The former Ross County and Sunderland striker earned the latest of his two Scotland caps in 2022, but free from injury problems he has now scored 11 goals in 33 appearances for the side who finished fourth in the Championship, five in his latest 10.
Fellow 29-year-old McBurnie did not add to his 18 goals in 41 appearances but also played his part for sixth-top Hull as he started both legs of their 2-0 aggregate win over third-placed Millwall.
The former Sheffield United and Las Palmas striker recently telephoned Clarke to make a direct plea for a first recall since earning his 16th cap in 2021.
All 48 national associations were asked to submit a provisional squad of up to 55 players to world governing body Fifa before finalising their 26-man squad for the finals.
They are not required to make those public, so it is not known whether either Stewart or McBurnie made Scotland’s extended list.
It is likely to include current members of the under-21 squad and uncapped players like Stephen Welsh, the 26-year-old centre-half who has impressed on loan to Motherwell from Celtic.
However, Clarke said last month that he was “more or less set in my mind” about the 26 players he intends to take to the finals, although he revealed that two spots might still be up for grabs.
Clarke is known for his loyalty to players he believes have served him well, but Conway’s injury could open up another space.
Scotland host Curacao, who have just reappointed former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat as head coach, in a 30 May friendly at Hampden before their final warm-up game against Bolivia on 6 June in Harrison, New Jersey.
France score 11 tries on their way to a resounding 69-28 win over Scotland, to set up a final day showdown with England for the Women’s Six Nations title.
With domestic football in Iran suspended because of the ongoing conflict, Nazon is following an individual training programme to prepare for the World Cup.
The Haiti squad have become heroes for leading the nation back to football’s grandest stage, where they will make just their second appearance at the finals.
Nazon acknowledges that the players are now “part of the country’s history” but insists they will play without “extra pressure”, starting with their opener against Scotland.
“We are ambassadors of our country and we know we have a responsibility,” he says. “We know the young people also see us as examples.
“But we don’t have to put extra pressure on ourselves and, when we play for our country, it’s more a mission and we do it with passion and with love.”
On loan at St Mirren from Belgian club Sint-Truiden for the second half of the 2018-19 season, Nazon “had a story” in Scotland. It was short-lived, though.
The forward played 12 games, scoring twice, but said he was “not ready for this kind of aggression and fight” in Scottish football, while the weather also played a part.
“I remember one game we had sun, snow and rain,” he recalls. “After this, I was like, OK, I’m done.”
Weather is unlikely to be an issue for Nazon this summer in North America. The striker, a friend of Scotland defender Dominic Hyam – with whom he played at Coventry – did, however, voice concerns about inflated ticket prices for the upcoming World Cup matches.
“There is only one thing that starts to go in my brain – it’s the ticket prices,” he says. “Hopefully this is not going to affect the crowd and people coming to the stadium, because we want this atmosphere.
“We want this energy around us. I’m looking forward to seeing Scottish people and Haitian people in the stadiums. This is going to be important.”
In new pictures, Ross appeared to be thrilled to join them, flashing a thumbs up at a camera before getting into a waiting car. Other snaps showed his fellow soap legend Julie Hesmondhalgh jetting to the area ahead of filming.
Teasing what led to the Grant Mitchell star deciding to take part, an insider told the Sun: “He loves Traitors and thinks it’s a programme on another level, which is why he really wanted to take part.
“Ross loved the mix of psychological intrigue paired with some of the very physical trials that the group have to complete – both suit him perfectly.”
He is also reportedly hoping to appeal to a younger generation of viewers, who could be less familiar with his career so far.
“Plus he knows The Celebrity Traitors won’t just be watched by people who are familiar with his work, but by younger viewers who may be less familiar with Ross, and this opens him up to a whole new audience. He’s also a very BBC name and this is another big BBC show,” they added.
Joanne McNally, James Acaster and Joe Lycett were also named in the line-up, alongside social media content creator King Kenny, Love Island presenter Maya Jama and Romesh Ranganathan.
