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Sunday Post
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday Post
David Laing writes letters to people who helped take record to No. 1
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up When David Laing cooked up the idea to write letters to fans of his new album, he wasn't expecting to develop writer's cramp. But when the singer songwriter's latest LP cracked the charts, he proved as good as his word – by sending handwritten epistles all over the country. His new record We, Then Me, landed at No. 1 on the UK Amazon folk chart last month, meaning Laing – who works as a chef and performs under the moniker I am David Laing – had to get his writing pad out. He said: ' I didn't just want to go on the beg asking for people to buy my record. In the past I've done stupid things like telling people I'd give them a Twix if they came to a gig. 'So I figured I'd write a thank you letter to people for buying an album, because the act of writing a letter really has become a dying art. I didn't think it was going to have an impact, but people started to pre-order the album so they could get a handwritten letter, which I couldn't believe.' © Supplied Laing has now sent letters to fans as far away as Spain, and up and own the UK. 'I didn't realise how much it cost to send letters,' said the Inverclyde songwriter, who lives in the seaside town of Gourock. 'So I've been writing a batch and actually going out and hand-delivering them as far as possible, chapping people's doors or popping them through the letterbox. Every letter has been different.' And he joked: 'At times it reminds me of sitting outside the classroom writing a punishment exercise in third- year French. It's been so time consuming, but I'm loving it. I've written loads and still have some left to write. It's hilarious how it's worked out.' Getting his thoughts down on the page is something that comes naturally to 33-year-old Laing, who has been writing songs since he was a teenager and who honed his craft with pals rehearsing in the garage of the late sculptor and musician George Wyllie, one of the most significant Scottish artists of the last 50 years. His self-run label, Lonesome Boat, is inspired by Wyllie's famous Paper Boat, which he launched to pose a question about de-industrialisation on the Clyde. The singer, who studied music with Deacon Blue's keyboard player Jim Prime and Pearlfishers' frontman Davie Scott at University of the West of Scotland, has had support slots with Emeli Sande, as well as top indie acts Admiral Fallow and King Creosote. He's due to back up Edinburgh favourite Withered Hand at a hometown gig in Greenock next month. It's a change of scene from the day job, working as a chef in Gourock's riverside Cafe Continental. He said: 'All I wanted to do was to get this album into the lower reaches of some chart somewhere. So when it landed at number 68 in the UK official downloads chart, I couldn't believe it. I was above Bryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen at one point, which was hilarious.' © Andrew Cawley Laing celebrated by posting a photo of himself in the bath with his rubber duck and a bottle of Prosecco. And he admitted he decided to have fun promoting the record, which tracks the aftermath of a break-up and contains songs he refers to as 'sad bangers'. He said: 'The songs are so serious, and this album maybe sounds older than my last one. The songs speak for themselves, so why not have a bit of fun promoting it? 'I've tried to be cool before, trying to emulate bands like Frightened Rabbit, but my music's not cool. Del Amitri are my favourite band, and my mates are constantly rinsing me for that because they've never been cool.' The songwriter's already working on new tunes, while basking in his unexpected success. He joked: 'I've been No. 1-selling artist, even if I was only at the top of that folk chart for a day. Nobody can take that away from me now. I always wanted to get my music into the charts, and now I can say I've done it.' I am David Laing supports Withered Hand on July 18 at the Beacon, Greenock. His album We, Then Me, is out now.
