V&A names new Dundee director

V&A Dundee has unveiled Leonie Bell as its new director. Bell joins Scotland’s first design museum from Renfrewshire Council, where she was the strategic lead for its Future Paisley Partnership. She replaces Philip Long, who has taken over as chief executive at the National Trust for Scotland. Bell began her career at Glasgow 1999: UK…

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NTS gardens springing back into action

THE National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is preparing to reopen around 30 of its gardens from 6 July. Culzean Country Park in Ayrshire, Brodie Castle’s garden and estate in Moray, and Crathes Castle’s garden and estate in Aberdeenshire are among the properties that will begin welcoming back guests. The trust’s countryside sites, including St Abb’s…

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Battle lines drawn over Culloden holiday complex proposal

THE National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has signalled its opposition to proposals to turn TreeTop Stables at Faebuie on Culloden Moor into a holiday complex. The conservation charity opposed a previous planning application in 2018, which was turned down by The Highland Council. While the NTS owns parts of Culloden battlefield, it doesn’t hold the…

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Haunting memories of Culloden

To mark the 274th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden on Thursday 16 April, the National Trust for Scotland has shared rare snippets of haunting Gaelic songs inspired by the Jacobite cause online. The original audio recordings are of a series of Gaelic songs collected by noted Gaelic archivist John Lorne Campbell from Canna. The…

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Hill House beats leading tourist spots to award

The shop at National Trust for Scotland’s Hill House in Helensburgh today (Friday) has been announced as the best in the country by the Association for Cultural Enterprises, beating London’s Science Museum and The Globe Theatre. Created as part of the pioneering conservation project undertaken by the Trust to protect Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s domestic masterpiece…

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A wildlife visit to the remote St Kilda

The isolated archipelago of St Kilda, Great Britain’s most westerly point, needs our help to ensure that it remains rich with wildlife and history. St Kilda always provokes a passionate response. So many people would love to go there, while those lucky enough to have done so will tell you colourful tales of their voyage…

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Burns Cottage rethatched in conservation project

Burns Cottage is ready for anything the weather can throw at it. Thatcher Dave Brooks this week added the final sheaf of wheat to the roof of the Bard’s cottage in Alloway. The cottage, owned and looked after by the National Trust for Scotland is undergoing extensive conservation work by the charity, including the replacement…

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A taste of conservation with NTS charity gin

Conservationists for the National Trust for Scotland are celebrating 25 years of protecting and restoring the ancient pine forests in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park with the launch of Pinewood Gin. Produced by the conservation charity that cares for Scotland’s national and natural treasures, the gin is created using botanicals from the pinewoods…

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Plans to mark St Kilda with visitor centre

The inspirational story of one remote community’s ambition to build a world-class visitor centre for St Kilda is coming to our screens. BBC ALBA is to screen St Kilda Centre – Edge of Hope (Ionad Hiort – Oir an Dochais), which reveals their bid to build on the very edge of a cliff, in Uig,…

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Fresh flavour for historic Royal Mile building

Gladstone’s Land, the National Trust for Scotland’s Royal Mile townhouse is undergoing a £1.4 million transformation over the next few months. The National Trust for Scotland is updating the visitor experience at the 500-year-old building, creating a new ‘ice cream and coffee parlour’ on the ground floor which weaves 17th century details in to the…

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