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Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
Pentlands Open Studios Art Trail: a new creative force in the upper Water of Leith valley
Mark your calendar The inaugural Open Studios Art Trail takes place Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August 2025, from 10am to 4pm. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to explore local studios, meet 18 participating artists across 10 venues, and discover the stories behind their work. Make a stop at the Pit Stop Café in Spylaw Park, Colinton, which serves as our info hub with brochures, maps, and toilets. Collect stamps from studios and enter our prize draw for artist vouchers. But the Art Trail is just the beginning. Throughout the year, POSt will host artist talks, hands-on workshops, and community events designed to foster learning, creativity, and connection. POSt is entirely run by some of Scotland's finest artists, who happen to live in our catchment area. In its first year, the trail features both private studios and unique public venues, including the Victorian greenhouse at Malleny Garden, a National Trust for Scotland property—blending the beauty of art and nature in one memorable setting. Join us & stay connected Website : : Instagram : @PentlandsOpenStudios : @PentlandsOpenStudios Newsletter: Sign up by visiting the website to get the latest updates and event news. Support the Trail We're currently running a Crowdfunder campaign, with exclusive rewards donated by the artists of the 2025 trail. Every contribution—big or small—helps build a stronger, more creative Pentlands community. Donate here: Thank you for supporting this new chapter in the Pentlands' cultural life. We can't wait to welcome you to experience the creative energy of our community! 4 . Contributed Pen Reid, Detail of Night Gardener, Oil on Linen Photo: Submitted Photo Sales Related topics: ArtistsColinton
Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
I stayed at a charming Northumberland cottage with a spectacular castle as a neighbour
Contributed This property has an impressive location Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I was very late to Northumberland. My first visit was a few years ago, and since then, I find myself back once or twice a year. I must've been overdue a visit, as, on a recent cinema trip to see the latest Danny Boyle horror film, 28 Years Later, I forgot about being frightened by the blood-thirsty zombies, and was drawn in by the lush countryside on screen, instead. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Some of it was shot in Northumberland, including Holy Isle and St Cuthbert's Cave. However, on our latest trip to the area, we were heading to the coastal village of Bamburgh. Its cinematic fame includes the fact that Game of Thrones has featured its castle. You can see it from outside Wren, our sweet two-bedroom self-catering cottage. It's one of luxury holiday company Crabtree & Crabtree's range of 10 Bamburgh Estate properties, which include one that's situated in the castle's clock tower. That basalt and sandstone building is ever present in this destination. It's practically at the end of our Victorian terraced street. What a neighbour. It almost looks CGI, in its dramatic incongruity. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad You can get a bit blasé about castles, when you live in Edinburgh and see one almost every day, but, still, my jaw dropped every time we left the house. Of course, a visit to the inhabited castle is practically a prerequisite for a stay here, but we didn't go this time, simply because we'd been relatively recently, and the vaulted King's Hall and State Rooms, with their suits of armour, were still fresh in my memory. If you haven't been, a visit is a bucket list sort of thing. Instead, since it was so sunny - it always seems to be in Northumberland - we frequented the beautiful beach, which is just a few minutes from the cottage. Just take the route by the ice-cream shops, restaurants and pubs, and go round the cricket field and you're among the dunes. We spent hours here, with a bit of paddling and lots of dog-watching and sunbathing. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Wren Cottage also has its own suntrap of a back garden, where we got burnt while playing al-fresco Scrabble. Sadly, out here, there was no sighting of the cottage's namesake, since Bamburgh Castle owner Francis Watson-Armstrong called the property after one of his favourite birds and it's the first he saw after viewing the cottage post refurbishment. Even though we were there on a summery weekend, it seemed a shame to spend too much time outside, and not in the lovely house. I imagine it'd also make a good winter bolthole, with its heavily stuffed plus sofas, and fireplace with wood-burning stove. The decor is lovely - quirky and luxurious. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The single bedroom has powder blue walls and striped headboards and crocheted bedspread, and the double is all sage green and dusty pink, with scallop-edged headboard and quilt, and botanical prints. Both have original fireplaces. Contributed In contrast, the kitchen and bathroom are modern and utilitarian. However, the living room is our favourite spot, since it has a dining table and we each have a three-seater sofa to ourselves. These are the perfect vantage points for binge watching the latest series of Squid Game, while tourists in this honeypot of a village drift by the cottage's arched windows. Contributed As far as restaurants go, there are plenty to try, but we thought we'd visit the latest addition, at Bamburgh Estate's Walled Garden cafe. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It opened earlier this year, and consists of the seaside-themed sensory garden, as well as a children's play area, and terrace. The cafe has floor-to-ceiling windows, and there were swallows nesting in its wooden rafters. The food is hearty, to say the least. He tried the Porkie Pig - aka Alnwick rum and Korean spiced slow braised pork shoulder, Asian slaw and gochujang ketchup, all heaped into a brioche bun. It was a hair-on-your-chest sort of dish, as was my steak and eggs, with a pair of runny yolked fried oeufs, plus a portion of Mediterranean roasted potatoes. The 8ox rump steak element was from the local butcher, R Carter & Son, where you can find Scotch pie that've been endorsed by Rick Stein. The cakes, traybakes and cones here look amazing, but there was no chance of being able to manage anything else after that huge main course. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It was back to Wren, for a lie down, but not before a final wave to the castle at the end of our street. Seven nights at Wren Cottage available through Crabtree & Crabtree costs from £750. To book, visit or call 01573 226 711
Time Out
4 hours ago
- Time Out
The hugely underrated foodie seaside town that is one of the best day trips from London
Everyone wants something different out of a day trip. There are the people that just want to lie horizontal on the beach for hours, the ones who want to stop by as many historic sites as possible, and the ones who will spend all their time collecting trinkets from indie shops and galleries. Then, there are the people that go to new places with just one thing on the agenda: good food. Of Time Out's 20 best places for a day trip from London in 2025, there's one place that stands out when it comes to outstanding bars and restaurants to rival those here in the capital. It's... Deal! And you can get there from St Pancras in just one hour and 20 minutes. In Time Out's guide to the town's best bits, travel writer and Deal local Kate Wicks said: 'Along the award-winning High Street, you'll find a wealth of independent shops, bars, and restaurants, but it's Deal's sedate (yet uplifting) atmosphere that remains its biggest draw. Ten miles from Dover, this is a town beside the sea, rather than a seaside town (for kiss-me-quick amusements, head to Margate): it's creative, classy and also happens to be one of the UK's top hidden foodie destinations.' Arrive hungry – Deal is full to the brim with exceptional grub. So much, in fact, that it's Time Out's favourite foodie getaway in the country. There's the classic fish 'n chips from Middle Street Fish Bar, the crab doughnuts at The Rose hotel, the French dishes at Cherub's, Japanese izakaya at The Blue Pelican, the organic wines at Le Pinardier wine bar, the swanky lunch at 81 Beach Street and the pig's head and haggis terrine at Frog & Scot. But there's only so much eating and drinking you can do. Kate also recommends wandering around the historic Deal Castle, filling your boots at Deal Town Market, seeing some art at Linden Hall Studio and spinning vinyl at Smuggler's Records. Make sure to go down to the seafront too, and look at for a grey seal or admire Deal's historic Victorian pier (which is getting a £1 million facelift next year). See the rest of Time Out's best day trips from the London.
