Scottish ceilidh in Edinburgh A ceilidh is a traditional Scottish night. Originally ceilidhs were informal social gatherings in people’s homes. Families, friends and neighbours gathered together and shared music, singing, dancing, poetry and storytelling. More recently, the word is used to describe a night based on Scottish traditional dancing.  In Scotland, ceilidhs can happen [...]

  Bog cotton plants Yesterday I took my bike (and camera!) up into the Pentlands. I found myself at Balerno farmers market first thing, photographing some musicians playing in the open air. It was a glorious hot sunny morning, so I decided to head up to Harlaw reservoir afterwards. After a dismally cold and windy [...]

  New crochet tram protest in Edinburgh As Edinburgh council’s Transport Committee meet to discuss plans for Princes Street when the trams are running, a new crochet tram protest has appeared in the city! The protester’s first ‘yarn-bombing’ piece was reported in the Edinburgh evening news in September 2012. This new piece of crochet work [...]

Pedal on Parliament, Edinburgh Earlier this month I joined the Pedal on Parliament ride in Edinburgh. As a keen cyclist for most of my life (I can remember badgering my mum to allow me out onto the road on my bike when I was only 6!) I was delighted to see that there were plans [...]

  Portobello beach, Edinburgh I love wandering along Portobello beach. It’s only a short trip from Edinburgh city centre to get to the coast. Despite that, it sometimes feels as if you’ve travelled miles to a distant holiday destination. And it does look particularly beautiful when the sun is out and the sky is blue. [...]

  Buy Scottish traditional music photos I’ve been taking traditional music photos at a wide range of events for a number of years. One thing that has become evident to me is that there’s a large number of individuals and small organisations putting on events across the country. Many don’t have easy access to good [...]

  Creative workshops on the island of Lismore Next month I’ll be taking part in a weekend of creative workshops organised by Mairi Campbell. Mairi has created a programme to inspire, with opportunities to get involved in photography, song, poetry or working with textiles. Mairi has been running hugely popular fiddle workshops based in Carnie [...]

  Bedroom tax protest in Edinburgh Today saw people taking to the streets in protest against the so called ‘Bedroom tax’. In Edinburgh. After assembling at St Andrews Square, the crowd of over 1000 marched to the Scottish Parliament building.

  Snow in Princes Street There’s been plenty of snow in Scotland this spring. After the warm spring of 2012, it’s been bit of a surprise to find that we have snow lying as we head into Easter weekend. I can’t remember when that last happened! But it does make the city look pretty so [...]

  Woods in Stirlingshire A couple of weeks ago I went on an impromptu short jaunt to Craigieburn woods in Stirlingshire with a couple of friends. The woods are near Bannockburn, not far from the M9. It’s a wonderful area of mixed deciduous woodland, on a hill overlooking Stirling to the north. It’s a fairly [...]