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Daily Record
a day ago
- Daily Record
Scotland's 'most beautiful places' crowned as island with stunning beach tops list
It is also known as the Scottish 'Cradle of Christianity'. Scotland's "most beautiful places" have been named by The Times. Topping the list is a tiny island with a fascinating history. On Wednesday, June 11, The Times published an article titled "16 of the most beautiful places in Scotland". The roundup spotlights scenic destinations around the country, from the Scottish Borders to the Outer Hebrides. Coming in at number is Iona in Argyll and Bute. Iona is approximately one and a half miles wide and three miles long, and is home to a population of around 170 people. Despite the island's small size, The Times noted its long and storied history. Known as the 'Cradle of Christianity' in Scotland, St Columba and 12 companions arrived on Iona from Ireland in AD 563 to establish a monastery from which missionaries were sent to northern Britain to convert people to Christianity. Iona Abbey is the island's most notable landmark. It is open to visitors, who can admire its centuries-old architecture and take in sights such as St Oran's Chapel and Reilig Odhráin. The island was also praised for its beaches, namely the White Strand of the Monks. Iona was singled out for its "white sand" and "turquoise water". For those looking to spend the night, Iona is home to the St Columba Hotel. Standing next to Iona Abbey, the hotel features a range of clean and comfortable rooms and a restaurant and bar. The Times wrote: "There is a deeply spiritual aura to this little green chip of land that lies off the southwestern corner of the island of Mull. Iona has been a place of pilgrimage ever since St Columba arrived in AD563 and today pilgrims step off the ferry and weave their way to Iona Abbey. "At Iona's northern tip is the White Strand of the Monks, springy machair—wildflower-rich grassland—lined with white sand. The turquoise water is the perfect backdrop for contemplation while watching the gannets dive into the Sound. "The island is at its best when the day-trippers have gone, so stay over at the St Columba Hotel and enjoy produce from its organic garden." Elsewhere, following behind in second place on The Times' list is Scotland's northwest coast. The newspaper singled out the stretch up to Cape Wrath—the most northwestern point in Great Britain—as well as Balnakeil Beach. Placing third on the newspaper's roundup is Big Tree Country, spanning Perth and Kinross and the Highlands. Home to countless Douglas firs, maple, redwoods, and more, The Times noted The Queen's View as an especially stunning beauty spot. Rounding out the top five on The Times' list are The Great Glen and Knoydart, both situated in the Scottish Highlands. The Great Glen runs from Fort William to Inverness and was singled out for its various scenic lochs, while Knoydart is a peninsula located between Loch Nevis and Loch Hourn that earned praise for its wildlife spotting opportunities and the remote Old Forge pub. Other places featured on the newspaper's list include The Argyll and Bute coast, the Heart of Scotland, and the Isle of Skye, placing sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively. The Scottish Borders and Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides complete the top 10. More information and the full list of the "most beautiful places in Scotland" can be found on The Times website.
Times
2 days ago
- Times
16 of the most beautiful places in Scotland
For many, Scotland is all about the great outdoors: hiking through Highland glens lined with lochs that look like slices of fallen sky, exploring the giant forests of Perth and Kinross, its rivers rippling with salmon. If the weather gets rough, there'll be a rugged castle at hand, usually with a legend attached, and a distillery tour just down the road. And then there are its biggest cities, Glasgow for cutting-edge arts and breezy good humour, and architecturally elegant Edinburgh, the serious seat of government — two cities that couldn't be more different if they tried. My mother comes from the Isle of Skye, so for many years family holidays were annual pilgrimages north to rendezvous with cousins, scramble up mountains and stagger into peat bogs, cursing at midges. In more recent years I've ranged more widely across the whole country, particularly for my book Four Scottish Journeys. And I am pleased to say that the days when the accommodation was basic and the food was mainly beige have long since gone. There's every kind of quality — here are the most beautiful places to start. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue There is a deeply spiritual aura to this little green chip of land that lies off the southwestern corner of the island of Mull. Iona has been a place of pilgrimage ever since St Columba arrived in AD563 and today pilgrims step off the ferry and weave their way to Iona Abbey. At Iona's northern tip is the White Strand of the Monks, springy machair — wildflower-rich grassland — lined with white sand. The turquoise water is the perfect backdrop for contemplation while watching the gannets dive into the Sound. The island is at its best when the day-trippers have gone, so stay over at the St Columba Hotel and enjoy produce from its organic garden. If there's anything that epitomises wild and romantic Scotland, it's the northwest coast up to Cape Wrath, the most exhilarating stretch of the popular North Coast 500 driving route. It begins at Applecross, a remote peninsula reached by a dramatic switchback road. Halfway up the coast is Ullapool, a free-spirited ferry port on Loch Broom, full of creativity and gastronomy. And while hiking Cape Wrath itself is only advisable for the fit and brave, this northwestern tip has surprisingly fine white sand beaches at Balnakeil. Stay in Ullapool's Ceilidh Place, where there's live music most nights. • Read our full guide to Scotland The Dukes of Atholl, who some 200 years ago owned most of the land between Perth and Inverness, planted 25 million trees, including larch, Douglas fir, maple, western hemlock and redwood, which is why this region has been designated Big Tree Country. The Queen's View, a historic viewpoint high above Loch Tummel, is particularly fabulous in autumn. Key resorts are Victorian Pitlochry and genteel Dunkeld, on the silvery Tay, where you should stay in the Dunkeld House Hotel for riverbank views. It's a 20-minute walk downstream to Birnam Wood, as mentioned in Macbeth. The Great Glen is a giant fissure that runs diagonally from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east. Several lochs line its length, including awe-inspiring Loch Ness, and there's a long-distance trail to pack your walking boots for too ( The lochs have all been linked to create the Caledonian Canal, connecting sea with sea, with cruises and boat rental. Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK, at 1,345m (4,413ft), looms over its western end by Fort William. The Ben is an arduous but straightforward 11-mile hike for the fit and the well prepared. Stay above Loch Ness in the quirky-cum-traditional Whitebridge Hotel. Regularly cited as the most remote part of mainland British Isles, Knoydart is a mountainous peninsula on the west coast, opposite the Isle of Skye, with eagles overhead and whales and dolphins offshore; you can look out for all on a boat trip. A handful of small settlements are distributed along its only road, with the main community and Britain's most remote pub, the Old Forge, gathered at Inverie on a sheltered bay in Loch Nevis, where regular ferries connect it to the port of Mallaig. Stay at Doune Knoydart, which is on the peninsula's point looking towards Skye. • More great hotels in the Highlands Too often overlooked in the hurry to get north, the peninsulas around Scotland's west coast south of Oban are delightful tessellations of water and land. Probably the best known is the dangling Mull of Kintyre, mainly thanks to Paul McCartney and his song of the same name. Here you'll find Campbeltown, which is well known for its whisky festival held in May, and on a clear day you can see Northern Ireland from its west coast. Moving north, other notable landmarks are the Crinan Canal and the Ardfern peninsula, busy with yachts in summer. Don't miss Seil, with its Bridge over the Atlantic, which may sound grand but is actually a narrow tidal stream. Here you can get cosy in Ardfern's Galley of Lorne Inn, popular with overnighting yachtsmen. The Heart 200 is a much easier and more varied drive than the North Coast 500 and does what its name suggests, looping around Scotland's striking heartlands, linking the towns of Stirling, Crieff, Perth, Dunkeld, Pitlochry, Aberfeldy and Callander. That means gorgeous castles at Stirling, endless golf courses at Gleneagles, great whiskies at Dewar's distillery in Aberfeldy, a thriving salmon river in the Tay and plenty of brilliant hiking routes, particularly the two-and-a-half-mile Birks of Aberfeldy circuit. Aberfeldy is the centre point of Scotland, so the Fortingall boutique hotel just outside the town in Glen Lyon makes for a handy place to stay. • More great Scottish road trips• Best Airbnbs in Scotland It's the archetype of mystical and romantic Scotland — eagles overhead, deer in the glens, lochs that look like fallen slices of sky, and the Cuillin mountains rising into the mist. Skye's clan legends and crofting culture have long attracted visitors, but until the opening of the bridge that linked it to the mainland, its hospitality was spartan. These days the island has new distilleries, great gastronomy and hotel accommodation, and that has encouraged a steady flow of film directors who come to use the dramatic landscapes of the Quiraing and the Old Man of Storr as locations. The Bracken Hide is a stylish base, with glamping pods and an excellent bar. • Best luxury hotels in Scotland• Best spa hotels in Scotland The border between England and Scotland has long been heavily contested, which is perhaps why the towns that lie just to its north — the likes of Melrose, Hawick, Kelso and Coldstream — have been such a force in Scottish rugby, and in the Scottish military, over the years. This is a place of handsome Georgian and Victorian town centres, of