Holiday Scotland

Once upon a time (as all good stories begin) a small island of the wet and windswept northwest coast of Europe ruled the world; well, maybe not the whole world, but a fair chunk of it: and on that island a grimy city pumped the lifeblood of that empire: when Britannia ‘ruled the waves’ it [...]

  By the middle of the 19th century Glasgow had become one of the largest industrial cities in Europe and its population had swollen to nearly 500,000; but beyond the sandstone palaces of the Merchant City it was a filth ridden slum. In places like the Gorbals people were often forced to sleep 14 to [...]

  The Tweed has to be one of the most beautiful rivers in Scotland, weaving through the rolling hills of the Border Country as it makes its inevitable way to the North Sea at Berwick. It is a landscape famed for its fishing, textiles, rugby and a colourful history of Border Reivers and monastic settlement. [...]

  January isn’t exactly the most heart-warming of months; it’s cold, snowy, dark and full of post-festive blues. Still, there is one bright light shining amid the gloom, navigating us through the murk to cheerier shores – Burns’ Night. Every year, on the 25th of January, Scots the world over gather in celebration of our [...]

One thing that many visitors to the UK and more specifically those travelling to Scotland, find unusual is the range and design of our banknotes. Unlike most countries several British banks, including three in Scotland, are licensed to print circulatory banknotes; which makes for a wallet-full of interesting designs and colours. The value of these [...]

A chance to travel Scotland in the footsteps of the Jacobites The Jacobite wars were a lot more than kilted Highlanders rushing through the heather to fight the Redcoats; no, it was a battle for the heart and soul of a nation. There was religious conflict, political intrigue, commercial ambition and old scores settled. So, [...]

In the 18th century the Church of Scotland was, by most measures one of the most forward thinking and enlightened churches in Europe – it placed at its heart the concept of education, welfare for the poor and freedom of expression, untrammelled by prejudice and doctrine. It was a strict church: Calvinism isn’t a fun [...]