Sunday Post
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday Post
Paul Hollywood on his love of flying and how he landed TV career
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Great British Bake Off's Paul Hollywood has a dream, and it's not pie in the sky. The man with a need for speed (he's a keen biker) has a vision of flying a helicopter to the land of his forebears – Poolewe in the north-west Highlands. 'It would be quicker and easier than by road,' he grins. The Wirral-born baker, who has judged on the show for 15 years, initially with Mary Berry for the BBC before controversially moving to Channel 4 in 2017 to judge with Prue Leith, always knew there was Scots blood in his veins. But it wasn't until he took part in the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? that he realised how deep it ran. 'I'm more Celt than I am English,' the 59-year-old tells P.S. from his home in rural Kent. Paul, whose great-grandfather Kenneth Mackenzie was in the Glasgow police, says: 'They always ask you before they start the genealogy programme: 'Where do you feel more comfortable?' 'I said in a scenic, remote location with mountains and streams. At the end of the filming, I was sitting on a rock just outside Poolewe, and they told me to look around and then they played back what I'd said at the beginning. 'Oh my God,' I said, 'this is it…'' © Supplied by Bloomsbury publisher He adds with more than a hint of pride: 'I am a Mackenzie of Gairloch and Poolewe. My family are Highlanders who went down to Glasgow in the 1800s.' In this year's New Year's Bake Off he sported a kilt made for him by Black Isle designer Siobhan Mackenzie. 'I wore it for the Hogmanay Bake Off special and Prue wore her Leith colours.' Paul has toured in Scotland, worked at the BBC's Glasgow studios, and spent a week filming in Gairloch and Poolewe, and he is planning a return, initially as a road trip. He embarked on a helicopter pilot course in 2023. 'It was a dream I had as a kid. I used to have all these toy helicopters,' he reveals. 'Then, years ago, I had a trial lesson for a birthday present. There are nine exams. I have done them all and I have my radio licence. 'I still have to do a final practical test. I am trying to fit it in around work and I can't fly when I'm filming. 'It feels like I have accomplished something for myself. It has been good to sit down and study for what feels like the first time in my life. 'I always struggled in school, I lacked the concentration. I didn't try, nothing clicked. If they had baking classes, I would have probably done all right. Clearly, I can concentrate when I'm interested in something.' Paul – who in April hit headlines when he went to the aid of a pilot who crashed his small plane into a field in Kent – admits he would never have imagined having a TV career or that it would lead to authorship and even bankroll his dream of flying helicopters. The Wallasey lad started out following in his graphic designer mum Gillian's footsteps but gave up art college to join his dad John in his bakery business, before becoming head baker at top hotels in the UK and Cyprus. He has just launched his sixth recipe book, Celebrate, which is in part inspired by a childhood centred around the church at which his grandfather was a lay preacher and his grandmother organised coffee mornings. Reliving those days, he says: 'Most times there was always a birthday or people going back to the church for a party and there were a lot of traybakes and treats, which is where a lot of the ideas for the book came from.' An eclectic mix of foolproof recipes for showstopping bakes marking life's special moments, it is packed with easy traybakes, layer cakes, quiches, tarts, breads, pastries, desserts and cookies. Dad-of-one Paul married his second wife, Melissa, in 2023 in his beloved Cyprus, where he lived for six years and made his first foray into TV. He says: '(Food writer) Thane Prince was making a programme, Food From the Village, and asked me to be part of it. 'He said I was quite natural on television and I should do some more. He gave me a card and said: 'Contact this agent when you're back in the UK,' so I did.' © Bloomsbury Publishing/PA It led to a TV series with James Martin in 2000 and, among others, appearances on This Morning and the Gloria Hunniford Show. A few years later he got the call for the Great British Bake Off. Fame came fast. 'In the first couple of years of Bake Off, I could walk down the road without too much of an issue. Now it's different,' he says. 