Scotland on TV Weekly News

Friday 28th March 2008

In this week's email: Carbisdale Castle Piping and Drumming, Family History at Glasgow's Mitchell Library, Enter The Dragon: Scottish Growth in China, Castles of Scotland - Caerlaverock Castle, Taming The Dragon, Dog Rescue Trainees - Glencoe, Scottish Tunes played on the Bagpipes, Politics Now.

Greetings from Glasgow on a somewhat damp and chillly day here! But let no more be said about that - on with this week's content!There's something of a Chinese theme this week. stv reporter, Cheryl Paul, has just returned from an amazing trip to China, where she was able to see how several Scottish companies are taking advantage of new opportunities there. Cheryl's series of short films in which she followed a Scottish trade delegation to China are being screened this week on stv. They are a fascinating insight into the way contemporary Scotland is reaching out globally and we thought Scotland on TV's audience would be interested in them too. We have two of Cheryl's films this week and there will be more next week.And, of course, details of all the new videos (apart from the daily news bulletins) are listed here to make it easier for you to find them! Happy viewing!


Carbisdale Castle Piping and Drumming Course

After years of exporting the pipes and drums all over the world, Scotland's home-grown bagpipers have been recently losing out in competition to overseas rivals. The country's top pipers feel it is time to get back to basics and concentrate on instructing the younger generations in order to regain the world crown. The College of Piping in Glasgow and the Ross and Cromarty Pipes and Drums School have joined forces to deliver a week-long piping and drumming Easter course at Carbisdale Castle, in Sutherland. The event is considered to be the biggest of its kind and expected to become a must on the Scottish piping calendar.

Family History at Glasgow's Mitchell Library - Part 6

In the final episode of this series Dr. Irene O'Brien, senior archivist at the Mitchell Library, reveals more examples of the Glasgow Poor Law Archives held at the Library. She unveils two very different and intriguing stories and highlights all the useful information included in the applications. Notes revealing personal details such as nicknames, health history, family relatives, places of origin and even drawings made by the Poor Law authorities, help exemplify the unique and valuable information found in these archives. Finally, Irene explains how to search for any ancestors that may have applied for poor relief in Glasgow. The Mitchell has a database for Glasgow Poor Law that contains the names of over 500,000 poor relief applicants from the 1850's to 1920's. The database makes it much easier for family historians to locate their Poor Law ancestors and can be accessed by anyone visiting the library. Otherwise, the staff at the Mitchell Library can also organise for copies of the Poor Law applications upon request.

Enter The Dragon: Scottish Growth in China (Report 1)

As the spotlight on China intensifies in the run up to the Beijing Olympics, economic development chiefs say Scottish businesses cannot afford to ignore the country's increasing wealth. China has seen huge growth in recent years and Scottish firms have been quick to get a slice of the action. The area that Shanghai stands on was marshland as little as 15 years ago. The city's phenomenal growth demonstrates its rising economic might and that is something economic development chiefs say Scottish businesses simply cannot afford to ignore.

Castles of Scotland - Caerlaverock Castle

Caerlaverock Castle, stands guard over the Solway Firth, close to the border between Scotland and England. It is surrounded by a deep moat and acres of marshy willow woods, also known in Scotland as a "Moss". Shaped like a shield, the Castle has 3 sides to it with a tower at each corner. One of the towers, however, is a double tower and is so high, long and wide it encompasses the draw bridge leading into the castle under it.

Taming The Dragon: The story of one Scottish success (Report 2)

Jiaxing, to the south west of Shanghai, has always been prosperous, but opening up to the outside world in recent years has seen development soar. Kirriemuir firm J & D Wilkie took the brave step of setting up a factory in Jiaxing - a move born out of necessity. In China, the firm employs 30 staff and with a quarter of the costs of the UK, they are hoping to double production.

Dog Rescue Trainees - Glencoe

The Search and Rescue Dog Association (SARDA) held its annual assessment 3-day course at Glencoe. Trainee recruits looking to join Search and Rescue Dog teams across Scotland were put through their paces. This included a flight in a Royal Navy Sea-King Helicopter.SARDA has been training dogs to search and locate people for mountain rescue teams for over 40 years. This year, all the dogs on the course passed with flying colours, taking the number of canine rescue teams to 25.

3 Traditional Scottish Tunes Played on the Bagpipes

Louise Marshall Millington plays Tail Toddle, Scotland the Brave and The Atholl Highlanders on the bagpipes, at the Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. Louise has been playing the bagpipes for over 25 years, and is devoted to promoting piping within Scotland. Her family, has travelled worldwide, providing entertainment and promoting Scotland's national instrument for over 50 years. For further information about Louise Marshall Millington, click here.


Politics Now

Thursday 27th March 2008 . Michael Crow and the Politics Now team examine the debate over Scotland's constitutional future. Michael is joined by Colin Fox, the Leader of the Scottish Socalist Party, in advance of his party's annual conference.David Martin MEP (Scottish Labour), Christine Grahame MSP (SNP, South of Scotland) and Bill Greig (Political Commentator) also join the Politics Now team, and discuss what else is making waves in Scottish Politics this week.