Latest news with #Grampian
The Courier
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Courier
We look back at the best Tayside and Fife properties from Scotland's Home of the Year
The latest series of Scotland's Home of the Year has finished for another year. Despite making the final, Broughty Ferry's Tree House missed out to Hilltop House in Aberdeenshire. The BBC has commissioned an 8th season of the property show and will begin filming in June 2025. We've taken a look back through SHOTY's history to find the best Tayside and Fife homes to have featured in the show. The first season of SHOTY saw two Tayside and Fife homes reach the final. Little Blair House in Dalgety Bay won the East of Scotland episode. Its owners transformed it from a simple 1970s bungalow into a stunning and vivid family home. Textile designer Rachel Henderson bought the much-loved seaside home from her grandmother. On a miniscule budget she managed to transform it into a rainbow-hued, sun-drenched and happy place to live. SHOTY's first season also featured the Humpty House at Loch of Lintrathen, north of Kirriemuir. Designed by its owners, Ben Scrimgeour and his wife Rosemary, the home also houses their architectural practice. Rosemary said at the time: 'It is a contemporary Scottish building which is half family home and half office. 'Humpty House is a 21st century interpretation of a traditional rural agricultural structure. 'The interior is open with long wide oak floor boards, exposed agricultural style steel, enormous shutters and pendant lights. 'We designed many of the building components from our steel roof structure to our staircase, furniture and even the kitchen drawer pulls.' The sophomore season of SHOTY saw two Tayside homes make the final. A home near Brechin and a cottage in Strathtay came out on top in the Grampian and Perthshire episodes of the show. The Glebe is a former manse in the hamlet of Farnell, around five miles from Brechin. Its owners Jane and Ruaraidh Adams shared it with their three children and their dog. Interior designer Jane remodelled the house, knocking down a wall to create an open plan kitchen/living area. Another home to feature in the second season is Mouse Cottage in Highland Perthshire. The house sits on the edge of Strathtay Golf Course. The two bedroom cottage is owned by artist Penny Kennedy, who lived there for three years before commencing an 18-month overhaul of the house. Beside the house is Penny's studio, which faces south and gets lots of natural light. She also bought a patch of land from the golf course to expand her garden. Penny used a female builder from Aberfeldy, Jo Penfold, to spearhead the renovation works. She also had mains water installed after getting fed up of carrying buckets up the garden to clear silted-up water tanks. A stunning new build in St Andrews featured on Scotland's Home of the Year in 2021. The Garden House is a beautiful modernist home with a feature pond and decking. The house is owned by Helen and Ben Gray, who live there with their son Zach and three-year old spaniel Soda. The Hepburn Gardens site originally belonged to a house on the opposite side of the street. One of the challenges of building the Garden House was designing a home that didn't overlook neighbouring properties. The house looks over its own Japanese style garden complete with pond and decking. Iron Mill Bay also featured in the third season. It's a unique home overlooking the River Forth. It was built by Lisa Malube and her husband Martin for the couple and their three children. They used East Neuk based Fife Architects to come up with a unique design that put a circular stone tower as its focal point. The five-bedroom, two-storey home has a T-shaped floor plan with a large open plan living/kitchen/dining area that has a double height ceiling and gallery above. The reception room and most of the bedrooms are located to take advantage of the sweeping views across the river. Eco features were a priority and the house has an air source heat pump, solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system. A Mid Century Funhouse in Dunblane also cropped up in season three. Its lively interior is a tribute to the 1960s, inspired in part by the hit TV show Mad Men. It's full of yellows and greens, along with vintage fixtures and furnishings. The house was an eight-year labour of love for owners Nick and Fiona Grant, who live there with their son Eddie. An abandoned concrete water tank in Fife was converted into a stunning home that reached the 2022 SHOTY final. The Old Waterworks is a remarkable property near Crail that's been made from an abandoned concrete water storage tank. It was built by Sam and Ewan Robertson, who bought the Old Waterworks when they were just 18 years old. The abandoned building sat in a quiet corner of the farm owned by Ewan's family. The Old Waterworks is an extraordinary three-bedroom home. The vaulted concrete structure has a living roof covered in grass. Inside, the main living area is open plan and the beautiful barrel concrete ceiling forms a remarkable feature. There is a double-height living area and a beautiful sunroom that is accessed from the decking outside. The fourth season of the show also featured Easter Cottage in Charlestown, on the Forth Coast. Dorothy and Ricky Steedman bought the house in 2020 and set about transforming it. One of the main changes was converting an upstairs bedroom into a yoga studio. A few miles along the Fife coastline in Dalgety Bay is the Scottish Vybe, another home to feature in SHOTY's fourth season. It was given a dramatic overhaul by