ROYAL BRITISH LEGION
The Royal British Legion Scotland offers a free war pensions advisory service which assists Veterans to claim a pension or gratuity for injuries or medical conditions that have resulted in disablement and which are attributable to, or aggravated by, their former military service. You do not have to have served in a war to submit a claim. For further advice telephone 01310 557 2782.
www.rblscotland.org.uk
 
ST ANDREWS
St Andrews British Golf Museum’s exhibition How Did They Get Here? Amateur Success In The Modern Game showcases the men’s amateur game from 1946 until the present day. It features the early careers of renowned professionals such as Colin Montgomerie and Jack Nicklaus. Also covered are the careers of players who have excelled in the amateur ranks and those who have gone on to become top-class professionals. It highlights the thriving amateur scene, covering a range of championships and international matches, from the Amateur Championship to the Jacques Leglise Trophy. Special display items include the original Eisenhower Trophy and medals won by Scotland at the 2008 event, medals won by five-time Amateur Champion Sir Michael Bonallack and the putter used by Peter McEvoy during his victories in the 1977 and 1978 Amateur Championship. This exhibition will run all year.
Telephone 01334 460046
PORTSOY
Glenglassaugh Distillery near Portsoy offers The Ultimate Tour conducted by distillery manager, Graham Eunson. You will see the filling store and the spirit receiver vat. There will also be an opportunity to visit the bottling facility and take a peek into racked warehouses 2 and 3. This distillery is a highly-regarded single malt Scotch whisky distillery founded in 1875. Visitors on The Ultimate Tour will also help to decide on exclusive future bottlings by nosing and tasting. A tutored tasting at the end includes a choice of two of the spirit drinks, the award-winning 26 year-old and 30 year-old single malt whiskies, plus the trophy-winning 40 year-old single malt. £80 per person – booking essential.
Telephone 01261 842367
 
SCOTLAND
The National Trust for Scotland’s Grey Mare's Tail Nature Reserve offers Mountain Navigation/Skills Days this month (and up to October.) Pre-booking essential. Equip yourself with a range of mountain skills by joining a mountain leader qualified ranger for a full day on the hill. Adults £25. Also on offer is Lochalsh Munros Guided Walks, starting this month. Kintail and the surrounding local area has the greatest concentration of Munros in the country. NTS offers guided walks up any of the 10 Munros on their property, as well as any other local peak from Loch Cluanie to Beinn Sgritheall. The ranger service also offers a range of less strenuous walks including a day trip to the Falls of Glomach, the UK’s highest single drop waterfall.
Phone 0844 4932231
GAIRLOCH
In 2008 Richard and Jill Holmes completed the conversion of an ex-P&O ship’s lifeboat and began trading as Gairloch’s Sealife Glass Bottom Boat. Their glass-bottom boat takes visitors out on the crystal clear waters around Gairloch, giving them an insight into a magical undersea world. Their venture has worked out so well, they are now a four star VisitScotland attraction, have won awards for excellence and their green approach to the business (gold status) and they have received plaudits galore from delighted customers. These include many young folk who love the way the couple tell lively stories right from the minute they get to the booking office, to the moment they get a chance to steer the boat. Richard’s commentary is equally informative for adults and while the couple give customers an exceptional wildlife experience, safety is never forgotten. Cruises run daily from Easter to October and are an hour and a half in duration – adults £18.50, children £12.50.
www.glassbottomboat.info
 
VARIOUS
The National Trust for Scotland offers many appealing events all year round. Wildlife Detectives for younger visitors at Glencoe Visitor Centre takes place this month (and up to mid-August) – become a wildlife detective and solve wildlife “crime”! Can you tell a fox print from a badger print? See if you can work out “who done it”. Suitable for ages 5-11, 1 hour. £2 per child. Meet 10.30am at Glencoe Visitor Centre. At Haddo House on May 4 the new play by Patrick Prior The Man Who Left The Titanic is staged. Adults £9, concessions £7. And why not join the Brodick Castle Garden Walk on May 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 at 2pm? Take a walk with the experts around these spectacular gardens to see the seasonal highlights of the castle’s plant collection.
Phone 0844 4932152
EDINBURGH
Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden’s Secret Garden: The Wild Woodland Garden of Larachmhor is an exhibition which runs until June 1 (Monday-Friday) in the library foyer, 20a Inverleith Row. Just outside Arisaig on the Road to the Isles in Lochaber lies a remarkable 28-acre garden, that for the past 50 years has been rescued and sustained by a diverse team of volunteers linked to the RBGE. This new exhibition recounts the history of the site and their achievements.­
 
