…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
In this Guest Blog, poet & novelist John Burnside reflects on the land, nature, folk and elite power. John’s most recent book is a collection of short stories, called Something Like Happy (Jonathan Cape). This essay was first published in The
Continue readingImage © John Paul Photography Allan Macrae 1939 – 2013 Allan Macrae was the crofter who led the campaign by the Assynt Crofters to reclaim their land in 1992. His family had been in Assynt for generations and his great
Continue readingI am delighted to publish this Guest Blog by Douglas McAdam who is chief executive of Scottish Land & Estates. The article first appeared in the Herald newspaper today. It is published here in the spirit of a mature debate and
Continue readingThe tortuous negotiations over the next Common Agricultural Policy reached a conclusion of sorts today although some of the details remain unclear. This morning BBC Radio Scotland invited me to speak about the implications of “capping the CAP” – an
Continue readingAt the weekend we got back to the hills after a period of enforced confinement due to work and school exams. We decided to camp high on the Lochngar plateau and stravage around the hills on Sunday before returning home.
Continue readingImage: Commander Chris Hadfield With kind permission of the West Highland Free Press, this Guest Blog reproduces Brian Wilson’s column in today’s paper. The back of the envelope duly arrived in Sleat last weekend Brian Wilson, 14 June 2013 The back
Continue readingImage: Jane Lawson, London (Doctors’ Commons) : Judd & Co., 1881 We are pleased to publish this Guest Blog from Professor James Hunter, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of the Highlands and Islands. From 1998 to 2004 he was
Continue readingAlex Salmond gave an interview to BBC Alba at the Community Land conference on Skye on Friday (see previous post of today) in which he appeared to rule out the use of compulsory powers as part of any new measures
Continue readingLibrarians are important people. They provide order to what would otherwise be chaos in the world’s store of knowledge. The most common way this is done is by the Dewey Decimal Classification system which ensures that you can find information on any
Continue readingPhoto: Roxburghe Estate Photo reference Library Yesterday in Parliament there was a debate on land reform (Official Report here and watch here) initiated by the Labour Party. Congratulations to them for doing so. Eighty years ago, in 1923, when Labour
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