Thousands of Pink-footed geese arrive in Montrose

Thousands of Pink-footed geese have arrived in Montrose as they migrate south for the winter. So far, more than 25,000 have been counted, with more expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Every year, the birds stop off at Montrose Basin after flying in from Greenland and Iceland. This year the birds arrived earlier than…

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Cumnock Tryst: Music programme returns for October

Cumnock’s annual music festival is set to return next month. Sir James MacMillan CBE founded The Cumnock Tryst, a four-day music festival each October, nearly ten years ago. Taking place from 5 October until 8 October, hundreds of local groups are set to perform. The Musical Celebration of the Coalfields will involve ten local community…

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Martin Compston’s Scottish fling up for top TV award

Martin Compston and Phil MacHugh have been shortlisted for a TV award for their BBC travel series. Scottish Fling has been nominated for ‘Best Factual Show’ at the TV Choice Awards next year, which will take place in February at The Hilton on Park Lane in London. The programme, which aired last year, saw Greenock-born…

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New BBC ALBA documentary to explore the Scottish wolf

For 12,000 years wolves and humans shared Scotland’s landscape. But as hunter- gatherers became farmers, wolves became their enemy and were hunted to extinction.  Now a new BBC Alba documentary is set to explore whether the story of the Scottish wolf is over. Wolves arrived as the last ice age ended, following – like Scotland’s…

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Winner of the Anne Brown Essay Prize for Scotland announced

The 2023 Anne Brown Essay Prize for Scotland has been awarded to author Rodge Glass. The £1,500 prize, established in 2021 by the family of the late BBC Scotland journalist and Wigtown Festival Company chair Anne Brown, celebrates the best literary essay by a Scottish writer.  Best-known for his biography of Alasdair Gray, Glass’s essay…

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Brooch made by the Bohemian craftsman Karel Nekola to go on display

A ceramic brooch made by the Bohemian craftsman who created an iconic Scottish pottery brand is being exhibited near where he worked. The floral-patterned keepsake, which Wemyss Ware designer Karel Nekola gifted to his wife more than 100 years ago, is being loaned to Kirkcaldy Galleries by his granddaughter. The brooch’s vibrant cabbage rose motif…

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Anne McAlpine discovers the power of peat in new documentary series

From the boreal peatlands of Canada, to the expansive peat plains of Finland and the beautiful blanket bogs of home – Anne McAlpine takes us on a journey exploring spectacular peatlands around the world.  The BBC ALBA documentary series takes us to Iron Age bog bodies, remarkable pool systems, shielings which built communities on the…

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Finalists for the McIlvanney Prize revealed

Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival has revealed the finalists for the McIlvanney Prize 2023. Judges for the McIlvanney Prize 2023 – BBC Scotland presenter, Bryan Burnett, former editor of The Sunday Times Scotland, Jason Allardyce and Category Manager for Waterstones, Angie Crawford – are unanimous in their praise for all four books: Callum McSorley…

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