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BBC News
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Glasgow actor relishing chance to honour gran in first leading role
When James McCardle read the script for new comedy Four Mothers, it instantly put him mind of the woman who opened his eyes to the acting gran, Betty Feeney, sparked the Glasgow actor's lifelong love of performance with her stories of seeing Frank Sinatra play in the 35-year-old has traded his west of Scotland drawl for a Dublin accent in the new production from Irish filmmaking brothers Darren and Colin aptly for a film that will begin previews on Mother's Day, he has taken inspiration from home into his first leading role. "I'd love to have been able to take my gran to see it," he told BBC Scotland News."She'd recently passed away when I read the script. She came from Govan, at a time when Sinatra would come to Glasgow and they'd do Noel Coward plays or Greek tragedy at the Citizens' Theatre and we'd go."That was where I was introduced to this world first, so I think it is for her." The film, which opens nationwide on 4 April, follows McCardle as Edward, a gay Irish writer who finds himself at the mercy of his own elderly mum, played by Fionnula Flanagan, and three other mothers, abandoned for the weekend while their sons go off to enjoy themselves at a Pride event in Thorntons drew on their experiences of caring for their own elderly mother for the film, which screened at the Glasgow Film Festival earlier this month and won the audience award at the London Film Festival last who has also appeared in Mary Queen of Scots and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, said the brothers had created a script which found moments of levity despite the heavy subject matter."You read a lot of scripts that are trying to be funny, and they don't make you laugh but I was howling with laughter at this one," he said."And then next page, you're crying. It's not twee, it's bittersweet."We are a nation of carers now but we've never really seen that represented. Anyone who has cared, or been cared for, will realise that in those darkest moments there's always something funny or absurd that you shouldn't be laughing at."Opposite Flanagan and Dhearbhla Molloy, Stella McCusker and Paddy Glynn, who play the other three mums, McCardle was not short on inspiration."I learned a lot from them," he said."They take what they do seriously but not themselves seriously." 'Inspiration to young people' McCardle's most recent televised role was in the ITV drama Playing Nice, alongside former Rada classmate James has also received recent acclaim for the stage play Angels in America which has had a run in London and on Mothers came with the additional challenge of picking up a Dublin accent, but he was able to lean on friend Andrew Scott in an effort to sound said: "The Irish accent has been notoriously butchered on screen and they're quick to tell you."That was a pressure, but I just got obsessive."Even in Glasgow, there are very different accents so they were very strict about what they wanted."McCardle grew up in the city's Darnley area and planted the seeds of his future success by becoming involved in youth theatre as an early was an experience that he continues to hold the PACE Theatre company launched its plans to redevelop a disused building in the centre of Paisley as the first dedicated theatre for children and young people, McCardle was one of the first to back delayed by the contractors going into administration, they say James's ongoing support has been "invaluable"The theatre's CEO, Grant Mason, said: "We know that his achievements to date are an inspiration to our young people, many of whom will recognise shared background and experiences."But he's also been incredibly generous with his time with our young people, offering invaluable advice and mentorship."
