UK’s only giant pandas to return to China

The UK’s only giant pandas will return to China in December, it has been announced. Tian Tian and Yang Guang have been residents at Edinburgh Zoo since 2011 on a 10-year loan, which was extended by two years due to the Covid pandemic. The two were brought to Edinburgh after an agreement between The Royal Zoological…

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In the frame: How advice from her dying dad led Alison McWhirter to become one of UK’s leading artists

Alison McWhirter’s paintings have achieved global recognition, attracting a devoted following of private collectors. But a decade ago, things were very different for the Dumfriesshire-born Scottish painter. Alison had a secure career in teaching and publishing when her terminally ill father told her: ‘Look you’re a painter, you’ve always wanted to be a painter. So…

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St Leonards students celebrate outstanding GCSE results

St Leonards School has celebrated another excellent set of GCSE results this month with an impressive 92.1% of qualifications awarded grades 9-4 (equivalent to A*-C), far exceeding the national average.  The school in St Andrews, Fife, has a reputation for academic excellence, and also recently achieved another record set of International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma and…

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Anonymous buyer of world’s biggest whisky bottle revealed

The anonymous buyer of the largest bottle of whisky ever created, which sold for  £1.1 million in Edinburgh, has been revealed.  Whisky aficionado Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan added the 5ft 11in tall bottle, known as The Intrepid, to his collection in Vietnam this week. The dram was conceived by Daniel Monk of Cask World and…

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Home of the Clydesdale farm on the market

A Lanarkshire farm known as the home of the Clydesdale is on the market for more than £2million. Low Merryton Farm, which was once owned by the Duke of Hamilton, was home to Lawrence Drew, a pioneer in developing the Clydesdale breed.  Drew offered some of the best quality Clydesdale Horses of the period including…

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Meet the aspiring teenaged shepherdess

Meet 14-year-old Hayley MacDonald who hopes to become a shepherdess after she hand reared two adorable lambs – and got a sheepdog.  Hayley, who lives in Friockheim, Angus, with her foster carers Alison Yates and husband Ron, fell in love with sheep after working at Hunthill Estate through an Estates that Educate course last year.…

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