Ellie Forbes

1 week ago | scottishfield.co.uk | Ellie Forbes

David Starsmeare shares two of his poems to mark VE day. The poems are from a set which take us from the early days of war, his times as an evacuee in the West Country, and then back to London.  Celebrations VE DAY, May 1945Wounded in France long years beforeOur father would not let us put out any flagsTo celebrate the ending of the war. Too many dead he said, too many cities burned. Yet he took us into London on the trainTo see celebrations of the Peace. There were lessons to be learned.

1 week ago | scottishfield.co.uk | Ellie Forbes

Now seasoned ocean rowers with world records under their belts, the Maclean brothers are currently on day 22 of their extraordinary 9,000-mile row across the Pacific Ocean. But back in 2019, when they set out to cross the 3,000-mile Atlantic in a 28-foot boat, the Edinburgh trio had no rowing experience. A new documentary – now live on STV Player – tells the story of adventure, family, positivity and their self-confessed poor preparations for the ocean adventure that lay ahead.

1 week ago | scottishfield.co.uk | Ellie Forbes

The Macallan has launched two single malts inspired by Scottish artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh, including a 46 Year Old whisky. Inspired by Mackintosh’s 1902 stained-glass panel The Spirit of the Rose, The Macallan’s new The Tree of Life Collection features two limited edition single malt whiskies. The rarer of the two releases, the 46 Years Old was crafted from two sherry seasoned oak casks from 1979 that matured across the decades in Speyside.

1 week ago | scottishfield.co.uk | Ellie Forbes

A popular Aberdeenshire seafood restaurant has opened its second location – but it’s 3,000 miles away across the pond in the US capital, Washington, DC. Fish Shop, in Ballater, opened in 2023 to rave reviews and has won many accolades since. Now owners, Artfarm – a hospitality and development firm run by owners of Braemar’s Fife Arms Hotel – have decided to open up in America.

1 week ago | scottishfield.co.uk | Ellie Forbes

Author and Director of The Saltire Society Mairi Kidd on the best book she’s read this year, her childhood memories of reading and the authors who inspired her. The first book I remember reading:I remember reading a Topsy and Tim book in church – I imagine the idea was to keep me quiet. In my memory, one of them gets stuck in a chest freezer, but I hope that’s wrong. I still have many of my childhood books, and indeed many of my mum’s childhood books, but not that one, so sadly I can’t check.