BBC News
10-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Bobby Cruickshank: The 'forgotten golfer' who was a sporting icon
When Scotsman Bobby Cruickshank was taken prisoner during World War One, he could little have imagined he would later find enduring fame in America as a golfing in Grantown-on-Spey in 1894, he escaped the prisoner of war camp and eventually crossed the Atlantic to follow his golfing went on to win more than 20 tournaments and be considered a sporting great in the USA. But his story is far less well known back home in Scotland. Now the Highland course where he learned to play is offering golfers an "immersive" experience in his honour, including the chance to use hickory clubs of the style he played with in the 1920s and 1930s. Bobby was born about 400 yards - or roughly the length of a par-four hole - from Grantown-on-Spey golf course. At the time, it was just a nine-hole course. But it was big enough for caddied there as well as learning to play the later moved to Edinburgh where he developed his education and sporting skills, ultimately resulting in him pursuing his golfing World War One got in the way. Bobby signed up and managed to survive the horrors of the Somme only to be captured by the succeeded in escaping a PoW camp at Arras in France. Bobby emigrated in 1921, joining a wave of Scottish golfers seeking success in the growing American golf was there that he ultimately won a series of tournaments and finished runner-up in the US Open in 1922 and 1923. He played alongside other greats of that area including Bobby Jones and his golfing status saw him rub shoulders with Hollywood icons including Charlie 1967 he was elected to the PGA of America Hall of Fame - the highest honour it can bestow upon its membership or ambassadors of greats of the game to have the same honour include Jack Nicklaus and Arnold died at the age of 80 in 1975. Granddaughter Diana Smith, 82, who lives in Georgia, USA, is proud of his achievements."He was one of the finest people you could ever meet," she told BBC Scotland News."He loved the game dearly. He, along with his group of buddies in the States, literally started the concept of what is now the golf tour." "We had more laughs on the golf course than I can even tell you. He used to chase the alligators away with his club," she said. "When he couldn't play golf anymore, he quickly passed away."Diana and the rest of Bobby's family are delighted by the new project at his home course."We are thrilled. I know how much Grantown meant to my family and my grandad. I'm very proud of him. And I'm happy that people are recognising him."It's easy to forget, but he was so much part of the golf world and for this chance for people to get to know him, does my heart good." Grantown-on-Spey Golf Club - which was established in 1890 - has launched the Bobby Cruickshank Hickory can use a set of hickory clubs and see footage, photographs and memorabilia related to Bobby's member Bill Mitchell, 90, remembers Bobby Cruickshank well."I remember him coming over on holiday and he had a huge American car," he said. "I recall him coming down one night and his nephew was practising bunker shots. "Bobby was all dressed up in his dinner jacket, ready to go out for a meal with some friends. "And he saw his nephew and Bobby said 'Give me your wedge and one ball and I'll give you 10 shots if you can put it nearer to the hole'."And of course he just flopped it out, six inches away, and his nephew had no chance."He was a class act, there's no doubt about it."He added: "He had a super swing - a no-nonsense swing. One waggle and away it went." 'Deserves his place in history' Steve Stuart from Grantown-on-Spey Golf Club has been driving the legacy project."He won 25 tournaments in America - I can't think of another Scot who has done that," he Stuart described Scottish golf tourism as "amazing" with the best courses in the world."Most of the tourists visit them, but you've also got lots of hidden gems and we like to think that we're one of those," he said. "So what we're trying to do is celebrate our unique selling point in Bobby Cruickshank."Tourists can expect a true and immersive history lesson. And if they have never played with hickory clubs, it's great fun."He played all his golf in America and he was a household name there."We sometimes get Americans coming here just to see the home of Bobby Cruickshank and people here generally don't give a very good response because nobody is clued up on it yet - but we're aiming to change that."He really is the forgotten golfer. He was one heck of a golfer. Bobby Cruickshank deserves his place in history."
