously suggested that Glasgow would look much the same after a nuclear bomb had been dropped on it. But the city's latest role is to look like war-torn Beirut. The film company making a movie about the four-year hostage ordeal of Brian Keenan in the Lebanon capital is coming to a road haulage yard which doubles as a film studio in Maryhill in Glasgow. The location has been used in the past for scenes in the TV comedy series "Rab C Nesbitt". Brian Keenan was incarcerated along with the journalist John McCarthy and the church envoy Terry Waite. Celebration of Scotland's National Poet The birthday of Robert Burns on 25 January will be celebrated around the world as Burns Suppers allow people to renew their acquaintance with Scotland's national poet. At Robert Burns House, now a museum in Dumfries, they will be marking the event from the 21st to the 25th January with museum trails, games and competitions. The museum is also supplying advice on planning for a Burns supper with a special fact sheet. Although it's rather close to the day to be thinking about planning for such an event, there's some helpful advice at How to Organise a Burns Supper.

February 2003

Current Affairs Scotland Shares in £10 Billion Contract There was delight on Clydeside and in Rosyth in Fife this week when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that the lead role for the construction of two aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy will go to BAE Systems with much of the construction work being carried out on the Clyde. The ships will be assembled at Rosyth and future maintenance and refurbishment will also take place at Rosyth. French company Thales will take one-third of the construction contract as the MoD were impressed by their designs. The aircraft carriers are not due to be launched until 2012 and 2015 and Rolls Royce will be supplying the engines. The carriers will cost nearly £3 billion but a further £7 billion will be invested over 30 years for their long-term maintenance and repair. Roads Getting Safer The number of people killed on roads in the Strathclyde area of Scotland fell by 21% to 92, the lowest figure since statistics for the region began to be collated in 1975. Crashes causing injuries also decreased, by 4.5% to 1,273 and there were 7.4% fewer collisions resulting in minor injuries. In 1975, 344 people were killed and 3,700 injured on the roads - with far less traffic than today. The figures were published on the 20th anniversary of implementing the law making the wearing of seat belts compulsory. RAF Scottish Bases Emptied Three Royal Air Force Tornado bomber squadrons from Scotland flew to the Middle East this week along with Nimrod airborne early warning aircraft and support staff in the biggest deployment since the Gulf War in 2000. The aircraft were mainly from Lossiemouth and Kinloss in Morayshire but Tornado F3s from Leuchars were also involved. Weather Record Broken Scotland does not normally have the extreme forms of weather associated with some parts of the world and fluctuations in temperature reported in the these Newsletters are usually fairly minor. But on Sunday this week, the thermometer rose to a new Scottish record for January. Aboyne in Aberdeenshire hit 17.7C (63.8F), a full degree hotter than the previous record set in Sutherland in 1971. Aboyne would be quite happy with that sort of temperature in July, far less the middle of winter. Indeed, it was warmer than Bermuda, Havana and Miami (all registering 14C that day) and was only a fraction of a degree cooler than Bahrain. Monks' Cells for Members of Scottish Parliament When the architect of the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood in Edinburgh designed the offices of the members, he said that he wanted to model them on monk's cells. But now that the oak lattice design features have been added outside of the windows, they are being compared more to prison cell with bars on the windows. MSPs wonder whether, having agreed to the cost of each window at £17,000, they will ever be allowed out on good behaviour to visit the gardens which are part of the overall development. The glass and stone of the windows are bomb and bullet proof, now they are being described as "escape proof" too. Of course, it is easy to carp about the building at this stage - we need to wait (and wait and wait) for the completion of the building in all its detail before making a judgement. Telecom Giant Fails to Create Smart City British Telecom has had to pay Edinburgh City Council compensation of £2 million for failing to implement the "Smart City" project. The new telecom system was supposed to provide services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, replacing more than 400 telephone numbers for local council services. But delays in setting up the call centre - and a string of computer faults found during the last six-months - have delayed the project. Instead of being fully operational this year, it will be introduced gradually over the next two years. 