Tom Bruce-Gardyne : Scotland Magazine

God's own cruising heaven

Tom Bruce-Gardyne goes cruising around Scotland's beautiful west coast, but don't mention the weather.

Scotland does not slip smoothly into the sea, at least not for the most part. Rather, its coast is endlessly jagged and dramatic, with the west in particular marked by a series of giant slanting sea lochs that cut far inland. It is said that if you measure every bay, loch and indent of Argyll and B...

Scottish Cruises from Issue 13 published on 25/3/2004

Scotland's Land of Diversity

TOM BRUCEGARDYNE REVEALS THE MYSTERY OF A LANDLOCKED COUNTY LINKING LOWLAND SCOTLAND TO THE HIGHLANDS

On the day she returned from Scotland with her husband Prince Albert in 1844, Queen Victoria was already suffering serious withdrawal symptoms. That night back at Windsor Castle, she wrote emotionally in her journal of how she missed the fine hills and the mountain air “so pure, light and brisk. “...

Regional Focus from Issue 7 published on 7/3/2003

Fyne Oysters

TOM BRUCE-GARDYNE INVESTIGATES SCOTLAND’S PIONEERING ROLE IN THE
RESURGENT POPULARITY OF SHELLFISH

Let us roister with the oyster – in the shorter days and moister That are brought by brown September, with its roguish final R For breakfast or for supper, on the under shell or upper, Of dishes he’s the daisy, and of shell-fish he’s the star. This little ditty appeared in the Detroit Free Press in...

Scottish Seafood from Issue 6 published on 6/2/2003

Christmas Spirit

TOM BRUCE-GARDYNE INVESTIGATES THE CREAM OF SCOTCH WHISKIES AND LIQUEURS FOR THE PERFECT FESTIVE TIPPLES

News that around two thirds of Scotch whisky is now sold during the festive season would be no great surprise to those who invented the drink back in the 15th century. Originally whisky was very much a seasonal brew, distilled after the harvest and drunk until it ran out, hopefully not before the sp...

Scottish Christmas from Issue 5 published on 4/11/2002

A scenic dream

For many people, the real Scotland is to be found in the Highlands. Tom Bruce-Gardyne heads north

If it is true what they say, that Scotland has a split personality, on the one hand reserved and slightly dour, on the other passionate and sometimes sentimental - it is perhaps not entirely surprising. The country itself is split in two by a giant geological rift which runs south west to north east...

The Highlands from Issue 4 published on 9/9/2002

A free spirit (Glasgow)

Tom Bruce-Gardyne takes a swift trip back in time on contemporary Glasgow's streets

For a brief historical tour round Glasgow one place to start and possibly finish would be the St Enoch Centre on Argyle St. Despite her somewhat curious name, St Enoch was the ‘Mother of All Glasgow’ who set up a religious community here with her son Mungo in the 6th century AD. While Mungo went on ...

Regional Focus from Issue 1 published on 5/3/2002

Poor Man's Feast

Edinburgh based haggis makes Macsween's have a burgeoning reputation as the best in the business. Tom Brude-Gardyne discovers just what makesa Macsween's haggis so different from the rest...

Anyone seeking to break into Macsween’s, the only custombuilt haggis factory in the world, first has to wrestle with Robbie Burns. By day this life-size papier mâché model of the great poet appears friendly enough, standing by the entrance offering visitors a haggis in his outstretched hand, but by ...

Made in Scotland from Issue 1 published on 5/3/2002