'You have to adjust and get used to that. What you gain financially is fantastic, but what you lose is quite substantial – your anonymity, your privacy – but you don't know that at the beginning.' With millions of viewers and its popularity in the States rocketing, he laughs: 'People come up and talk to you in the strangest places. I was using the loo in Switzerland and a Brazilian bloke came in and recognised me straight away. He asked if I would speak to his wife. I said I would, but could I just finish what I was doing.' Despite his serious Bake Off persona, he has a sense of humour, as his part in the Compare the Meerkat TV ads shows. 'People who know me know I don't take myself seriously. The role I have in Bake Off is a role. Real life is very different. 'I am constantly taking the mickey out of myself. That advert tickled me so I said I'd do it. 'People were phoning me saying: 'Why don't you get off my television,'' he grins. 'Being on the TV wasn't a job that you looked at when I was a kid. Even my mum said that out of all of my brothers I'd be the last one to do that. I was quite quiet and shy. It just found me.' © Mark Bourdillon/Channel 4/PA Wire Any regrets? 'I have no regrets TV-wise. I feel I have done all the things I've set out to do. I'm contented with where I am and with what I am doing but it has taken me a long time to get that point. I live in the middle of nowhere and keep myself to myself. 'I'm doing what I did when I was young. 'I like a quiet life, reading old spy novels and flying stories, cycling, sitting in the sunshine and listening to good music. I'm a big fan of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. I'm a bit of a hippy really.' Paul's five-star work experience © PA Paul Hollywood worked as head baker at some of Britain's most exclusive hotels, including Cliveden, the Chester Grosvenor and The Dorchester, as well as the five star Annabelle in Cyprus, before getting his start in UK TV. In 1999 he co-hosted shows with James Martin for the Carlton Food Network and CFN Taste. Now heading into his 17th year with The Great British Bake Off, and with an MBE for baking and broadcasting, he remembers his salad days, juggling hotel work with TV. Recalling his meeting with his now pal John Torode in Cyprus, he says: 'He knew a chef I worked with in the hotel. Years later I came back to the UK and did a programme with James Martin, and John was one of the guests. He walked in and went, 'Oh my God, I saw your name but thought it can't be that guy from Cyprus. Well done mate'. 'I met Jamie Oliver when he was doing Naked Chef. He used to say, 'just do it mate, enjoy it'. But I was still working in hotels and TV wasn't my main job. It was a bit of icing on the side of the cake.' Now it's the main deal, who would Paul have bake his showstopper? 'Probably Raymond Blanc, he is a legend, a god. His food, and the way he approaches his food, is stunning… or Benoit (Blin),' he says, blue eyes sparkling. Celebrate: Joyful Baking All Year Round by Paul Hollywood is published by Bloomsbury
Sunday Post
9 hours ago
- Business
- Sunday Post
£80m for carbon capture shelved after Greens threatened SNP pact
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Vital funding to accelerate a carbon capture and storage project that could create thousands of jobs in Scotland was shelved after the Scottish Greens threatened to put their power-sharing agreement with the SNP at risk, we can exclusively reveal. It is one of a series of stark revelations uncovered by a Sunday Post investigation into why £80 million promised by the Scottish Government for the landmark Acorn project has yet to materialise. The Acorn project would see harmful greenhouse gas emissions piped under the North Sea and then stored, creating almost 5,000 long-term jobs and billions of investment for the Scottish economy. But we found squabbling between political factions and attempts to shift blame have caused the money to be held up at a time when the north east is haemorrhaging jobs. The SNP offered up the cash to encourage the UK Government to rethink after the Scottish Cluster, a group of decarbonisation projects focused on Peterhead Power station, missed out on funding in 2021. But earlier this year, SNP energy secretary Gillian Martin admitted there were no plans to pay out and claimed that investors do not currently need the cash. Previously unseen private communications, memos and briefing notes show: The Scottish Greens threatened to publicly disagree with the government's energy strategy if it handed out the £80m for carbon capture – a move that could have put the Bute House agreement in jeopardy. Emails sent between senior SNP figures and notes issued by special advisors indicate the funding was not originally conditional on UK Government support – as SNP ministers now claim. There was nearly three months of delay in discussing the funding at ministerial level while jobs were placed at risk. Net Zero secretary Michael Matheson was rebuked by UK energy minister Greg Hands for releasing details of their 'confidential' meeting so he could make an announcement ahead of an Environmental Information