Paternity suits are nothing new but, with the Royal Air Force celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, it’s been suggested in some quarters that its first Chief of Air Staff, Taunton-born Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, doesn’t actually deserve the long-applied moniker of “the Father […]
About paulfcockburn
Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist, specialising in equality issues (disability and/or LGBT+), popular science, and arts & culture.Author Archive | paulfcockburn
Andrew Hillhouse
Artist known for his images of William Wallace Born: April 17, 1964; Died: April 15, 2018 ANDREW Hillhouse, who died aged 53, was an artist and architectural technician known for his carefully researched paintings of historic Scottish events, landscapes and individuals, particularly William Wallace. As an architectural technician, Mr Hillhouse worked for a variety of […]
20 Signs of Spring
PLANTS 1: PURPLE SAXIFRAGEBen Lawers National Nature Reserve,Perth & KinrossMarchScotland’s 10th-highest Munro is renowned for its arctic-alpine flora, including more than 500 types of lichen. “Purple saxifrage is the first alpine plant to flower, heralding spring in the uplands,” says Ranger Naturalist Andrew Warwick. “It’s […]
BBC Sky at Night Magazine at the Edinburgh International Science Festival
I am pleased to have been asked, by BBC Sky at Night Magazine, to provide some coverage of the space and astronomy-related events during this year’s 30th Edinburgh International Science Festival. This is in the form of three blog-posts, delivered and published weekly, which can […]
Hugh Russell Paul Hancock
Machinima founder, and VR Developer Born: August 30, 1977 Died: February 5, 2018 Hugh Hancock, who died unexpectedly of a heart attack in February, was essentially a storyteller, but one for whom the written word was never quite enough. Instead, in the late 1990s he helped develop a new form of underground, guerrilla film-making, which […]
The Castle of Mey
The private Caithness home of the late Queen Mother continues to flourish and contribute to the wider local community—just as she intended, says PAUL F COCKBURN. When Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother first saw the Castle of Mey in 1952, while visiting friends in Caithness, […]
Reflecting on a Dark Day for the Navy
When Elizabeth Scott erected a gravestone in Dundee’s Eastern Cemetery—marking the last resting place of a husband killed during the First World War, and to the memory of a son “lost on active service” during the Second, you do wonder just how much she had […]