Angela and Paul Young. Built in the late 1950s the Scottish Vybe was originally owned by a Norwegian sea captain. He took the unusual-for-the-time step of making the property an upside down house, with the living room upstairs and the bedrooms on the ground floor. Also in season four was Our Adapted Home, a semi-detached house in Dundee that was cleverly modified for the needs of a disabled child. It was bought by Katie and Daniel Radke, who extensively transformed it to accommodate their daughter Jessica. It has runners and hoists in the ceiling, an accessible wetroom, a profiling bed, and other equipment designed to make life easier. At the same time it is a bright and colourful modern family home. The season-opener in 2023 featured two Fife properties. Alexandra Apartment is a double-upper flat in Kirkcaldy that's home to Gary Gourlay and his flatmate Sammy. The flat has a lovely semi open-plan layout, with the living room flowing into the kitchen and windows to both front and rear. Upstairs, the master bedroom has a bay window and rooftop views to the sea. In nearby Markinch, Mount Frost is a detached 1990s house. Emma and Scott Gillespie extensively overhauled the property. The house is spread over four levels, with the ground floor featuring a shower room and an office. On the first floor is a fantastic open plan kitchen, dining area and snug. Up another level is the formal living room, while the bedrooms are on the top floor. Meanwhile, the Old Manse in Auchterarder was one of the six properties to make the final in 2023. The handsome house was the winner of the fifth season's third episode, which focused on the Central Belt. Kelly and Michel Hillard upgraded the building. They knocked through a wall to create a wonderful open plan kitchen/diner that takes full advantage of views over the enormous walled garden. Judge Banjo Beale said of the Old Manse: 'If I could change one thing it would be replacing the owners with myself.' A striking new build house near St Cyrus in Aberdeenshire also reached the final six. Snowdrop House is a stunning contemporary home clad in stone and timber built by property developer Ross and his partner Emily. Originally Ross planned to build three homes on the plot and sell them for a profit. However he and Emily fell in love with the site and decided to build their own dream home instead. A fantastic mill conversion near Dunblane featured in the sixth season of SHOTY. The Old Mill lies on the banks of the Allan Water. Fields and woodland surround the building. Built 200 years ago, its occupants abandoned it for more than 25 years. But Lee and Dawn Collins bought the derelict building. 'It was in quite a state when we got it and had been derelict for at least 25 years,' Lee said. 'But it was too good an opportunity to pass up. You had this great mill building on a site with a river running through it.' He split the Old Mill into a three-bedroom main house with a home office, and a two-bedroom townhouse annex. The 2024 season of SHOTY also featured the Pink House, in the village of Crossford, near Dunfermline. Built in the 1940s, the Pink House has mock-Tudor styling, exposed brickwork, and bay windows. Its owners Heather and Brian Craig transformed it with a palette of bold colours – most notably pink. So far no house in Tayside or Fife has won Scotland's home of the year…or has it? It's true that the main SHOTY show has yet to see a winner from this area. However, each December the show returns for a one-off Christmas special episode. The judges crowned a Perthshire cottage Scotland's Christmas Home of the Year in 2022. You can find Easter Shian in beautiful Glen Quaich. That's midway between Crieff, Dunkeld and Aberfeldy. Debbie Halls-Evans and her husband Dave bought the house in August 2020. The farmhouse dates from 1705. Each year they put up four huge Christmas trees and light a roaring fire to enjoy total Christmas seclusion in their remote glen.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Clearfield County man faces over 2,800 charges for abuse of young girls
CLEARFIELD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Grampian man has been hit with more than 2,800 charges relating to the alleged physical and sexual abuse of two young girls. Devin John Moore, 38, is facing 2,840 charges that include indecent assault of a person under 13 (500), indecent assault of a person under 16 (780), corruption of minors (780) and endangering the welfare of a child (777), after two sisters came forward about the alleged abuse. According to charging documents, one of the two girls told Child and Youth Services that Moore would sexually abuse them from when she was in fourth grade to ninth grade, including groping her and touching parts of her body almost daily. The other girl said Moore was physically abusive to her. A previous criminal complaint from the end of May shows that Moore was arrested after physically hitting the girl, sending her to the hospital. According to court documents, the girl said she hadn't done her chores to Moore's satisfaction, and while arguing, she brought up the sexual abuse of her sister, and that's when Moore struck her. Father-son duo arrested in Clearfield County after DUI police chase The sisters also alleged that their mother knew about the sexual abuse for the past year and that she had a contract written up for Moore stating that he promised to stop the sexual abuse. According to the affidavit, when Moore was arrested, he allegedly commented that he had separated from his wife and was leaving that night to go to Costa Rica. State police noted in the criminal