Request going public. Last night the GMB union described the revelations as 'shocking confirmation of ministers' inertia as a jobs catastrophe looms in the North Sea'. Meanwhile, nearly £22 billion has been promised over the next 25 years for Merseyside and Teesside, supporting thousands of roles. What does the Bute House memo say? A Bute House memo dated December 2022 – nearly a year after the £80m was announced – illustrates the power the Greens held over government energy policy at the time. It states the group had already been handed assurances of changes made in 'several areas'. The author, Green MSP Mark Ruskell, notes this is particularly the case in the Just Transition chapter of the government's plans. © KATIE NOBLE The note says the Greens would 'likely need to publicly disagree' with elements of the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan if it was published in its current form. It states the party would like to see any financial support for carbon capture and blue hydrogen come out of UK Government money, 'reallocating Scottish Government funding for other pressing priorities'. It adds that this includes reallocating the £80m projected spend from the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund on the Scottish Cluster. The Scottish Government had previously warned withdrawing the funding would give the impression that it no longer supports Acorn and would be contrary to the Bute House Agreement – an argument refuted by the Greens in the memo. Jobs 'still at risk' Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Douglas Lumsden said: 'This internal memo, hidden until now, shows the extremist Greens have had a veto on SNP energy policy for years. 'Although the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund promised £80m to develop the Scottish Cluster, the Greens said no. Then it was canned. 'Tens of thousands of Scottish jobs remain at risk because Patrick Harvie's paw prints are still all over Scottish Government policy.' © DC Thomson Environmental groups are sceptical of carbon capture and argue it props up the fossil fuel industry by hiding emissions, rather than cutting them. But the energy firms behind Acorn estimate the project will add £17.7 billion to UK GDP by 2050, create over 10,800 jobs during construction and sustain 4,700 long-term operational roles. It has been listed since 2023 as one of two new carbon capture projects awaiting formal backing by the UK Government following approval of the two clusters in England. Greens stand by carbon capture stance Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said his party has always been sceptical about both the Scottish and UK governments putting too much reliance on 'untested' carbon capture technology, adding that it is firmly opposed to using it as an excuse for more fossil fuel extraction or burning. He said: 'At best – if it ever works – it could reduce emissions from the residual use of fossil fuel while we do everything we can to shift to renewables. 'But it's too often being used as an excuse for business as usual, which is why it's no surprise to see the anti-environment Conservatives backing it.' © Jane Barlow/PA Wire The Scottish Government claims the delay in handing over the money is linked to the UK Government taking so long to approve the project. However, internal memos and correspondence reveal no such conditions were in place when the money was first allocated. In a letter to Shona Robison in December 2021 – six weeks before the Acorn funding announcement – Michael Matheson said the Scottish Cluster would be supported without caveat by the same £80 million from the same fund. This is parroted in a number of other pieces of correspondence sent by Matheson that have subsequently been obtained by The Sunday Post. Around six weeks later, advisers began to gameplan the 'conditionality of funding point', adding that the 'key point to make would be that the £80m is not enough, and UKG support is still required in terms of access to business models etc.' SNP minister rebuked We can reveal officials were then left scrambling to put out an announcement because a letter from Matheson to UK energy minister Greg Hands referencing the cash was set to be released to the public through an Environmental Information Request. But Matheson was given a dressing down by Hands on January 19 2022 for making the announcement following what was supposed to be a confidential meeting. Hands wrote: 'You had been seeking a meeting with me for some days, which I agreed to, but at no point during what I understood to be a confidential meeting between two ministers, was it said that a media notification would follow the meeting. 