Just south of Greenock, in Inverclyde, western Scotland, is a derelict business park called Spango Valley,…
Category: Scotland
When I was younger, my family went to Scotland every year for summer holidays. We’d spend a week or two in a self-catering cottage and explore whatever was interesting in that region. Over the course of the decade we went to almost every part of the mainland, except the very far North.
It’s therefore a place I’ve experienced a bit of throughout my life. It’s also one of those places where I have close friends so visiting isn’t as onerous as it could be. Plus there’s also quite a lot to see; it’s not just scenery (though that is a big draw). The history goes back several thousand years, with bronze age ruins and stone circles. There’s also multicultural cities, amazing wildlife, and, of course, whisky.
Many of my posts so far on Scotland are about the Outer Hebrides – remote even for the Scottish. However they’re definitely worth visiting; would you believe they have some of the best beaches in the country. I also talk about Glasgow – a city oft overlooked in favour of Edinburgh.
Podcast #073: The Cathcart Circle
Welcome to Episode 073 of my “Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure” podcast. As you know,…
A guide to Queen’s Parkrun, Glasgow
Queen’s Parkrun is the edition of Parkrun that takes place in Queen’s Park, in Glasgow’s Southside.…
Hiking the West Highland Way
The West Highland Way is the archetypal and most famous of the long-distance Scottish footpaths. In…
Hiking on Orkney
Hiking on Orkney was one of my major reasons for travelling there. My original aim was…
Neolithic Orkney Mainland
I always wonder about the pre-Roman peoples of Western Europe. Looking through the lens of a…
Papa Westray
Papa Westray, also known as Papay, is one of the smaller islands in the Orkney archipelago.…
Overview of the Orkney Islands
I’d been eyeing up Orkney for some time, especially after I visited the Outer Hebrides back…
Podcast #044: Orkney Islands
Welcome to Episode 44 of my “Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure” podcast. This podcast is…
Hiking in Ardnamurchan
Ardnamurchan is a peninsula in the far west of Scotland, lying about halfway up, kind of…
Why you should visit St Kilda
St Kilda, as far as we know, never existed. The name is likely to have come…