Monthly Archives: March 2018
-
Posted: March 24, 2018Read more »
It’s Glasgow 1770 All Over Again-
First Whisky Distilled in City in 100 Years
Connoisseurs may well know that the first Glasgow distiller within the bounds of the city opened its doors in Dundashill in the last part of the 18th century, 1770 to be exact and that its single malt heyday ended in 1902 when James Pirie was a relatively new business in St Andrews. But the wheel of history has turned...
-
Posted: March 16, 2018Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
Scotland for the Brave –
Diehard Yorkshireman Helps Make the Best of Scottish Knitwear
I don’t often celebrate a life in this blog, but Yorkshireman James Sugden was a human dynamo when it came to rejuvenating the almost moribund textile manufacturing industry in Scotland. Mr Sugden almost singlehandedly created a world brand for Scottish cashmere and in the process he saved existing jobs and created...
-
Posted: March 13, 2018Read more »
Glass is Good- Plastics Bad –
Back to the Future with Recyclables
As avid readers of this blog will know I live beside the sea and the tide always brings in a mountain of other people’s junk and the worst of all is plastic. If you saw David Attenborough’s sea programme, Blue Planet, you’ll know plastic is much worse than we thought. There is a river near Manchester which have the highest levels of...
-
Posted: March 13, 2018Read more »
After the Snow Comes a Polar Bear Cub-
First this Century
We knew she had been born in December, but we knew little else as the camera in the polar bear’s den had been dislodged by the bears sometime before. All that was known was the sound of high pitched mewling, that’s a terrific old word isn’t it? The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has been very forward in announcing the arrival with pictures...
-
Posted: March 06, 2018Read more »
Countdown to Mother’s Day March 11-
And Pest Free Islands
In the middle of the Minch off the Outer Hebrides lie some lovely islands that sea birds have found a safe haven until recently when ship born rats landed and terrorised the native population, eating their eggs and their young. These are the Shiant Isles, enchanted in Gaelic, and one of the most important seabird breeding colonies in Europe...
-
Posted: March 01, 2018Read more »
Gin Karma-
UK’s Most Popular Spirit Gets Horsey
As we learned last year gin has overtaken Scotch as the UK’s favourite tipple and now an Aberdeen gin maker has launched a new gin that is full of the spirit of the open field and redolent of saddles, horses and gymkhanas. The name gymkhana of course comes from the time of India and the Empire and most of us will have glimpsed one, even if we haven’t...
-
Posted: March 01, 2018Read more »
Scotland Best Again
We Do it on Porpoise with New Stuff for 2018
Did you know that Scotland is one of the absolute best places to go whale and dolphin watching? Well blow me down me hearties so it is, I’ll put away the fake Long John Silver accent now- back away from the accent! If you want to see a Humpback whale then the Firth of Forth is the place to go. If you want to take in some of the...
-
Posted: March 01, 2018Read more »
Wind Farms Generate Controversy –
Mother’s Day Generates Love
We have a new wind farm about to go live any moment now and it has been the subject of much local controversy. My next door neighbours think it is a blight, but I say it is 10.8 miles away, how many people can even see 10.8 miles away? There are about a 100 of the blighters though, so you can see they aren’t particularly shy. And a new...