'Instead, we had I thought, agreed at the meeting that the two governments would work together, which is what I believe the Acorn project would want, and the people of Scotland would expect.' © PA Hands says he told Matheson during the meeting that the £80m funding 'needs careful consideration but does not address some of the key challenges'. These include the likely burden of ongoing revenue support payments and practical constraints of supporting multiple carbon capture projects in three different areas of the UK to launch at the same time. Further correspondence reveals the Scottish Government was not notified the Scottish Cluster would not be included in a list of fast-tracked projects before the announcement was put out publicly. © Thomas Krych/ZUMA Press Wire/Shu Three meetings between Matheson and Hands were arranged and then cancelled around this time and there was no direct response to the funding offer in Matheson's letter to the Chancellor in October 2021 or a subsequent letter from the first minister to the prime minister the following month. This meant there was a nearly three month delay in discussing the funding proposal at a ministerial level. 'Inertia and inaction' GMB Scotland secretary Louise Gilmour said needless delays in driving through investment for Acorn exposes the abject failure of UK and Scottish governments to protect the sector or deliver new jobs in green energy. She said: 'Offshore production and onshore supply chains are in crisis with thousands of skilled jobs on the line but, behind the scenes, our ministers are apparently spending their time on spin and squabbles. 'There is clearly no joined-up thinking between our governments and no concerted plan of action. Instead, there are politicians playing games. © Andrew Cawley 'There is only inertia and inaction while thousands of well-paid jobs are in peril along with the families and communities that rely on them.' The Scottish Government said its Programme for Government 'made clear' that it is committed to the £80 million of support. However no actual funding was allocated and the project was not even mentioned in the 2025-26 Scottish Budget. The government added that the funding is 'contingent upon the UK Government confirming a full-funding package and timeline for the Acorn project at the Spending Review'.
Scotsman
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
The Scottish football club back on the radar: 90-year wait, SPFL goal and closer ties desire
Cup final appearance means so much to chairman as rise continues Sign up to our Football newsletter 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... One of many illustrations of how football has changed can be traced in a match report from the last time Tranent won the Junior Cup final, a mere 90 years ago. According to the Sunday Post, 'only' 25,000 turned up at Ibrox to watch The Belters live up to their name when swatting favourites Petershill aside in a 6-1 win. It's not just football that's changed. Society has changed. Industry has changed. Mines have closed. The shop windows displaying scarves, hats and good luck messages as Tranent attempt to repeat their 1935 success against Johnstone Burgh this afternoon are as likely to be vape stores and tanning salons as butchers and bakeries. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Few, if anyone, in the town will have memories of Archie Roberts, the popular captain, being carried shoulder high down the high street on the triumphant return from Glasgow. As people gathered at Foresters Park to welcome the heroes, the East Lothian Courier noted that "an aeroplane pilot entered into the spirit of the occasion by swooping low over the crowd". Dapper Man barbers Muzzy Sezer and Eddie get behind Tranent Juniors ahead of their cup final. | Andy O'Brien Tranent are firmly back on the radar. As player, manager and now chairman, Brian Johnston, who turns 65 on his next birthday, has seen, if not quite everything, then certainly more than most. He's also laid a significant amount bare, having taken the brave decision to open up about his gambling addiction earlier this year in a short film broadcast on the BBC show A View from the Terrace. Veteran Tranent player Dean Brett, who was sacked by Cowdenbeath in 2017 for betting against his own team, did likewise. Johnston reasons that if it has convinced just one person who watched it to seek help, then it's been worth the discomfort of bearing all in front of the cameras. Remarkably, Johnston, who works for a firm selling office supplies in Edinburgh, estimates he lost as much as £1 million during what he calls his '40-year career in gambling', which ended 11 years ago. Even in his spell as Tranent manager, there were times, he recalls, when he would remove himself from the dugout during the game 'to get a better view' in the stand and sit and place bets on his phone. When he finally sought help and attended meetings, he found that half of those there with him he already knew from football. 