2001 Census Results Published The first official detailed figures from the 2001 Census were published this week by the registrar general for Scotland. They show that there is a growing number of people living here whose origins are outside of Scotland. 8% were born in England (an increase of 1% from 1991) and ethnic minorities (mainly Pakistani, Chinese and Indian) account for around 2% of the population. Only 42.5% of families were made up of married couples with the number of single people who have never married up by 4% to 31%. A question on religion was included for the first time - 42.4% said they were Church of Scotland while 27.5% said they had no religion. Efforts to persuade commuters to use public transport to get to work were shown to be failing, with 64% travelling by car - up from 56% ten years before. The number of households without a car fell from 43% in 1991 to 34% in 2001. But over half of Glasgow's residents said they had no car. As expected, the number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland fell, from 65,980 in 1991 to 58,552, 1.16% of the population. In 1891 there were 254,415 Gaels in the census that year. However, the rate of decline appeared to slow in the last ten years. "Amazing Grace" Banned The famous tune "Amazing Grace" has been banned from civil wedding ceremonies in Scotland because of its religious content. The tune reached the top of the pop charts in 1972 performed by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. But the General Register Office for Scotland has deemed it unacceptable because it refers to God. Recent changes to the law have allowed civil marriage ceremonies to take place in locations other than the registrar's office - previously, only ministers of religion could conduct marriage ceremonies anywhere. But the new relaxation does not apply to music, poems, recitals or places with a religious connection. The ban even includes the theme tune from the hit Irish dance show "Lord of the Dance" because the original is a modern hymn. The Registrar's guidelines also prohibit, perhaps more sensibly, the serving of alcohol an hour before the ceremony. Recycling Target of 50% by 2020 Currently around 8% of Scotland's household rubbish is recycled - mainly paper, glass and aluminium cans. But plans being drawn up by the Scottish Executive will include a target of getting that figure up to 50% by 2020. It will mean households having to separate waste into a number of different containers in order to reduce the amount being dumped into landfill sites. But the present target of achieving 25% by 2006 seems doomed to failure as local authorities struggle to provide recycling facilities. In the Highlands, only 2% of all waste is recycled - though it could perhaps be argued that the cost of transport makes recycling even more uneconomic there. 30% of all domestic waste is recycled in Germany, 31% in the USA, 45% in the Netherlands. But building a large number of recycling depots and having kerbside collection points is likely to be resisted by residents and could face lengthy planning inquiries. Computers to Learn "Glesca Patter" Speech recognition software has always been baffled by the broad Glasgow dialect, summed up in the catch phrase of a recent TV comedy show in "gonnae no dae that?" The mangled vowels and glottal stops cause a high error rate in software used for dictating letters. But now Birmingham University experts are looking for 20 Glaswegians to utter phrases such as "Ma moose disnae work, by the way" and "Ahm gettin' right scunnered wi' Windaes" so that new software can be developed for speech recognition for a number of applications. Parliament Rallies Round the Flag Scotland's national flag is believed to be one of the oldest in the world. It originated at the battle of Athelstaneford in 932AD when the Pictish king defeated the Anglian invaders after seeing the omen of a white cross of St Andrew in a blue sky. But in recent years, purists have been annoyed by the way that flag manufacturers have used various shades of blue from navy to a light turquoise because there is no official standard for the colour. Attempts to petition Parliament to legislate on the exact shade have previously been rejected - initially because it was argued that the Scottish Parliament did not have the authority as it was not a matter devolved from the UK Parliament. This flew in the face of the authority of the Lord Lyon King of Arms, who has jurisdiction on all heraldic matters in Scotland. Now the Scottish Parliament's education, culture and sports committee has made a formal recommendation that the blue should be defined as Pantone 300 - in other words, azure or sky blue. Although only advisory at this stage, it will send a clear message to flag manufacturers. Of course, existing flags with the "wrong" shade will continue to be flown, but may gradually become phased out. And the blue used in the UK flag, the Union Jack (which is an amalgam of the national flags of England, Scotland and Ireland) uses a darker shade of blue as it was found by the Royal Navy in the 19th century that it was more durable. Tide Held at Bay on Barra Beach The Loganair timetable for flights to Barra in the Western Isles has the unique