complaint that they received a search warrant to find the alleged contract; however, when they arrived at the home, it appeared it may have been burned in a 'still warm to the touch' burn barrel with burned remains of paper sitting on the top of the ashes. In addition to computers and electronic devices, troopers said a notebook was seized where Moore's wife allegedly wrote statements such as: 'It's going to be hard to curb that and fix it because he doesn't feel like he is doing anything wrong.' Court documents show that bail for Moore was denied, citing the seriousness of the charges and a possible lengthy prison was placed in Clearfield County Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 11. It should be noted that we reached out to Clearfield County District Attorney Ryan Sayers to inquire about the mother, however, he stated this investigation is ongoing and he cannot comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NDTV
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- NDTV
Jaguar E-Type Restomod Keeps 'Vintage Excellence' Alive
Restomods often end up drawing criticism because of supererogatory changes to iconic models. Going against the pattern, the Jaguar E-Type restomod concept is being showered with praise. Even though it is based on a model, called "the most beautiful car ever made" by Enzo Ferrari, the tinkering has made the silhouette even better. Behind the commendable job is Ian Callum, the person who was at the helm of Jaguar's design department between 1999 and 2019, and has multiple models under his belt, like the Jaguar F-Type, Aston Martin DB9, and more. The Jaguar E-Type restomod, a creation of Callum Designs, is still a sketch. However, chances are the 3D render might soon step into the real world. Created as a part of Callum's "Portfolio Project," the design shares the space with the off-road SUV called the Grampian. This line of projects is likely to have more models in the near future. Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Escudo Coming This Diwali: All About New Creta, Seltos Rival Revered by many enthusiasts, Callum has left some parts of the E-Type untouched. It still retains its flowing lines, creating the iconic profile and proportions that spelled perfection for many. Taking a closer look reveals changes like the elimination of all chrome elements, numbers, and door handles have been replaced to sit flush. The shape of the headlight retains the shape, but is fitted with time-adapted LED light. Rear lights, however, are now slightly lower. Taking the front seat on the list of most striking changes are the wheels with a large aero-disc design. On the inside, the Jaguar E-Type restomod concept brings its A-game with retro charm. It consists of a wooden steering wheel with an analog dial. Camouflaged well in this cabin is a transparent digital display taking the place of the center of the dashboard, forming the bridge between the occupant and the modern tech functionality of the car. Going with the overall theme is a manual shifter placed in the center. The technical specs of the restomod have not been revealed yet. However, the presence of exhaust pipes at the rear end suggests that it is not an electric vehicle. Speculators suggest it will have a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine used by Jaguar for the F-type.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN DAISLEY: I've heard Putin blamed for many things, but never Bar-L's leccy bill
Crisis? What crisis? Take your pick. This week alone, Holyrood has heard there's a 'crisis' in housing, in stroke care, and in legal aid. A 'crisis' in NHS Grampian, in beaches, and in children living in temporary accommodation. A 'crisis' in additional support learning and in the 'unjust transition' to net zero, the latter of which was raised by Patrick Harvie with a straight face, the brazen wee tumshie. 'Crisis' was the watchword of First Minister's Questions, too, with John Swinney fielding queries about the crises in ferry services, social care, and Scotland's natural habitat. It's a term routinely used as a lazy shorthand or to inflate a particular problem into the headlines, alongside the MSP raising it. But what's striking at Holyrood is how often 'crisis' is fitting, if not an understatement, for the troubles Scotland finds itself in. Russell Findlay sounded close to exasperation as he tried to get a straight answer out of Swinney on the ferries crisis. He dug through the transcripts to remind the Nats that Nicola Sturgeon had scoffed when the Tories suggested the final bill could be as high as £400 million. She was right to scoff. It was now higher: £460 million. The Conservative leader got in a dig at Swinney for being the minister who signed off on 'the corrupt Calmac procurement process'. The First Minister protested that he and his ministers 'engage regularly with island communities on issues with ferry services'. 'The last thing the islanders need is more visits from SNP politicians,' Findlay shot back. It's just as well. There's no ferries to get there. Findlay accused the SNP of having 'shamelessly exploited Ferguson Marine and its workers for party political purposes', but Swinney objected, listing his spending on various vessels, harbours, and ports. 'This government will keep true to its commitments,' he proclaimed. From the Tory benches there leapt a sudden bout of uncontrollable guffawing. I thought Rachael Hamilton was going to rupture something. It doesn't bother me that Swinney says stuff like this. What worries me is that he might believe it. Anas Sarwar rhymed off everything going wrong with island ferry services. 