'There were some right high-profile guys, people that had played in the English Premiership,' he says. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Town embraces Tranent Just off the plane after a short pre-cup final break in Tenerife, the engaging Johnston is in a happier place now as he contemplates a final showdown against Johnstone Burgh, for whom former Rangers and Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty leads the line. Tranent will be cheered on by about 1400 fans at Broadwood (around 2000 followed them to Ibrox in 1935, when the crowd was swollen by interested neutrals). 'The town has embraced the situation,' says Johnston. 'The shops have been given scarves to put in the window, and they've all done it. It's looking good. For mining towns like Tranent, football was everything. I mean, I signed for the club back in 1978 and I remember the crowds were between 1500-2000 every home game. It was a like a day out for the miners, the working people from all round about. It was not just Tranent, it was Macmerry, Ormiston… They were so well supported.' Johnston's debut for Tranent came in the Scottish against Johnstone Burgh, today's opponents. He came off the bench and scored the winner. He played for five seasons and returned as manager in 2009 for three seasons before stepping back, only to watch things unravel to an alarming extent. Dean Brett takes a penalty for Tranent. | Tranent Juniors 'About 11 years ago, it was near extinction to be honest,' he says. 'The ground was dilapidated, they had no players, they had no money, they were in debt. Local business guys Matthew Wright and Davie Innes decided to get involved and they transformed the place, with the help of a few other guys, Colin Dryburgh to name one.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Tranent won the South Division in 2016 before joining the East of Scotland league in 2018 and leaving their Juniors background behind (they were invited into this season's Junior Cup). Another step up came in 2022 when they won a play-off against Darvel, who, Johnston says, 'were flying at the time', to reach the Lowland League – tier five of Scottish football. They have also dispensed with the Juniors part of their name and joined forces with the local youth teams' set-up. 'Tranent Colts and Tranent Juniors were a completely separate entities,' explains Johnston. 'When I came on board I thought, 'This is mad – we should be part of the same infrastructure'. We dropped the Juniors name and they dropped the Colts name and we became Tranent Football Club.' Tranent's big aim The maroon colour of Tranent Juniors was retained, which means all teams, from youths to over-35s, play in maroon – although not in today's cup final, when Tranent have been assigned away team status and will play in blue (one of the old colours of Tranent Colts). 'Our aims and ambitions are to take the club to the Scottish Professional Football League,' says Johnston. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As well as an inspiration, nearby Bonnyrigg Rose are also a cautionary tale – they have shown it's possible to come back down again too. This hasn't put Johnston off, although in order to get the SFA bronze license status required for the SPFL small improvements, such as widening the pitch by just over a metre, are required. 'We can have a pathway for all budding football players in and around Tranent who want to potentially play in the Scottish league to play for their local club,' he says. 'I'd say that's the long-term ambition.' Tranent chairman Brian Johnston. | Brian Johnston It's possible that we might see Hibs v Tranent on the fixture card in the future, which would be interesting seeing as the former's training base is just over two miles away from Tranent's trim HQ. The Easter Road club moved in 18 years ago. What's it been like having the big boys in the locale? 'That is a bit of a sore subject to be honest,' admits Johnston. 'There is no link there at all. Even reaching out for a friendly has become impossible. They've always got other stuff on. I think they could be a lot closer to us than what they currently are. But that's up to Hibs and the way they want to run their model. 'I am a Hibs fan and it disappoints me that they do not offer a wee bit more support. Even a pre-season friendly v Hibs would generate a big crowd at Foresters. Any big crowd generates decent income. That's the kind of thing we need to get the finance to secure the bronze license. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Desire for stronger ties 'I wish our ties with them are stronger than they currently are. Every season I reach out (for a friendly) - we had one organised last season and at the last minute they cancelled. I just think they could be a wee bit more accommodating to the local community club, I really do.'