BBC News
07-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
How wildlife on the Water of Leith helped me recover from surgery
A Scottish accountant has captured hundreds of hours of footage of wildlife on a city centre river while recovering from knee replacement Kelly's remarkable recordings include otters and their cubs, kingfishers and herons in their natural habitat on Edinburgh's Water of Leith. He began documenting the wildlife in January 2021, after doctors advised him to walk as much as possible to aid his 60-year-old has since walked 5,000 miles and made a full recovery while gathering the film. Mr Kelly collects and records statistics on the river's otters and kingfishers, both protected also has several trail cameras along the 13-mile stretch from Balerno to Leith, which have captured a lot of nocturnal behaviour."I started off with eight or nine cameras, now I have seven or eight but it's not because it's been stolen, it's simply that I've just forgotten where I've put it," he has recorded a lot of footage of one of the river's three female otters with her two stay with their mothers for 12 months and are taught in different stages how to hunt for Kelly said: "The cubs aren't waterproof for the first 10 weeks so they come out of their hole after that and the the mum starts giving them dead fish."So she'll kill the fish and then the will start getting used to handling the fish."Then after about six weeks she'll give them live fish and they have to guddle this fish flipping about and try to control it and then eat it."Then she takes them out and they have to catch their own fish."The cubs on the river are currently trying to catch fish at night so walkers in the area are less likely to see them. Mr Kelly, who walks along the river about five days a week, can tell the otters apart from markings and scars on their face and chest but also from the number of ticks on their ears, which are white against the otters brown places cameras where he sees fox, roe deer, and badger prints at the edge of the water."Fox prints are different from dog prints, one's more splayed out and one's more the shape of a rugby ball," Mr Kelly told BBC Scotland News."I've read that foxes can hear the ticking of a watch from 50 yards away so this is when cameras come in. "If you leave the camera there for a week you get all sorts of different wildlife, it's great, it's like opening a present on Christmas morning you never know what you're going to get.""One morning I saw a weasel. It's just nuts in the middle of a busy city centre and there is a weasel sitting there - it's just amazing on the Water of Leith," he Kelly also has an exhibition in the Water of Leith Visitor Centre in suffered early-onset arthritis in both knees."I was meant to have my other knee replaced but with all the walking I've done, I've managed to put off the surgery completely, which is amazing," he said.
BBC News
25-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Brain surgery took all my childhood memories - will i forget my fiance after second op?
When 14-year-old Weronika Somerville woke up from brain surgery to remove a tumour, she didn't recognise the people in her hospital room. They were her the way to a post-op scan, a medic started to talk to her. He realised she had no idea who he was - despite the fact he was the surgeon who had carried out her had suffered a rare complication - unusual retrograde amnesia. She couldn't recall events or people from her past memories never returned. "I only know from what my parents have told me," Weronika told BBC Scotland News."The doctors were checking if I knew them - I remember so many faces I hadn't seen before."On the way home it was petrifying – getting in a car was scary. I was just going along with what I was told to do."It felt like I was going home with strangers who said they were my mum and dad – my mum was showing me my room they had done up for me for after my surgery – but none of it looked like it belonged to me."I remember looking at my clothes and thinking who would wear this?"Weronika, from Prestonpans near Edinburgh, said she knew it was ok to be there, but said her whole personality, and her family relationships, said: "They never lost that connection with me, but even now, I don't think my relationship is as close as they would want it – I am more isolated and have been my own person since the surgery."My parents kept showing me photo albums – and that really annoyed me - they were talking and laughing about things I did when I was younger but no matter how hard I tried to focus on it, I got nothing."I didn't like looking at photos with them because they have emotional attachment to these moments and I don't." Weronika had to re-learn everything - starting with primary school maths and said it took little time to re-learn as after the lessons were taught, the memory of that seemed to be unlocked - she learned her times tables after going over them at high school, she struggled. She did not recognise any of her friends, and, starting over, she gravitated to different a decade of monitoring, Weronika's tumour started to grow slowly, and in March last year, the time had come for action. More brain surgery Weronika - now 25 and about to be married - needed surgery. And one of her first thoughts was - would she lose her memory again?"I was devastated," she said. "The surgeon said it was definitely possible that it could happen again. But the tumour was deeper this time and I needed the surgery to improve my life expectancy."Weronika's treatment is followed in the new series of Surgeons: At the Edge of Life on BBC the seventh series, which follows surgeons