striking abbey ruins (at Melrose), and of rolling hills that nurture salmon rivers (the Tweed). It is also the location of grand country mansions such as Abbotsford, the home of author Sir Walter Scott. Schloss Roxburghe is the place to lay your head nearby, with huge, old-world rooms and a great spa. Each of the Outer Hebrides has its own natural beauty. Barra is rugged, with its airstrip making use of a tidal beach. The Uists are low lying and waterlogged, lined on the west with springy wildflower-rich machair. But it is Lewis and Harris, two separate 'islands' but actually the same lump of land, which have the big-ticket attractions. On Harris it's the west coast's Caribbean-style white sand beaches such as Luskentyre, plus the architect-designed homes (some of which you can rent out). On Lewis, the standing stones at Callanish draw the visitors — as does Stornoway, the metropolis of the Outer Hebrides. As for where to bed down after a day of exploring, consider the boutique, modern Hotel Hebrides, conveniently located right by the Tarbert pier. The archipelago that lies offshore from John O'Groats is quite unlike the Scottish Highlands. Orcadian accents are far gentler, reflecting Scandinavian origins, and the land is smoother and more fertile, well suited for grazing. Most remarkable on Mainland, the biggest of the islands, are the neolithic tombs and excavated villages, which had to be well built to withstand the weather. Also long-lasting is the tradition of the Ba' Game, a rugby-related mass scrum that rampages through the main town of Kirkwall every winter. Stay at the centrally located Ferry Inn for its comfortable rooms, bar, and restaurant serving posh pub grub. • What to do in Orkney Not as well-trodden as their northern relatives Skye and Mull, the Southern Hebrides are gentler, quieter landscapes, well worth an island-hopping odyssey. Colonsay, reached by ferry from Oban, is a land of farms and immaculate beaches, particularly up at Kiloran. Islay, which is ferry-connected to Colonsay and to the mainland, is whisky heaven, with nine distilleries, including Bowmore, Ardbeg and Laphroaig, all producing distinctive and peaty single malts. Family-run Port Askaig Hotel is known for its seafood and proximity to some of Islay's best beaches. • Best distillery tours in Scotland Ben Nevis may be the highest of Scotland's mountains, but the wildest are in the Cairngorms National Park, which cover a massive 1,748 square miles. Among the tops, a series of plateaux create a bleak, boulder-strewn semi-tundra, littered with rocky outcrops and rich in wild species such as capercaillie and golden eagle, as well as the UK's only free-ranging herd of reindeer. Aviemore is the adventure hub, but also in the national park is Braemar, known for the annual Braemar Gathering with its Highland games. For a unique, stylish stay, book into the Fife Arms, a former coaching inn in Braemar with a fabulous art collection and a fittingly cool crowd. Read our full review of the Fife Arms The Neuk (nook) of Fife is an intimate place of fishing villages such as Crail and Pittenweem, whose red-roofed cottages cluster together along the harbour wall. Colourful boats bob in the bay, and Pittenweem still has a morning fish market, mostly for lobster and crab. Further round the Neuk, the scene changes at St Andrews. This handsome town is dominated by two institutions, the Royal and Ancient, one of the most historic golf clubs in the world, and the university, which attracts students from the top echelons of society, including royalty. The Peat Inn is the place to stay, a 15-minute drive from East Neuk's villages, with elegant rooms and an excellent, Michelin-starred restaurant. This hugely accessible national park just north of Glasgow has a bit of everything. Scenic Loch Lomond is a place of boat cruises and water sports, with the long-distance West Highland Way following its eastern shore. There are more cruises over in neighbouring Loch Katrine, which visitors can cruise aboard the steamship Sir Walter Scott. Between the lochs, the hills and glens are cloaked in oak and fir, particularly around the adventure centre of Aberfoyle. And finally, several mountains rise silently out of the northern part of the park, a foretaste of the wilderness beyond. Cameron House has an unbeatable location on the southwest banks of Loch Lomond, as well as a sprawling spa and rooftop infinity pool. A dramatic set of hills, the seat of government, a famous castle, a major annual festival and a long literary tradition — it's hard to know where to begin with the Scottish capital. Experience the views from Edinburgh Castle, which hosts its Royal Military Tattoo every August; take a ghost tour through the dank alleys and staircases of the Old Town; and see the elegant New Town, which — despite the name — is mostly from the late 18th century. Affordable stays in Edinburgh aren't always easy to come by, but we love 3 John's Place, which has B&B doubles from just over £100. • More great affordable hotels in Edinburgh• Best restaurants in Edinburgh
Daily Record
27-05-2025
- General
- Daily Record
What should a person do if they find Loch Ness Monster?
The Nessie Contingency Plan, drawn up by NatureScot, is a real guide for what to do if the monster ever appears For nearly a century, people have been scouring the dark waters of Loch Ness near Inverness in search of the legendary monster. Strange humps have been spotted gliding across the surface, and eerie sounds have echoed from the depths below, yet Nessie herself has never been definitively found. But what if, against all odds, the Loch Ness Monster actually turned up? As it turns out, authorities in Scotland are already prepared. A set of official guidelines, known as the Nessie Contingency Plan, was quietly drafted years ago by the government's nature agency, NatureScot. It sounds like something straight out of The X Files, but the document is real, and it outlines exactly what would happen if Nessie were to surface. A NatureScot spokesperson told the BBC: 'The Nessie Contingency Plan was produced back in 2001, at a time when there was a lot of Nessie-hunting activity on the loch. 'We were regularly being asked by the media and others what we would do if or when she, or he, was found. 'The code of practice, which was partly serious and partly for a bit of fun, was drawn up to offer protection not just to the elusive monster, but to any new species found in the loch.' Under the plan, any new creature discovered in the loch would be subject to scientific investigation, including a DNA sample, before being safely released back into the water. Crucially, the creature would also receive full legal protection, just like native Scottish species such as golden eagles and wildcats. That means if Nessie were real, it would be illegal to harm, kill or even capture her. Concerns for Nessie's safety aren't new. Back in 1938, a senior police officer wrote to the Scottish Office warning about a group of men intent on hunting the creature 'dead or alive'. The party, he said, was allegedly having a special harpoon gun made and planned to descend on the loch with 20 'experienced men'. The legend of the Loch Ness Monster stretches all the way back to the Middle Ages. According to ancient lore, it was Irish monk St Columba who first encountered a mysterious beast in the River Ness, which flows out from the loch. But the modern version of the myth only really began in the spring of 1933, when Aldie Mackay, manageress of a local hotel, reported seeing a whale-like creature thrashing through the water. The Inverness Courier picked up the story and its editor, Evan Barron, cemented Nessie's name in pop culture by describing the creature as a 'monster'. Since then, sightings have trickled in with remarkable consistency. The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register has logged 1,161 reports since launching in 1996. There were three sightings last year, and already one for 2025, a pair of humps said to be gliding across the loch. Over the decades, eyewitnesses have described everything from a creature with crocodile-like skin to fast-moving shapes that defy explanation. Many have tried to solve the riddle. The Loch Ness Investigation Bureau conducted multiple searches throughout the 1960s and 70s. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Then in the late 1980s, Operation Deepscan brought more than 20 boats equipped with sonar technology to sweep the loch in a bid to detect large underwater animals. And then there's Steve Feltham, arguably the most committed monster hunter of them all. He gave up his job, sold his house in Dorset and moved to the shores of Loch Ness in 1991 to dedicate his life to cracking the mystery. Some researchers believe Nessie might not be a monster at all. In 2019, a team of scientists from New Zealand analysed environmental DNA from water samples across the loch. Their conclusion? There was no evidence of giant reptiles or prehistoric creatures like plesiosaurs. Instead, they suggested the sightings could be explained by something much less mythical: giant eels.
Scotsman
07-05-2025
- General
- Scotsman
Don't Forget We're Here Forever by Lamorna Ash review: 'both brave and infuriating'
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers 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... If you're ever lucky enough to be in a church meeting, there is a fun game you can play: betting with yourself on how long it will be before someone says 'young people'. Bemoaning their lack is mandatory and never, ever say 'why don't we not do whatever we did to their parents' generation, or their parents' parents' generation, because whatever it was we did do, it quite evidently didn't work'. I say that as, at fifty-two, I am often the youngest in the congregation. Lamora Ash's book, subtitled 'A New Generation's Search for Religion', is a valiant attempt to engage in the debate. Some parts are brave, some are infuriating, some are perceptive, some obtuse. It both diagnoses the problem and exemplifies the problem. Iona Abbey, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. In 563, St Columba arrived from Ireland and established a monastery on the island, embarking on his mission to convert pagan Scotland and northern England to Christianity. The monastery was abandoned after frequent Viking raids, but a Benedictine Abbey was established in the 1200s. The Protestant Reformation in Scotland saw the abbey closed in the 16th century, but the Church of Scotland began to rebuild it in the 1870s and the Iona Community was established in 1938. |Ash's book is divided into three parts, although it seems appropriate there is a degree of slippage and blurring between the categories. The first is broadly essayistic, looking predominantly at manifestations of youth-oriented church, particularly YWAM (Youth With A Mission), Soul Survivor and 'Christianity Explored', a study course from the same background as the Alpha Course; though there are excursions away from the charismatic strain. The second part is not so much a pilgrimage as a picaresque (at times verging on 'what I did on my ecclesiological holidays') taking in Iona, Walsingham and St Bueno's (the Welsh retreat associated with the priest-poet Gerald Manley Hopkins). Finally, there are case studies of people who for different reasons have left and returned to the church, with an emphasis on the survivors of conservative approaches. The memoir thread runs through, with a determining question being whether in the course of the try-before-you-buy, all-you-can-eat tasting menu, toe-in-the-water approach she is changed (or even converted). In the broadest terms, she is: whether this is permanent or not is not within the book's purview. It is the kind of book, however, that I would expect to have additional material in paperback. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Iona Abbey, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. In 563, St Columba arrived from Ireland and established a monastery on the island, embarking on his mission to convert pagan Scotland and northern England to Christianity. The monastery was abandoned after frequent Viking raids, but a Benedictine Abbey was established in the 1200s. The Protestant Reformation in Scotland saw the abbey closed in the 16th century, but the Church of Scotland began to rebuild it in the 1870s and the Iona Community was established in 1938. |The most winning part of Ash's book is a willingness to admit presumption. One Quaker explicitly challenges her: 'Half of you is going in there thinking would this [...] be good to write about'. She graciously admits it. If you are investigating faith, being called out on your own bad faith is necessary. That candour is rather too stridently announced at the beginning where she wants to 'acknowledge the unseriousness of my starting point', and that (protesting, too loudly) she does not suffer from 'any kind of spiritual deficiency'. Personally, I think a feeling of unseriousness is an ideal point of departure, the awful is-this-it-ness of the contemporary. What does this 'unsteady, discordant, overstimulated, porous-bordered generation' lack? My old college chaplain counselled that when the church hitches itself to fashion it fades with it, and Ash's description of rave style worship seems to prove the point, although it is curious how whatever their differences in liturgy and worship, these movements all coagulate around stereotypical literalism. It is heartening to see Ash quote Jo Freeman's essay 'The Tyranny of Structurelessness', and I do not think it is coincidental that many of the revival churches have fallen prey to problems associated with demagoguery – her discussion of Mike Pilavachi is both measured and frightening. Ash writes fluently: I was taken by her description of Iona as 'the hard shoulder off the highway'; although inevitably the 'thin place' trope crops up – admittedly she does record the concerns some people raise about its overuse. (My personal take is not to use a phrase beloved of Ben Fogle). It is regrettable she does not go deeper into Iona's past. Maxwell Macleod's radio piece on the community's founder, his father, gives an essential corrective to some of the mythification. Iona is, nevertheless, a kind of fulcrum or crucible in her thinking. It is regrettable that so much of the book is concerned with sexuality. The Church has rightly been condemned for being obsessed with it, but Ash seems equally tunnel-visioned. Despite the caution mentioned above, it does seem as if she goes out of her way to raise it as an issue, as if not getting a reaction would be a disappointment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Aside from her own throuple, there is a panoply of sexualities; often it is regarded as a stumbling block, a burden or a source of trauma in that people's sexualities are condemned and even demonised. You can go blue in the face explaining the subtleties of what the Greek 'arsenokoitai' means, but the visceral always seems to win. In this, the Church and its liberal detractors are co-dependent. There are plenty other sins to worry about. My anxiety, and this may be a factor of age, is that it is, as I believe the youth say, 'all about the feels'. The final parts about how her journey – an overused word – has helped when dealing with family sadness are moving, but it's still all about the internal weather. Religion can provide the shield and the bandages, but it doesn't exempt you from the fight, and there is little in most modern investigations into religion about service, sacrifice or bravery. It can't explain a Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Edith Stein. Sometimes spot-on and sometimes try-hard, this is an important and human book. The Church, as Beza said, is the anvil that has worn out many hammers; and I cleave to that more than whatever this decade's version of 'Let me be the cricket ball that Jesus hits for six' is.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bishop Bonnar celebrates Mass in Youngstown in anticipation of Conclave
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Roman Catholics around the world will be watching and waiting for a sign from the Vatican starting Wednesday as members of the College of Cardinals gather to select the next Pope. All around the Diocese of Youngstown, churches held services to pray for those who will be part of the Conclave. Bishop David Bonnar led the Tuesday afternoon Mass at St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown. He compared the liturgical readings to the work to be done by the Cardinals in Rome. 'No doubt in these days, especially these days of meetings. The Cardinal electors have been looking for a sign or some indication as to what the Holy Spirit desires,' Bonnar said. The Bishop urged Catholics in the Diocese to pray for those who will be electing the new Pope in Rome as well as for the new Pontiff once he is selected. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