Industry actress Myha’la and Professor Hannah Fry rounded out the cast with Sharon Rooney, James Blunt, Sebastian Croft and Sharon Rooney.
While the gang have been all smiles so far while heading to Scotland, things will get very tense once filming kicks off and suspicion over the game sets in. Shortly after filming, the 21 celebs will be sorted into “faithfuls” and “traitors” as they battle it out for the charity cash prize.
It will be up to those faithfuls to weed out the sneaky traitors, who have been tasked with secretly killing them off in nightly visits to the turret.
Following the huge success of the first season, where around 15million people tuned in to see Alan Carr win the competition as a Traitor, fans have been eagerly-awaiting news of a second series, and have already predicted Michael, Richard and Miranda could be this year’s “big dogs ”.
The air date has not yet been announced, but the hit show is expected to return to screens in autumn.
Our two England fans fly out of Heathrow on Monday, 15 June with return flights to JFK in New York costing just over £500 each – which is good value.
With the Three Lions’ final group game taking place in New Jersey, it is the most cost-effective way to travel to the US and back, with the first stop being Dallas.
After landing in the States, they pick up a flight to Dallas the same night – this costs £283 per person.
Four nights at the Hampton Inn & Suites Dallas Market Center cost £624 (£156 a night) for a twin.
Double rooms, which are more available in all cities, come in cheaper at the Hilton Dallas Medical District at £560 (£140 a night).
Both properties have breakfast included, meaning Dallas – which also has free shuttle buses from stations to the stadium in Arlington – is an affordable start to the trip.
The England supporters fly to Boston on Friday, 19 June with the fare £378 each.
Boston is at the other end of the scale as one of the more expensive host cities for accommodation.
Our couple stay at the Hampton Inn & Suites Boston Crosstown Center, costing £1,650 (£330 a night), including breakfast, for five nights.
The cheapest twin-bed option in the city itself is £2,041 (£408 a night) without breakfast at the Courtyard Boston Downtown/North Station.
It is possible to book a hotel near the airport £500 cheaper but with five days in the city, it may not be worth the saving.
With England’s third game being in New Jersey, there is no need to take a flight. The supporters can hop on the Amtrak train to New York on Wednesday, 24 June with tickets £42 each.
Unlike in Boston, there are still lots of hotel options in New York with a five-night stay before the flight home on 29 June.
A double at the Truss Hotel Times Square costs £1,184 (£237 a night) while a twin at the AMTD Idea Tribeca Hotel is £1,275 (£255 a night).
This time, however, you will need to head out for breakfast.
But the last two games come with a sting – train tickets to the stadiums cost £59 per person from Boston and £114 from New York.
Just to get to the States and travel around, the estimated costs for two friends are £6,273 and for a couple £5,855.
And what of the family? It is going to cost £9,008 to get to the States, get around and put your heads down.
Costs are helped by some hotels offering free stays for children.
In Dallas, the Comfort Inn Dallas Medical-Market Center costs £627 (£156 a night).
The same Hampton Inn is used in Boston with a higher cost of £1,763 (£353 a night).
Over in New York, the Holiday Inn in Times Square costs £1,589 (£318 a night).
With 13 medals between them, Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall and Paul Foster lead the Scotland bowls team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer.
The vastly experienced duo will link up in the men’s pairs event, which they won at Glasgow 2014.
Marshall, who has seven Commonwealth Games medals in his collection, said of his eighth selection: “It is always such an honour and privilege to be selected to represent Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.
“To have another opportunity to be a part of a home Games is also not lost on me, and I know that Paul and I will give it our very best to try and win a medal for the team.”
Marshall’s niece Beth Riva, who won 2025 World Championship mixed pairs gold with Jason Banks last year, joins Caroline Brown in the women’s pairs.
Banks will make his Team Scotland debut in the singles event.
Bowls Scotland announced the host nation’s squad on Tuesday, with the Commonwealth Games bowls events running from 24 July to 2 August.
For the first time in Commonwealth Games history, all of the bowls and para bowls events will be played indoors, taking place at the SEC Centre.
In the para team, Pauline Wilson, Garry Brown, Robert Barr and his director Sarah Jane Ewing are all aiming for repeat golds after topping the podium at Birmingham 2022.
The best oysters of my life arrive on a polystyrene tray, eaten elbow-to-elbow with strangers at a table littered with empty shells and damp paper napkins. We huddle beneath a tarpaulin, sheltering from the fine spray of rain rattling on the roof, the wind whipping around the hulking CalMac ferry moored metres away, and the beady-eyed scavenging gulls.
“Have you tried this? You have to,” says a woman who has driven from Glasgow just to eat here, pressing a rollmop herring into my hand. I take a bite, the thick skin giving way to sweet and salty flesh, juices running down my chin. Elegant dining this is not, but all the better for it. This is Oban Seafood Hut, tucked beside the ferry terminal for boats heading into the Sound of Mull. Diners shuffle around a shared table, listening for order numbers, with plates piled high with langoustines, crab and oysters. It’s cash only. In the back room, a team of women butter thick slices of soft white bread for crab sandwiches, wrapping them in clingfilm without ceremony, to be sold within minutes.
Illustration: Graphics/The Guardian
Often on Scotland’s west coast, it’s the least assuming places that are worth seeking out. The hotel down the road may have a wholesaler on speed-dial, while a shack in a car park is serving seafood brought ashore just hours before. Though west coast seafood is rightly lauded across the world, it’s here, eaten metres from the water, that it tastes the best. For years Scotland’s best seafood went directly to top restaurants in major cities, but now more of it stays local. Whether enjoyed in a shack, a windswept croft or cosy dining room, there’s a commitment to getting the freshest fish and shellfish to the most people, in a way that honours the produce, people and landscape.
The Oban Seafood Hut. Photograph: Emily Marie Wilson/Alamy
And a new generation of cooks is making the most of local produce, cooking it simply and letting the quality speak for itself. In a small car park in Scourie, a village strung along the road between Lochinver and Durness, is Crofter’s Kitchen. Grant Mercer was previously head chef at the nearby Kylesku hotel, but became convinced local seafood shouldn’t be reserved for fine dining. With his wife, Heather, he opened the modest shack on their working croft by the beautiful sandy beach, and started cooking it for everyone. The ethos is a 30-mile menu, built entirely around what is landed locally, so it changes constantly, “sometimes daily, sometimes mid-afternoon if the catch dictates it”, Heather says. The house special is hand-dived scallops from around Handa Island, about a mile from the kitchen, served with chorizo risotto and chilli black pudding. No white tablecloths required.
In Ullapool, Kirsty Scobie and Fenella Renwick started The Seafood Shack trailer above the harbour, determined to keep more of the local catch in the town. Both from fishing families, their close-knit supplier connections guarantee the best of the day’s catch, and the menus are built around it. Think lobster macaroni cheese, crab claw salad and haddock tacos. After years of cooking through Highland weather, they are finally building a permanent restaurant on the same site. Whether this means the season (usually April-October) will be extended, we’ll have to wait and see.
I also love the Creel Seafood Bar in Fionnphort, on Mull, beside the Iona ferry. I confess I skipped touring Iona Abbey to make sure I didn’t miss last orders, but the langoustine and chips were worth it.
Same name, different island, The Creel in Elgol on Skye sells freshly cooked cold seafood from their horsebox near Elgol beach, ideal if you’ve booked a wildlife tour nearby. The “Elgolian” squat lobster rolls are the best seller, for very good reason. It’s a wild spot, making opening hours very weather dependent, so check their social media first. The Oyster Shed at Carbost, also on Skye, is another gem. Run by an oyster farmer, it’s a simple setup with picnic table seating and the quality is sky-high.
Between Lochinver and Durness, