Edinburgh Castle Brightens Up

The floodlighting which has bathed Edinburgh Castle after dark was installed in the 1970s. It was based on aging sodium lamps, which gave a yellowish orange tinge to the stonework – as in the picture here. But this week Historic Scotland switched on 93 modern, energy-efficient ceramic metal halide lamps, which produce a natural white [...]

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Biofuels from Whisky

Researchers at the University of Abertay’s School of Contemporary Sciences have been awarded a Carnegie Trust grant to investigate turning residues from brewing and distilling into biofuel. The Dundee-based researchers will look at new ways of turning grain used up in the distilling process into bioethanol, an environmentally-friendly alternative to fossil fuels. Most biofuels are [...]

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Black Watch Play to Tour US?

The controversial “Black Watch” play, presented by the National Theatre of Scotland, is a due to premiere in Los Angeles on 21 September for a four-week run. It then moves to New York’s St Ann’s Warehouse, where the opening night has already sold out. Now the British Council, which has helped Black Watch into the [...]

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Polish Bar Opens in Edinburgh

Dillon Doyle is as Irish as a four-leafed clover, so you might have expected him to open an Irish-themed bar in Edinburgh. But instead, he has created the first traditional Polish bar in the capital. Of course, his Polish girlfriend might have influenced that decision, but with a range of Polish vodkas and beers, “U [...]

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Bats in the Palace

Hundreds of Daubenton and Pipistrelle bats have taken up residence in Linlithgow Palace – and the protected creatures are being treated like royalty. Mary, Queen of Scots, was born Linlithgow Palace in 1542 and when Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed there during the Jacobite Uprising of 1745/46, the fountain in the courtyard was said to have [...]

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