NEWTON STEWART
Newton Stewart's WalkFest (May 11-17) is now firmly established as the biggest walking festival in the south-west. Galloway is a wonderful location for walking and whether you enjoy challenging hill walking or lower level themed routes, there is plenty on offer. The Galloway hills offer walkers a wealth of opportunity to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of rolling hills, countless lochs, waterfalls, and an abundance of plants and wildlife. There will be more than 20 walks on offer, including coastal and themed routes and social events. Transportation is also included.The programme includes Kirroughtree to Newton Stewart on May 11, a gentle woodland 5-mile walk starting at Kirroughtree Visitors’ Centre. The Mighty Merrick on May 12 is a more challenging 8-mile walk; participants will enjoy panoramic views from the top before descending over the Neive of the Spit past Benyellary and picking up the well-defined path to Culsharg to finish at Bruce’s Stone. Entertainment includes WalkFest's 10th Birthday Party and a talk and slide show Wildlife & Scenery of the Galloway Coast.
www.newtonstewartwalkfest.co.uk
CASTLE DOUGLAS
Knockengarroch World Ceilidh Festival takes place at Knockengorroch Farm, Carsphairn, Castle Douglas from May 31-June 3. This is a celebration of some of the finest music from the Celtic diaspora and everywhere in between. The World Ceilidh melds together the most ancient roots music with the latest cutting edge sounds, the first truly backwoods upland music fest in Scotland, hosting some of the best international musicians and performers in a natural greenfield auditorium. Performers will include Utah Saints, Baka Beyond, The Destroyers, Peatbog Faeries, Whisky River Boat Band and Sketch.
www.knockengorroch.org.uk
 
GORDON CASTLE
Gordon Castle Highland Games and Country Fair takes place on Sunday May 20 from 11am-5pm. Legendary competitor and former World Highland Games Champion, Hamish Davidson, will be coordinating the heavy events and will provide commentary. Top heavy athletes including Bruce Aitken, Scots Hammer World Record holder, will attend. In addition, these Games will feature traditional events and country pursuits – a Highland dancing competition, a falconry display, a Spey casting demonstration and fly fishing competition, clay pigeon shooting as well as solo pipes and massed pipe bands. A wide selection of local food and crafts will be available, as well as children’s entertainment and a fun fair. Prices on the gate, adults £7.50, children £2.50, concessions £5.
www.gordoncastle.co.uk/highland-games-booking
MOFFAT
Moffat Book Events will be bringing the doyenne of British gardening, Anna Pavord, to their festival of books and gardens, Beyond The Garden Gate. Saturday and Sunday May 26 & 27 offer two glorious days of visiting gardens, meeting authors and participating in events and conversations. Moffat Town Hall will host a gardening symposium. Also attending is international garden and landscape photographer and writer Jennifer Gough-Cooper who will be discussing her latest book Origins. World-famous Craigieburn Gardens, just outside the town, will be open free all weekend, and will also host events. Created by Janet Wheatcroft and Sherpa-turned-gardener Dawa, Craigieburn is full of contrasts and harmony. Further highlights include an evening of refreshments and readings in the Moffat garden of best-selling mid-20th century novelist and former resident D.E. Stevenson, and the irresistible opportunity to explore private gardens large and small around Moffat, sustained by tea and scones at St Andrew’s church.
www.moffatbookevents.co.uk
 
DENHOLM
Denholm is where the Border Bogie Challenge, the fourth, is being held on May 26. Border Bogie is one of the UK’s most exciting championship downhill bogie cart races, a fast-paced time trial race down a hill on a typical rural country road in a homemade bogie.
This event started as an idea when Tony Lockey and a friend were sitting looking at a hill one day and recalling childhood days when they used to build and race bogies. This challenge was born and is now part of the Scottish Grand Prix circuit. The Border Bogie Challenge differs from others in the UK as two, three and four wheel gravity machines can take part, there is a children’s half km race and this year for the first time a BMX/mountain bike “king of the hill” downhill ride is scheduled, a daredevil downhill run of 1km over jumps and obstacles in groups of four riders, made possible by the Cycle Investment Scheme. The Border Bogie Challenge is promoting the Youth of the Borders this year. On the Green, a selection
of good quality Scottish food and drink from a number of suppliers will be available.
Contact Tony Lockey on 01450 870 677 and see www.borderbogie.co.uk
DUNDEE
Dundee's Caird Hall plays host to The Armed Man, a musical evening on behalf of Erskine Hospital and the Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association, on Sunday May 20 at 7.30 pm. Featured stars are Dundee Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, under the baton of Don Grieve, in association with Broughty Ferry Amateur Operatic Association; and highlights include Walton’s Spitfire Prelude and Fugue and Feel The Spirit by Rutter.
Dundee City Box Office, 01382 434940.
 
FIFE
he Fife Diamond Garden Festival is a special ticket-only event when 12 wonderful gardens will be open (May 18-20.) It is the first Scotland’s Gardens event of its kind held as part of the Fife Diamond Garden Festival in honour of the Queen's Jubilee. As they prepare to open their gardens to the public in aid of charity, two families of Fife artists reveal striking similarities in the way they have created and developed their two very different “living canvases”. Irene and James Thomson’s garden at Glassmount in Kirkcaldy and Birgitta and Gordon MacDonald’s at Rosewells in Pitscottie, are two of 12 unusual gardens on view. Organised under the Growing & Giving banner by the local branch of Scotland’s Gardens, this event brings together enthusiasts from across the kingdom in an innovative fundraiser for the Fife-based Association for International Cancer Research and Scotland’s Gardens’ four beneficiary charities.
www.scotlandsgardens.org