distinction of recording that flights are "subject to weather and tide." The landing strip is actually the hard, silver sands on the beach - which get covered over when the tide is high. An elderly 18-seat Twin Otter is the only passenger aircraft which can land there - more modern aircraft would require a concrete or tarmac runway. Recently, the Scottish Executive said that it was considering withdrawing the £350,000 subsidy on the service. That's worth £64 for each of the 5,500 passengers each year, but they still have to pay £140 for the return flight to Glasgow. The Scottish Executive wanted to put the subsidy into improving the ferry service to the neighbouring island of Eriskay which has access to the airport on Benbecula. But the outcry from the 1,000 residents on the island has resulted in the government back-tracking and agreeing to extend the subsidy for another three years. The long term future is still in doubt, however, with a fixed runway (at a cost of £5 million) one option being considered. Historical Affairs "Forgotten" Mackintosh Museum The former Martyrs' School in Glasgow's Townhead is the least popular museum in the city, with a mere 5,000 visitors a year - most of them school groups. Now the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society wants to see action to attract many more visitors to the forgotten three-storey red sandstone building. The school was built in 1898 and was used as a school until the 1970s. It now houses a multi-cultural project and a caravan once used by nuclear disarmament supporters at Faslane. Many of the rooms are just used as stores for education material. Having eventually found the school after a number of fruitless attempts, I know the first thing they have to do is to have access better sign-posted. And having found it, eventually, there is very little to see. Unlike the Scotland Street School, elsewhere in the city, there are few obvious Mackintosh features in the building - it was built when Mackintosh was only 27 and working for Glasgow architects Honeyman and Keppie. Woman Joins Glasgow's Oldest Razor Gang The Incorporation of Barbers in Glasgow was founded by King James VI in order to help not just hairdressers but also surgeons - the two trades went hand in hand in this days. In fact, when the royal warrant was issued it was to the "Incorporation of Chirurgeons and Barbers." Since then, the surgeons may have cut adrift, but in the intervening 400 years the trade society has never accepted a woman as a member - until now. Celebrity hair stylist Rita Rusk will be formally admitted to the incorporation at a banquet in the Trades House in Glasgow on February 28. No easy matter, apparently, as they had to amend their constitution first. The society is one of 14 organisations associated with the Trades House - others include hammermen, fleshers, cordiners (cobblers) and maltmen. The trade associations no longer control entry to their professions but are still active in the city's business community - and donate over £1 million to charities. Rita Rusk opened her first salon in the 1970s and is the only woman to win the British Hairdresser of the Year title. Entertainment Cinemas Facing Closure The upsurge in the number of people going to the cinema in recent years has been aided by the creation of large multiplex establishments. Older, more traditional cinemas, although long-ago converted to multi-screen operation, are not able to compete with the newer, larger facilities, often built on their doorstep. The losing battle for audiences is forcing the largest chain in the country to consider closing the Odeon cinemas in Glasgow's Renfield Street and Edinburgh's Clerk Street. The nine-screen Glasgow outlet has seen audiences fall by 50% since the huge 18-screen UGC opened a few blocks away in 2001. High Road Finally Cut The long-running Scottish TV soap "High Road" which has been under threat for some time, is to be axed from the schedules next month. No new episodes have been filmed since 2001. The demise of "Glendarroch" (actually the area around the Loch Lomondside village of Luss - pictured here) will be greeted with dismay by the loyal following of 500,000 viewers. Perhaps it will help the shorter running BBC soap "River City" which has a mere 200,000 viewers. High Road used to be broadcast across the UK but fell from favour. Glasgow Has Lovers in a Spin Glasgow's second City of Love Festival was launched this week by the Lord Provost in the city's George Square underneath a large Ferris Wheel with a red heart in its centre. Young (and old) lovers were being encouraged to get into the spirit of the event and enjoy the music, dance, drama and special events, reinforcing the image of the "friendly city". The festival was also promoted because Glasgow is the home of some of the relics of St Valentine - shared between Glasgow, Dublin and Terni, near Rome. A highlight of the festival will be a "Love Bus" which will tour the city on Sunday visiting some of the romantic spots in Glasgow, including Barrowland Ballroom where many a Glasgow lad and lassie met in the hey-day of ballroom dancing.

