Page 34 - James Pirie News

Puffin Numbers Rise after Cooler Summer-

Isle of May Birds Recover

Scotland is home to 80% of the UK’s population of puffins and this iconic sea bird has had a better year. They had had their best breeding season since 1989 with some 87% of the breeding pairs successfully rearing a youngster. There are 10 million puffins worldwide, but Scotland is one of the key places for the breed which lives on...

New Driving Test in Force by Christmas –

More Like Real Driving

On December 4^th a new driving test comes into being to test new drivers’ skills in more of a real life environment and I guess it will be even more difficult to pass.  In some American  states young drivers get lessons at the desk in ‘Drivers’ Ed’ and at the end of it get a licence at the age of 15 or 16 with very little in the way...

Fake Handbags, Fake News, Fake Whisky –

World Gone Crazy

I have been down the market and seen the counterfeits they sell as designer luxury goods at knock off prices, but until today I hadn’t realised that criminal scammers were up to it with whisky. I have read before that counterfeit drugs were circulating in places like the Far East and that an antibiotic tablet might contain nothing more than whey...

Scotland Wildlife at Risk

Foreign Invaders Cost Millions

Now if you are a dog lover like me you might remember a Channel 5 programme about Overtoun Bridge near Dumfries which went out a dozen years ago. The bridge is significant because at the time more than 50 dogs had leaped from the bridge and some done themselves mighty mischief in the process. I remember it because the likely culprit was nobody’s...

Up on the Roof –

Preparing for the Worst

 Did you know you can get an ultra long range weather forecast for Scotland and it will take you up to Christmas and beyond with a fair amount of rather generalised accuracy.? So I can see that Christmas Day itself will be about 3 degrees Celsius, very cloudy and likely wet with a wind speed of up to 22 miles an hour. That’s pretty breezy I can tell you. Which...

Pilot Scheme for Low Emissions 2018 –

One of the Big Two to Get Charging Scheme

The government have announced that either Glasgow or Edinburgh will be at the centre of a pilot scheme aimed at reducing pollution in our cities. The cities are now as dirty and unhealthy as they have ever been so they tell us. Well I for one can say that since we moved out of the city our health seems to have improved...

Happy Talk –

Scotland a Great place to Live, Despite Weather

Those boys who put together the index of happiness have been at it again and the annual report says it is set fair. Admittedly it is done by the Bank of Scotland, but it is at least an indicator of well being and I am all for well being. And if you are living in Mid-Scotland that is, Renfrewshire Clackmannanshire, Perth and Kinross then you...

Hot News-

James Pirie Gets Bronze

James Pirie is pleased to announce the latest addition to our beautiful ranges with art that will stand the test of time made in traditional bronze, a material that has been used for sculpture for over 4,000 years. It is with great pride we introduce Richard Cooper & Company who work with UK sculptors and designers to create stunning and unique foundry bronze sculptures...

The Last Piper –

Laments No More

As most of our readers know I am somewhat enamoured of bagpipe playing and even as I am writing to this I am listening to Flower of Scotland on the pipes, so it is with some sadness I found out about the end of an era in Montreal. 72 years ago a great Canadian department store, Ogilvy’s, is stopping its daily bagpipe performance as the winds of change are blowing away...

Ground Control to Major Tim-

Space Capsule Comes to Scotland

The National Museum of Scotland announced that Major Tim Peake’s Soyuz spacecraft will be arriving in Edinburgh for 2018 as part of a new exhibition. The capsule is a hefty 1.5 tonnes, but really in space that’s pretty small. It hurtled back to earth at the end of Peake’s mission to the international space station. The craft on re-entry reached...