World’s oldest floral clock in Edinburgh is completed

This year’s design on the world’s oldest floral clock has been completed – with more than 50,000 flowers and plants. For 2023, the hugely popular landmark in Edinburgh’s West Princes Street Gardens will celebrate 100 years of Flying Scotsman, the world’s most famous steam locomotive. It took three gardeners just four weeks to plant the…

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Number of critically-endangered capercaillie increases

Numbers of critically-endangered capercaillie have increased for the first time in eight years. The birds are on the verge of extinction in Scotland with numbers having decreased by more than 50% in the last five years. The latest national survey (2021/2022) estimated there are only 542 capercaillie left in Scotland. But the latest lek count…

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Dundonald, Best of the West?

Editor Richard Bath travelled to his old stamping ground of Ayrshire to try out the acclaimed £25 million Dundonald Links golf course, plus its restaurant and lodges. Dundonald Links is right at the heart of Ayrshire’s golf coast, just a 45-minute drive south west of Glasgow. Formed from what was once Southern Gailes, it is…

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Book review: The Tongue She Speaks

Sammi Minion reviews The Tongue She Speaks, a new novel by Scottish author and journalist Emma Grae, from Glasgow. Emma Grae’s new novel The Tongue She Speaks makes for a captivating read. From the frame of a seemingly typical teenage thriller lies a far more complex and compelling story, brought to life by an engrossing plot…

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Pianist Malcolm Martineau on getting ready for Music at Paxton

World leading pianist Malcolm Martineau has played in Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, Milan, Berlin, throughout the UK and in North America accompanying many of the world’s best singers. Ahead of his performance at this year’s Music at Paxton – the Scottish chamber music festival in the Borders – Malcolm, from Edinburgh, talks to Scottish Field…

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A southern sojourn

On a rare excursion south of the border, Richard Bath tried out a waterside Beech Hill hotel in the Lake District. In late spring, Lake Windermere – and, more specifically, the small town of Bowness – was already hoaching. Although we at Scottish Field rarely review south of the border, my daughter Ailsa and I…

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