The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle – News From Scotland

Tuesday 22nd August 2017

"Madainn Mhath” …Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. Clear sky this morning, and no moon, so that means lots of stars all competing for attention in the heavens.. toad I am off to Malaga as Sandra is performing Cataract Surgery on 12 clients, so our walk is short as I am taking her to the Vistalaser Clinic in Malaga, and while she performs eye surgery, I get to relax and lay on the whites sand on the beach, so good book big bottle of water and suntan lotion are the order of the day.. Bella gets to stay with David and Paula my son and daughter for the day…

SKYE RESTAURANT SCOOPS FOOD INDUSTRY ‘BIBLE’ AWARD…. Isle of Skye restaurant The Three Chimneys has been named the Editor’s Choice Restaurant of the Year by the restaurant industry “bible”, while chef Andrew Fairlie’s eponymous eaterie has been ranked one of the ten best in the UK. A further five Scottish restaurants featured in the Top 50 of the new edition of the Good Food Guide, while there were 12 new entries in the guide from north of the border. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, which is part of the luxury Gleneagles resort, was ranked eighth in the guide and praised for its “French approach to outstanding Scottish produce”, which “results in dishes that have an obvious classical gloss”. Other Scottish restaurants which appear in the top 50 best in Britain are The Peat Inn in Fife and Edinburgh’s The Kitchin, Castle Terrace and Restaurant Martin Wishart. The Three Chimneys was named number 25 on the list, as well as winning the Editor’s Choice award. Elizabeth Carter, Editor of The Good Food Guide said: “It is superbly satisfying to come across a restaurant that knows just what it’s doing, without seeming to try.”

VIRGIN TRAINS AZUMA CROSSES BORDER FOR FIRST TIME…. A brand new Virgin Azuma which will replace 40-year-old trains on the east coast main line made its debut visit to Scotland today. The test run from Doncaster to Dunbar was the first of a series north of the Border in the run-up to the trains entering service late next year. Their superior acceleration will cut Edinburgh-London journeys by 22 minutes to four hours from 2020. Even greater journey time reductions are expected on other Virgin Trains East Coast routes between London and Aberdeen, Inverness and Glasgow. The Azumas will replace 1970s vintage InterCity 125 “High Speed Trains” on the two north of Scotland routes, and another fleet on the Edinburgh and Glasgow lines which are nearly 30 years old. The test train - currently known only by its 800 101 number - is expected to visit Glasgow next, followed by Aberdeen and Inverness.

VISITSCOTLAND ESTIMATES TOURISM WORTH ￡11BN TO ECONOMY…. Scottish tourism is worth more than ￡11bn to the economy, according to a new assessment carried out by VisitScotland. The tourism body has calculated the value of direct and indirect spending, and concluded it represents 4.5% of the Scottish economy. The new analysis is intended to show how tourism compares with other key growth sectors. Those sectors include finance, energy and life sciences. A paper which is being prepared by the government's tourism development agency says current thinking fails to capture the full value of visitor spending. Including day visits to tourist attractions, the agency calculates direct spend amounts to ￡8.9bn. The additional spend comes from indirect spending, as money circulates through the supply chain of goods and services.

COASTGUARD HELICOPTERS IN LONG-RANGE SEA RESCUE OFF LEWIS…. Two coastguard helicopter crews were involved in the rescue of an ill fisherman 200 miles (321.8km) off Lewis. The crewman on a fishing boat became unwell on Wednesday. Stornoway Coastguard helicopter flew to the boat while Inverness Coastguard helicopter flew close by in support during gale force 9 conditions. The fisherman was first airlifted to Benbecula before being flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. The long-range operation involved winching a member of the Stornoway Coastguard helicopter crew to the fishing boat in deteriorating weather conditions. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the weather and sea conditions were challenging. Capt Andy Pilner, who was piloting the Stornoway helicopter, said: "The sea state was rough to very rough, resulting in the fishing vessel suffering considerable heave, pitch and roll, which made the winching difficult. "The vessel did all it could to help make the transfer as safe as possible, steering a course to minimise the effects of the sea, while volunteers from the crew grappled with a heaving-in line to attempt to stabilise the winchman and casualty. "Nevertheless, it was a challenging winch that went well given the conditions of the deck."

FIRST LOOK AT SAOIRSE RONAN'S MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS…. The first image has been released of Irish-American actress Saoirse Ronan as Mary, Queen of Scots. Universal Pictures and Working Titles are making the film of Mary Stuart's turbulent young adult life. Ronan, who was born in New York to Irish parents, is in a cast that also features Australian actress Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I. Scots actor and former Doctor Who David Tennant is also to appear in the film. Production has started on the film which is expected to be released in cinemas next year. Ronan's breakthrough film was 2011's Hanna, in which she played a teenage assassin opposite Cate Blanchett. Her other movies include 2013's The Host. Others to have played Mary have included Vanessa Redgrave, Samantha Morton and Zarah Leander. Born at West Lothian's Linlithgow Palace in 1542, Mary's early years were spent at Stirling Castle, Inchmahome Priory and Dumbarton Castle before she was taken to France in 1548. She returned to Scotland in 1561 to begin her reign as Queen of Scots and moved into Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. Mary was executed at Fotheringhay Castle, on 8 February 1587 at the age of 44.

On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the news from Scotland today, 

Our look at Scotland today is of Caerlaverock Castle ….. one of Scotland’s great medieval fortresses.

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Tuesday 22nd August 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in 

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus