Saturday 24 October2°, cloudy
The lightSunrise 08:06 · Sunset 17:51
Good morning, and happy Saturday. A wet day across much of Scotland, with highs between 8 and 14 degrees. Tomorrow looks much the same.
Today’s weather
What is on today
Today’s interesting news
- Eden Mill is starting a weekend brunch on the top floor of its distillery at Guardbridge, looking out over the Eden Estuary.
- Kirkwall has been named a runner-up for Scotland's Town of the Year at the Scotland Loves Local Awards.
- Harry Gow, the Highland family bakery, reopens its rebuilt shop at Fairways Business Park in Inverness on Tuesday 27 October.
- The first stage of the 2027 Tour de France will race through Galashiels, Melrose and Hawick, with a sprint in Newcastleton.
- Two Asiatic lion cubs have been born at Edinburgh Zoo, the first lion cubs there in seven years.
On this day
David Stewart, the first Duke of Rothesay, was born.
The eldest son of Robert III and heir to the throne, he was the first to hold the title the heir still carries in Scotland. Rothesay Castle on Bute is open.
Read about Rothesay Castle
Free from the magazine todayFrom the magazine
Your Guide to Edinburgh’s Neighbourhoods
We take you round Edinburgh area by area, from the narrow lanes below the castle in the Old Town to the cafés and second-hand bookshops of Stockbridge.
Most cities divide neatly into neighbourhoods. Edinburgh doesn’t. It climbs, dips, squeezes, and stretches in a way that takes time to read. The differences between areas are historic, architectural, sometimes personal. For a visitor, that can be part of the appeal, but it helps to have a sense of where things begin and end. This section introduces six areas to help you get your bearings.
Read itThe Hermitage
On this morning’s cover · Dunkeld
Just west of Dunkeld, the River Braan tumbles through a wooded gorge under some of the tallest trees in Britain. The paths of the Hermitage wind among giant Douglas firs, their trunks rising straight as masts, with the river loud below, and in autumn the beeches and larches glow copper and gold. The walk leads to Ossian's Hall, a little round folly built in 1757 as the centrepiece of a designed landscape, and named for the legendary Gaelic bard.
Read about The HermitageScotland this week
The roaring is nearly over
These last few days
Red deer stags roaring across the glens. It peaks in the first fortnight of October. Keep well back and use a long lens.
Links You Can Reach by Train
There's something special about arriving for a round by train, with your clubs on the rack and the sea coming into view. Whether it's a short hop out of the city or a run up the coast, these are the links you can reach without a car.
Gatehouse Cottage
Sleeps 4 · 2 bedrooms · Inverness-shire
Aldourie Castle's pink-harled gatehouse near Dores, a little castle of its own for four among the larch and Scots pine.
Find out more about Gatehouse CottageInto the Gloaming
Inspired by her new book, Gloaming: Folklore, Recipes and Crafts to Spark Glimmers of Joy in the Darker Months, Rosie Steer explores how our ancestors learned to find the light and embrace the darkness in autumn and winter.
Read it in Issue 13There is a creature from the film Alien carved on the roof of Paisley Abbey.
When the roof's worn carvings were replaced in the 1990s, the carver David Lindsay drew a creature from the film Alien as a proposal, never expecting it to be passed. It was, and when a photograph of it went online in August 2013 it went round the world in hours.
See Paisley Abbey, Glasgow
“If the sun is shining you can’t beat a walk through Pollok Park (follow the river path). It is one of my favourite places to be.”
Natalie, Glasgow illustrator behind Nebo Peklo maps and prints
Get to know Scotland a little better
Haar is the Scots word for a cold sea fog that rolls in off the North Sea, most often on the east coast in spring and summer. It can turn a warm, sunny morning grey and chilly in minutes, while a few miles inland stays bright. If a coastal walk disappears into haar, heading inland for an hour or two is often the answer.
Coire is the Gaelic word for a corrie, the deep, rounded hollow scooped out of a hillside by a glacier, and English took the word from it. It is said roughly CORR-uh. Coire Lagan on Skye holds a lochan under the Cuillin, and Coire Gabhail in Glen Coe is the hidden valley known as the Lost Valley. North-facing corries often keep their snow well into spring.
Loch Morar, near Mallaig on the Road to the Isles, is the deepest body of fresh water in Britain, reaching 310 metres. Its western end lies only a short way from the sea, beside the white beaches at Morar. A small road runs a few miles along its north shore, and the loch has a monster of its own in local stories, called Morag.
Am Fear Liath Mòr, the Big Grey Man, said roughly am fer LEE-uh more, is said to haunt Ben Macdui, the second-highest mountain in Britain. The best-known account came from the climber Norman Collie, who told in 1925 of hearing footsteps following him in the mist near the summit, and of a terror that sent him running downhill. Others have since felt the same.
Weekend trip ideas from around Scotland
2 daysA winter weekend in the CairngormsTwo winter days from Aviemore: Grantown, the Lecht and Tomintoul, then Loch Morlich…
A dayAssyntA day out from Lochinver: Achmelvich, Clachtoll's beach and broch…
A dayA tour at Glencadam Distillery and Brechin's round towerA distillery tour at Glencadam in Brechin, one of Scotland's oldest distilleries…Somewhere there might be a tune
Bars that hold sessions, where the music is somebody turning up with a fiddle rather than a poster.
Three dates to look forward to
The clocks go back
Sunday 25 October
Sunset in Edinburgh moves from 5.51pm to 4.48pm overnight. After it the sun sets before five in Lerwick, and soon after three by December.
What is on that weekendHalloween
Saturday 31 October
Samhain, the old new year, when fires were lit on the hills.
What is on that weekendSt Andrew's Day
Monday 30 November
A bank holiday in Scotland, and a lot of historic buildings open their doors for free.
What is on that day
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