Scotland on TV Weekly News

Friday 11th April 2008

In this week's email: The Loch Ness Monster - Holidaymaker's Film, Scottish Recipe: Cock A Leekie Soup, Weir's Way, Scottish Kickboxing World Champion, The Edge of the Land, Scotland's Oldest Tennis Champion, Ballater's Victorian Railway Carriage, Moray Cashmere's Royal Connections, The Loch Ness Monster - The White Witch.

Welcome to this week's Scotland on TV newsletter. One of the great things about working on Scotland on TV is the opportunity we get to delve into the stv (Scottish Television) archive. This week, Richard was despatched to see what more was in the library about the Loch Ness Monster. His first hunt for Nessie footage was really productive and those films are all found here - and today we're adding two more to the collection. Also from the stv archive is another episode from the ever-popular Weir's Way. This programme sees the late Tom Weir visit the Roman village of Cramond in Edinburgh to discover more about its past. More details of this and the rest of this week's new videos can be found below.

Happy viewing!

The Loch Ness Monster - Archive News Footage
From the stv News Archive: Back in 1992, one glorious sunny day, a Scot (who wanted to remain anonymous) was filming at Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness. He captured a large moving object in the water, close to the banks. It was too large to be a seal, it had white markings of some sort and was making a definite wake. The footage left marine experts intrigued. What do you think?

Scottish Recipe: Cock-A-Leekie Soup

Another tasty recipe from Anne Mulhern of Glasgow's Willow Tearooms this week - delicious Cock-A-Leekie soup. It's so simple to make, especially using Anne's video guide and our written recipe.
And if you'd like to know more about the Rennie Mackintosh Willow Tearooms, just click here

Weir's Way

Tom Weir dons his iconic bobble hat to visit the Roman village of Cramond in Edinburgh. The village is situated on the East side of the River Almond, where it creates a natural harbour.
Cramond was founded in 1656, and spent a brief period in the late 18th and 19th centuries as an industrial village. Excavations have revealed that the village has a Roman past. A fort was built at the mouth of the River Almond, and a medieval parish church was built within the fort. This then went on to give the village the name Caer Amon, meaning "Fort on the Almond." Many coins, weapons and other Roman artifacts have been excavated from the site. Tom also visits the Huntley House Museum, on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, and speaks to Nick Holmes about items which date back over 500 years.

Scottish Kickboxing World Champion

A young Fraserburgh mum has had the biggest win of her career. 25 year-old Adele Steinbach has become Britain's first World Kickboxing Network (WKN) champion.
Adele, who is already the British and European champion, defeated the favourite, belt-holder Coralie Fourel of France, on points. Adele is a single mum, who only took up the sport five years ago, and who juggles family and training with work at her local fish factory. Adele went into the fight as the underdog but as her nickname, 'Stinger' suggests, she knows how to pack a punch! Her next challenge might be in the Caribbean in June where she has been invited to compete in the world low-kick title fight.

The Edge of the Land

A classic episode from the stv archive which offers spectacular aerial views of Scotland.
In this episode, the journey begins at the Isle of May, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth. It continues over Kirkcaldy, Kinghorn, the island of Inchkeith and Burntisland.
It then loops back to reveal more aerial views, this time covering Granton in Edinburgh, Portobello and then on to Berwick upon Tweed.

Scotland's Oldest Tennis World Champion

Scottish pensioner George Stewart from Scone, Perthshire is visited by Gerry McCulloch from stv's five thirty show. At the age of 88, George is certainly not a man to settle for a comfy chair, pipe and slippers. He is Scotland's oldest tennis World Champion. George and his partner Gerry Ells beat the favourites in the doubles final of the over-85s Super-Seniors World Championships in New Zealand, retaining the title they won the previous year in Turkey. 88 years old and still going strong, George challenges Gerry to a tennis game. Watch the video to see how they get on…

Victorian Railway Carriage Opened in Ballater

The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay (Prince Charles and Camilla) stepped back in time on Royal Deeside when they visited Ballater Station to officially open an authentic reproduction of Queen Victoria's saloon carriage. Painstakingly hand-crafted to mirror the original housed in York, the life size replica was commissioned on the suggestion of Prince Charles. It is 100 years since a Victorian carriage last graced Royal Deeside. Now that this is complete, it will form part of the permanent exhibition at the tourist information centre, giving the public a chance to see the splendour in which Queen Victoria once travelled. (stv News covered the carriage's arrival in Ballater, late last year. You can view the video here)

Moray Cashmere Given Royal Approval

Charles and Camilla, Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, have also given the royal seal of approval to textile firm Johnstons of Elgin, in Moray. The company is one of the world's leading textile and cashmere producers and has recently built a new £1.5 million heritage centre and shop alongside the existing retail and mill buildings.
Of particular interest to Charles and Camilla were the new Castle of Mey Tweeds being woven by the company. They are designed to enhance a special range of textiles as well as food from the far north.

Loch Ness Monster - Archive News Footage

From the stv news archive: 2003. On Friday 13th, the most superstitious day of the year, white witch, Kevin Carlyon was forced to return to the shores of Loch Ness to undo a spell he cast two years previously to protect Nessie from Swedish monster hunters trying to trap her. He feared that the original spell he cast had worked too well, making Nessie disappear altogether. Local bookmakers were so convinced of the success of the new spell working they slashed the odds of a sighting from 1000-1 to just 10-1.