Sunday Post
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday Post
Travel: G&Ts and glamour on a girls' work trip to Kimpton Blythswood Square
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up I challenge anyone to name a better feeling than hearing the words 'we have upgraded you to a suite' at a reception desk. Especially in Glasgow's only five-star hotel. Standing in the lobby of Kimpton Blythswood Square, black and white marble tiles beneath my feet and crystal chandelier drooping above a dark grand piano to my left, I was already feeling pretty fancy. I politely declined the offer of a concierge taking my battered backpack upstairs to try and maintain that aura. My friend Julia and I looked at each other as we selected the top floor in the lift and headed up, not exactly sure what we were about to walk into. I can honestly say I have never seen a hotel room like it. One wall of the suite was made entirely of windows, with a view out onto a sprawling balcony and the city beyond. Waiting for us were all the makings of a Glaswegin G&T, which we assembled before continuing to explore. © Supplied by Kimpton Blythswood S We moved through the large seating area, along the windows and onto the bedroom, passing the black marble bathroom between. The balcony had not one, but two seating areas, the TV was hidden in the foot of the bed and the bubble bath was primed and ready to be poured into the huge tub. Though everything screamed luxury, it also felt homely. I would quite happily have moved in. Julia and I were in Glasgow for a big awards ceremony, taking advantage of the occasion to have a bit of a girly sleepover. Of course, part of the fun of going to an event is getting ready with friends. We sipped our G&Ts in front of the huge bathroom mirror, slightly ruining the vibe by scattering our make-up everywhere, and turned the corridor between the rooms into a catwalk as we finalised outfit choices. © Supplied by Kimpton Blythswood S While we were out, we took great pride in telling people where we were staying, and – a tad boastfully – showing off pictures of our suite. We got back late, but still with plenty of time to have the genius idea of ordering room service breakfast for the following morning. After a glorious sleep, we started the day in the only way you should after a late night: in the spa. Right on the bottom floor of the hotel, it felt a little like we were going down to another world; one of ultimate calm. Used to spas with a pool, sauna and steam room at best, maybe a jacuzzi if lucky, I couldn't believe how many things there were to do. It was almost like the most tranquil of water parks. The pool had a dark section, with stars on the ceiling mimicking the night sky. There were multiple saunas, one that was raised above the pool so you could sit inside and watch others swim. We didn't last long in the snow shower but it was fun to try, and the clarifying air of the Himalayan salt room really cleared us out. I think the tepidarium was my favourite area, with the heated marble loungers hard to leave. © Supplied by Kimpton Blythswood S Just as we had planned, breakfast arrived in our room as we did. We had ordered an array of fruit, yoghurt, pastries, tea and coffee, which were delivered on a tray for us to enjoy. Though we had a lot of fun on our trip, we were also there for work, so this was very convenient to give us time to catch up on emails. Continuing on the work theme, the hotel's gorgeous Iasg restaurant is the perfect place for meetings, which we had set up for the morning. We nattered over coffee, and it was lovely to be able to do that in the peace of the hotel rather than having to rush out into the city. Before heading for our respective trains home, we decided we had to try out some of the dishes on Iasg's new menu. The restaurant space itself is so stylish, with a 360 bar in the centre and black and white flooring tiles carrying through from the lobby. I sent photos to my boyfriend in the hopes we could take inspiration during our house renovations. © Supplied by Kimpton Blythswood S Luckily, both Julia and I are the kind of people who enjoy ordering a little bit of everything to share. We opted for the seared scallops, beef carpaccio, Shetland mussels and burrata, tucking in and mixing and matching. Everything was delicious, championing Scottish produce to the max, but our standouts were definitely the scallops and carpaccio. We had mocktails on the side because that felt like a necessary addition to finish off our girly sleepover. And, why not? There are cheaper hotel options in the city, but if you want a guaranteed treat Blythswood Square will deliver on all levels. The decor is gorgeous and you are made to feel special – even if your backpack is a little battered. From the calming spa and branded robes to the balcony views and delicious food, I will be dreaming about my next sleepover. © Supplied by Kimpton Blythswood S Factfile Rooms in Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel & Spa start from £190 for bed and breakfast. For more information, go to P.S. Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel & Spa has been a prestigious address since the early 19th century. It boasts 114 rooms and suites, ranging from double and twin rooms right up to a new two-bedroom penthouse. The hotel is around a 10-minute walk from Glasgow's Central Station, and not much further from Queen Street, so it's an easy option even if you are on a quick trip to the city.