March 2003

Current Affairs New Era for Glasgow's Council Housing After five years of argument and debate, the publicly owned housing administered by Glasgow City Council was transferred this week to the new not-for-profit Glasgow Housing Association (GHA). Over 81,000 houses are involved and the new body has an investment programme of £1.4 billion over the next ten years. This will be one of the largest public sector housing modernisation projects in Europe. GHA will also spend £7 million more each year on maintenance than the City Council allocated last year. Local housing organisations will be set up to ensure that the voices of the local communities are heard in running their homes. Most Common Name in Scotland Smith, Brown and Wilson are the top three surnames in Scotland, according to a survey carried out by the General Register Office for Scotland for the years 1999-2001. There has been little change in the most frequently found surnames over the last 140 years. Smith has been the most common surname in all surveys since that covering the early years of civil registration. Over 1 in 8 surnames in Scotland begin with Mac/Mc but patterns of surnames differ widely in different geographical areas. The top 10 Surnames in Scotland, using a sample of over 335,000 names from registrations in 1999, 2000 and 2001 are, in sequence: Smith, Brown, Wilson, Campbell, Stewart, Thomson, Robertson, Anderson, MacDonald and Scott. The top ten names account for 7.9 per cent and the top 20 account for 12.4 per cent of all the names. Information on the top 10 surnames in Scotland by area is available at http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/grosweb/grosweb.nsf/pages/01surnames together with analysis of surnames from the 1901 Census. 100 Fishing Boats Disappear from Radar Screens More than 100 Scottish fishing boats switched off satellite monitoring equipment for 24 hours this week, meaning that they could not be tracked by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency. The move was part of a protest about the draconian reduction in the quotas of fish catches. But government officials said the fishermen could be prosecuted and could be liable for hefty fines. Fishing boats are required to register their position at sea every two hours and failure to do so can result in fines of up to £50,000. New Parliament Flushed With Success The toilets in the new Scottish Parliament building in Holyrood will be flushed with water from ancient springs from below the building, rather than the public water supply (which is treated to the same standard as drinking water). It is estimated that this will save 10.5 million litres of mains supply water at a saving of over £10,000 a year. The parliament will also use its own supply of water for the cooling system. The area in which the new parliament is being built was once called Watergate as it supplied much of the water for the old city of Edinburgh. But somehow, Watergate doesn't have quite the same ring these days.... Food Festival in Gourmet Glasgow Top chefs in some of Glasgow's best restaurants will be given free rein to create gourmet menus every day between July 16 and August 13 in a new festival named "GourmetGlasgow". Seventeen restaurants, including The Buttery (pictured here) and the Ubiquitous Chip, have signed up for the event. It is being promoted by Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board and sponsors include Laurent-Perrier who will offer diners a free glass of champagne and a glass of red or white wine and Auchentoshan Distillery who will provide a malt whisky at the end of each meal.Menus will range from four courses to seven, and costs are likely to be in the range £40 to £60 per head. Cold Shoulder for Nudist Beach in Aberdeen Billy Connolly reduces audiences to tears with his stories of being forced to paddle in the freezing North Sea while on holiday in Aberdeen - while off-shore oil workers wouldn't step outside without survival suits. But the British Nudist magazine has had the bare faced cheek to call on Aberdeen City Council to designate part of its long beach for skinny-dipping. Visitors to the beach were asked by newspaper reporters what they thought of the idea. Huddled underneath scarves, anoraks and gloves, they were sceptical about how popular such an initiative would be, with suggestions that anyone trying it would die of pneumonia. The Meteorological Office also poured cold water on the idea, pointing out that the average summer temperature was 18C/64F at the warmest part of the day. Onshore sea breezes also make it feel even colder than that. Windfarm Warning The leading environmental watchdog, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), has issued a report calling for more research into the environmental impact of large off-shore windfarms. There has been a rise in interest in these due to the opposition from protest groups about the creation of windfarms on land. The report draws attention to the plan for 120 turbines generating 500MW in the Moray Firth. Dolphins and other cetaceans could be affected by