There they sat, three people of about the same age who grew up within streets of each other in the same small town, looking for all the world like prizewinners on speech day: the cleverest boy, the girl who’s best at writing and the bad boy who happens to be brilliant at drawing. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, best selling crime writer Val McDermid and Britain’s most successful artist Jack
Taking wine to the remotest pub on mainland Britain is wine merchant, Philippe Larue’s most challenging delivery. With no road leading to The Old Forge at Knoydart, access is by boat from Mallaig. ‘It’s like a military expedition,’ laughs Philippe of L’Art du Vin, Charlestown, Fife. As France’s wine consumption continues to freefall it’s down to two Frenchmen, Philippe and his colleague Richard Bouglet, to meet the increasing demand from
Talking in advance of his charity gig at the Carnegie Hall on 7 June, popular Dunfermline musician George Murray (above) says, ‘To move a mountain you start with the stones’. With tickets for the gig selling well and an album ready for release, George is delighted about just how far his Eastwood project has come. Tragically, George and his friend and fellow musician Stuart Henderson (below) both lost their beautiful
Balintore Castle near Kirriemuir in Angus – a little fixer upper taken on by David Johnston. The Baronial style castle is A listed and was designed by architect William Burn. Built in 1860, it was abondoned to dry rot in the 1960s and lay empty until 2007. Now Johnston is painstakingly returning the building to its former Victorian splendour and detailing the process in his fascinating blog. David explains his motivation for embarking
BalconyTV films bands from balconies around the world. The Black Cab Sessions films from black cabs. Fittingly for Scotland, Tenement TV is recorded in a tenement flat. In 2011, aged 23, Chae Houston, started filming bands from his flat in the west end of Glasgow with the help of his flatmates – cameraman Jamie Logie and Paul McJimpsey. At the start, Paul, who has a promotions company, used his contacts
Fancy taking a stroll through some of the prettiest and most interesting gardens in Fife? Newly launched for this summer is The Fife Garden Trail. Nine gardens, all different in size and style, will be open to visit from 1 May until 30 June. The trail includes Gilston House at Largoward, Willowhill near Newport-on-Tay, Logie House in Crossford, Earlshall Castle in Leuchars, Barham House in the Bow of Fife, South
Did Sir Norman Foster get as much pleasure from designing The Gherkin as architect Robin Baker did from designing Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy? It seems unlikely. ‘It’s been such a privilege to work on this project and now that it’s finished it will feel like a bereavement. For the past 18 months it’s been my life.’ But Robin, who lives in Aberfeldy, will soon be able to watch movies at
‘Between 92 and 96 degrees is the perfect water temperature to make coffee’ – so says barista-trained Derek Rankin who opened Rankin’s cafe/deli in his home village, North Queensferry, Fife. The barista classes were run by his coffee supplier, Mathew Algie, one of the few companies to have a coffee roasting plant in Scotland. Barista classes are open to the general public/ non-customers of Mathew Algie at a cost of
It is well-known that the famous running-along-the-beach scene in Chariots of Fire was filmed in St Andrews but the University town is not the only part of Fife to have had a starring role. Pittenweem and North Queensferry have both put in appearances and the historic village of Culross often provides a period setting for tv and film – and more suprisingly – for Captain America, the First Avenger. Thanks
There’s nothing more powerful than shared nostalgia and The Kronk disco stirs fond memories for many. The club ran from 1989 to 1992 in various venues in Dunfermline, eventually ending up in a nightclub called Banners in downtown Lumphinnans. By the time it reached the West Fife mining village, buses were travelling from all over Scotland to this notorious rave club. Now, Dunfermline artist Alan Grieve has produced an exhibition