'So much for steadying the ship,' the Labour leader quipped. Swinney pivoted to his plans to acquire and renovate the port of Ardrossan to bring it up to standard. It's important the ferries have a suitable dock. They're going to be spending a lot of time in it. The SNP was, per Sarwar, 'addicted to wasting people's money'. He mentioned the replacement prison for HMP Barlinnie, which was originally forecast to cost £100 million but had already smashed through the £1 billion barrier. Swinney told Sarwar this reflected 'capital costs of the energy price increases after the invasion of Ukraine'. I've heard Vladimir Putin blamed for many things but never the leccy bill at Barlinnie. Has he been smuggling in 100-watt lightbulbs and fridge freezers? The First Minister presumably had in mind construction and material costs, and the war in Ukraine will certainly have added to both, but £900 million on one building project? Not even the energy markets can inflate prices to that degree. Runaway costs like that require the fiscal management skills of the Scottish Government. Talk turned to the British-American trade deal and what it might mean for Scotland. After huffing and puffing that his government wasn't consulted — I'm sure Tom Arthur had fascinating insights on variable import levies — Swinney regretted Britain's degraded trade relationship with the EU. This he blamed on 'the stupidity of Brexit'. One million Scots voted for Brexit. No doubt they will take a keen interest in the First Minister's assessment of their intelligence.
Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Most voters want to keep drilling for North Sea oil and gas
More than two thirds of UK voters want to meet oil and gas demand from the North Sea, according to a new poll published amid mounting criticism of Ed Miliband 's ban on North Sea exploration. The Survation poll found that 68 per cent of people wanted the country's oil and gas to be produced domestically rather than imported from abroad. Only 27 per cent believed the windfall tax on the industry had helped reduce household bills, with 62 per cent saying it had been 'ineffective.' The North Sea was also seen as a 'net positive' for the UK economy by a factor of three to one. Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC), which commissioned the poll, warned that the UK was 'sleepwalking into a future of higher emissions, imported energy, and economic decline.' It said job losses in the sector were not isolated cases but 'a flashing red warning light' for the UK's energy security and the Government's planned transition to renewables. The survey was published after Harbour Energy, the UK's largest independent oil and gas producer, announced 250 job cuts in Aberdeen this week. The firm blamed regulation and the Chancellor's 'punitive fiscal position.' Last month owner Petroineos closed the Grangemouth refinery after a century of operations, with the loss of 430 jobs. Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, have also come under fire this week over their ban on oil and gas licences to explore new fields in the North Sea. Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB, attacked Sir Keir's 'bonkers' net zero plan and warned there was a 'growing sense of betrayal' among North Sea oil workers. Mr Smith said the decision not to issue more oil licences was 'absolute madness'. Meanwhile, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair also attacked Sir Keir's net zero policies. AGCC unveiled the poll at an 'emergency' press conference and demanded urgent action from the UK Government. Russell Borthwick, the trade body's chief executive, said: 'We are witnessing the start of deindustrialisation in the UK's energy capital. This is not what the public voted for, and this is reflected in our polling published today. 'The Energy Profits Levy is starving the sector of investment and damaging the very supply chain we need to deliver net zero. The country didn't vote for lost jobs, rising imports and higher emissions.' The Energy Profits Levy, widely referred to as the windfall tax, was introduced in 2022 by then prime minister Boris Johnson. Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised it to 38 per cent in last year's Budget. Although oil licensing is a responsibility reserved to the UK Government, SNP ministers have also adopted a presumption against further exploration in the North Sea. Nicola Sturgeon agreed the previous Tory Government's decision to give the green light to the huge Rosebank field was the 'greatest act of environmental vandalism' in her lifetime. John Swinney also described Rishi Sunak's decision in 2023 to grant hundreds of new oil and gas licences as 'utterly irresponsible.' Douglas Lumsden, the Scottish Tories' Shadow Net Zero Secretary, said: 'his poll is just the latest to confirm that an overwhelming majority of Scots back producing our own oil and gas while we still depend on it – unlike John Swinney and Keir Starmer, who'd rather leave us reliant on imports. 'It's crazy that Labour and the SNP continue their ideological war on the North Sea, even as hundreds of workers at Harbour Energy lose their jobs. They're putting our energy security at risk.' A UK Government spokesman said: 'The Government has reformed the Energy Profits Levy to support investment and give industry certainty and stability. 'The Prime Minister has made clear the UK Government's steadfast commitment to the north east of Scotland's energy sector, which plays a vital role in the UK economy and will continue to do so for future generations.'
