65 years on, how important was the audacious removal of the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey? “You sort of know that when you take a crowbar to a side door of Westminster Abbey and jemmy the lock that there isn’t really any going back,” the eminent Scottish QC Ian Hamilton told the Daily Telegraph […]
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On a New Track
How some historic railway buildings are finding a new purpose. Old railway buildings that had long thought to have passed their sell-by date are being given a new lease of life. Take Pollokshaws West on Glasgow’s southside. Just 10 minutes walk from both Pollok House and the Burrell Collection, it happens to be the oldest […]
The Daredevil Aeronaut
Fortune, alas, doesn’t always favour the bold. There is absolutely no doubt that Angus-born James Tytler was the first person in Britain to ascend into the sky by balloon. The London Chronicle of 27 August 1784 reported: “The Balloon being filled at Comely Gardens [in Edinburgh], he seated himself in the basket and, the ropes […]
Do Not Adjust Your Set
William Edward Taynton was television’s first paid star – and, just like many celebrities of recent times, he was somewhat resented for what he earned. Taynton was working as a clerk in an office at 22 Frith Street in Soho, London, when – on Friday 2nd October 1925 – a friend and upstairs neighbour suddenly […]
The Thirty-Nine Steps
A century on, why are we still in love with John Buchan’s most famous story? “Tell me, my Lord, how are you enjoying the film?” Alfred Hitchcock asked one of his honoured guests during the interval at the 1935 premiere of The 39 Steps. The Scots-born Lord Tweedsmuir, who was soon to become Governor General […]
The Good Doctor
Scotland helped educate a medical pioneer who made history in more ways than one. “When I was a boy, I was told that when I began a story, to begin at the beginning and continue to the end.” That’s good advice for any writer, but for anyone attempting to follow the life story of Dr […]
New Proclamations
Few bands have the staying power to release a tenth studio album, but The Proclaimers – aka Leith-born identical twins Charlie and Craig Reid – are remarkably unconcerned about that aspect of Let’s Hear It For The Dogs. “You’re finally going into double figures – so I guess it’s a landmark, but it didn’t really […]