in NHS Lothian, consultant neurosurgeon Imran Liaquat explains the jeopardy of the complicated tumour is in the right frontal lobe of Weronika's brain – the area responsible for abstract thought, creativity and concentration. He will have to identify what is tumour and what is normal tissue then resect - or cut - around it without taking tissue that would affect brain function. Mr Liaquat said: "Preserving cognitive function is very important - it's the essence of who we are as an individual and that can be disrupted by surgeons. We carry the complications and push the barriers of optimal resection and that does bear on you."He added that it was imperative to remove as much as possible."Evidence for tumours like Weronikas is that we need to remove at least 80-90% of the tumour to add survival advantage."Assisting in the operating theatre is the man who performed Weronika's original surgery when she was a teenager - consultant neurosurgeon Drahoslav Sokol said: "It's not easy to think about doing another surgery, particularly in the context of her previous complication but we really need to remove her tumour to prevent further problems in the future." 'What if I don't like him?' Weronika was terrified she would wake up and not know who her fiance Cameron was."The fear was that the last time it happened it changed who I was – what if I don't actually like him?"But Cameron took it in his stride, making photographic memory books and scrapbooks of their relationship and writing notes and letters to his said: "She means everything to me - absolutely everything. If she was to lose her memory I would just have to make her fall in love with me all over again and take it from there."Practically, Weronika wrote down all her banking details and passwords, organised a will, and wrote a letter to her partner for the worst-case round from her operation, the room held its breath. "I woke up and everyone was there – this time around I didn't feel like I had a surgery, I felt like I had a nap," Weronika said."My family were in pieces the whole time. "But I was completely aware and I knew exactly what happened. I was able to talk."I saw Imran and I remember saying 'I still remember you'."Weronika is recovering well and married Cameron in is looking forward to a happy life after 100% of the tumour was removed and she is indebted to the two men who made it happen."I don't think I could express my gratitude to those two surgeons enough," she said."This is the second time they have saved my life."When you watch it you realise what goes into it and they are like gods - they are amazing."
BBC News
25-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Attainment gap widens in Scottish schools
The attainment gap between Scotland's richest and poorest school pupils increased last year, according to new Scottish government has said since 2015 that closing this gap - between the level of national qualifications obtained by children from the most affluent and the least affluent areas - is its the latest figures show the difference has widened for pupils sitting National 4s, National 5s and Scottish government said it was pleased that the vast majority of school leavers were going on to positive destinations such as college and university. The attainment gap between the proportion of school leavers from the most and least deprived areas who had one pass or more in National 5s or equivalent qualifications was 22.7% last year – up from 20.2% in 2022/ gap in the proportion of school leavers who achieved one pass or more in Highers or equivalent qualifications was 38.4% in 2023/24, up from 36.9% the previous figures also show that 8,084 pupils left school after S4. That accounted for about one in seven of those leaving school, and was the highest number since proportion of pupils who left school last year with one or more pass at National 5s, or equivalent and one or more pass at Higher level or equivalent has also year 83.5% of school leavers had one pass or more at National 5 level, while 57.4% had one pass or more at Higher level. Both were lower than in 2022/23. 'A deeper problem' Professor Lindsay Paterson, from Edinburgh University, said the closure of schools during the Covid pandemic was one reason for the attainment gap getting worse in Scotland."Unlike in England and other countries, there has never been a proper programme of educational recovery here," he told BBC Scotland News."The harm is greatest to those children who have not been able to get help at home, or whose parents can't afford to pay for extra tutoring."But behind this is a deeper problem. The Scottish government has never had a coherent strategy for dealing with the educational effects of poverty."He added that there was nothing intrinsically wrong with pupils leaving after S4 as long as they have something worthwhile to go to. Just under 56,000 young people left school last year – the highest number since than 95% of them went on to positive destination such as university, college, employment, some training and voluntary work. This was slightly lower than the previous year but one of the highest levels since than 67% of school leavers last year were in higher or further education three months Secretary Jenny Gilruth said the government was committed to enhancing outcomes for young said: "It's very welcome to see the vast majority of school leavers in Scotland continuing to enter a positive destination on leaving school, with the percentage of those in a positive destination after three months (95.7%) being the second highest since records began."These results are testament to the hard work of the young people and all those who support them."