the development and there has been insufficient research into the impact.The SNH report also raises issues concerning devices for harnessing tidal power. A Hard Tablet to Swallow An announcement that Nestlé, the world's largest manufacturer of condensed milk, was to stop production in the UK led to panic buying in supermarkets. Media reports had suggested that the announcement meant that it would no longer be available in the UK. Condensed milk is the basic ingredient of "tablet" - a sugary confection which is particularly popular in Scotland. It is as popular in Scotland as Mars bars and is often sold in tourist shops, in various flavours, as well as supermarkets. But as manufacturers of tablet voiced their concerns at the "disaster", Nestlé assured them that although UK production would cease, the product would still be available - imported from France. Budget Airlines Boost Edinburgh Tourism A survey of tourists coming to Edinburgh has shown that nearly half of those visiting the capital are on long weekend breaks. The number arriving by air has more than doubled in the last three years, as travellers take advantage of low-cost airlines. The number of younger visitors has also increased with 49% under the age of 35. Historical Affairs Lifeline for Historic Ship The Glenlee tall ship, which is moored on the river Clyde at Stobcross Quay in Glasgow, has become a city landmark as it is visible from the busy Clydeside Expressway. But the ship and the Maritime Museum beside it does not attract enough visitors and lacks the cash to carry out urgent maintenance. This is necessary before it is moved to a new location beside a relocated Transport Museum as part of the Glasgow Harbour development. So to help the Clyde Maritime Trust, the Glasgow City Council has agreed to wipe out a £750,000 loan. The Glenlee was built on the Clyde in 1896 and is the last sailing vessel of its type in the UK. The Trust has tried to operate on a commercial basis without financial support from the council or other public bodies. But with so many free visitor attractions in Glasgow, visitor numbers have not been sufficient to make the project financially viable. As part of the Glasgow Harbour and the new Transport Museum, however, its future as part of Glasgow's industrial and cultural heritage should be secure. Shetland Bus Remembered During the Second World War, thousands of Norwegians took the dangerous sea trip from their occupied country to Shetland - a journey which became known as the "Shetland Bus". Although initially it was an escape route, it eventually became a two-way service as supplies and agents sailed back to Norway. After the war was over, most Norwegians returned to their homeland, but quite a number remained on Scotland's northernmost islands. Now a Norwegian photo-journalist has produced a book telling of their experiences. Photos have been supplied by the Norwegian North Sea Traffic Museum in Televåg, a tiny fishing settlement which suffered terrible reprisals for its support of the Shetland Bus. Warlike Border Logo Defended The logo representing the Scottish Borders Council includes a fierce Border reiver (outlaw) complete with steel helmet, spear and war-horse. It has lasted a number of local government restructurings and adorns local council stationery and livery. But there has been a recent suggestion that the warrior image confuses visitors to this now tranquil corner of Scotland. The idea of doing away with the historical references to the area's turbulent past, outlaws and murderers, has got some locals looking out their pikes again. While it has been argued that the logo does not provide a vibrant modern image, there are others who claim that it is the reivers who are still a selling point for tourism in the region. Sir Walter Scott portrayed them as glamorous heroes, though that was very much a bit of early spin doctoring. Return to Darien A 50-strong team of British archaeologists are to visit the site of the 17th century Scottish colony at Darien on the Panama isthmus. The settlement was established in 1698 to challenge the trade and influence of England. A small town named New Edinburgh was created but by 1700 it had been abandoned leaving the backers, mainly Scottish business men, with huge losses. The Union of the Parliaments in 1707 was pushed through in part as a result of a financial inducement to those who had lost money in the Darien project. The archaeological expedition is being organised by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and the Scientific Exploration Society and will coincide with the centenary of the creation of the state of Panama. Burns Cottage Saved by Lottery Cash The 18th century thatched cottage in which Robert Burns was born and which is now a museum, has been saved from closure after an 11th hour rescue package was put in place by the Lottery Heritage Fund. The trustees of the Burns National Heritage Park at Alloway in Ayrshire have been struggling for some time to pay for essential maintenance in the face of trading at a loss. Now, an immediate grant of £50,000 is to be made which will keep the attraction going while a team of architects, surveyors and conservationists draw up a detailed plan for the complete conservation and preservation of the cottage and museum. It is estimated that over £2 million will be required to put it on a firm footing. In recent years, leaks in the roof have resulted in damage to the Burns family bible, with its handwritten entries. The Burns Collection has over 300 manuscripts connected with Scotland's national poet. King James VI and the Union of the Crowns A BBC2 TV documentary this week, marking the Union of the Crowns on March 24, 1603, paid tribute to the way in which King James VI of Scotland was instrumental in bringing together England and Scotland, two nations who had been frequently at war for over the previous 300 years. King James inherited the throne when Queen Elizabeth I died and he had a vision of a United Kingdom which he pursued vigorously. Although he failed to persuade the English Parliament to combine with that of Scotland (that would not happen for another 100 years), he introduced the Union Jack flag (a combination of English, Scottish and later Irish flags) and encouraged Scots and English protestants to settle in Ulster (the so-called "Plantations"). The king also produced male heirs who would ensure the succession and thus avoid any conflict on his death. King James was also responsible for a new authorised version of the Old Testament which has survived for centuries. Initially there was resentment and even fights between the Scottish nobles brought to London by James and their English counterparts at court. Of course, other historians, with nationalist bias,would prefer to focus on the negative aspects of the reign of King James VI. Entertainment Kelvingrove Stuffed, Not Stuffy The Kelvingrove in Glasgow is the most visited Art Gallery and Museum in the UK outside of London. Financed in 1901 by local businessmen, it continues to be supported by the local people through local taxation, rather than central government grants. It is estimated that the building and its collections are now worth £565 million. But the art section will be closing on 17 March and the museum section on 30 June in preparation for a £25 million transformation which will not be completed until February 2006. By then, it will have been upgraded to a state of the art building with 50% more public display areas than at present. It is hoped that the number of visitors each year will then nearly double to over two million. At the moment, two-thirds of visitors never leave the museum on the ground floor to see the huge art collection upstairs. When it reopens, with both the basement and top floor available, the two collections will be mixed - with, for example, Old Masters displayed beside armour and other objects of the same period. Harry Potter Really Sets Heather on Fire Over the years, journalists have no doubt frequently written about how the Harry Potter stories have figuratively "set the heather on fire." But now sparks from the steam engine being used as Hogwarts Express in the filming of the latest Harry Potter book near the Glenfinnan Viaduct literally set the heather moorland alight. Firefighters had to battle for many hours to put out the fire near the railway line between Fort William and Mallaig in the west coast of Scotland. The Warner Brothers film crew helped out by chartering a helicopter to water bomb the blaze. The fire started during the filming of scenes for "The Prisoner of Azkaban". This year, February has been an unusually dry month and so the fire spread rapidly due to the dead bracken being very dry. Pagan Festival's Unholy Row The pagan festival on Edinburgh's Calton Hill to greet Beltane's Day (the 1st May) involves 300 painted dancers, fire-eaters, jugglers, a torch-light procession, bonfire and painted performers. The event has attracted a growing audience, with 14,000 attending in 2002. But the City Council insists on full observance of health and safety requirements for this free show and insurance costs keep escalating. The organisers get no help with funding from the Council or the local tourism agencies to meet the costs. "Voluntary contributions" are requested from those attending but these averaged less than 20p per person last year. Now the insistence by the city council that the organisers pay for a temporary lease of Calton Hill has forced the society to cancel this year's event. There are hints, however, that it might be staged somewhere else - but the Calton Hill venue created an excellent backdrop and had a good catchment area to attract a good audience. The illustration of the Beltane Fire Festival is copyright of Christophe Mercier.

April 2003

May 2003

This Review of Scotland in 2003 does not contain the usual "magazine" section of the weekly Newsletter with humour, recipes, poetry, songs and links to new features. However, if you wish to see the collection of many of the previous articles (built up over a number of years), you can do so via the Features Pages.

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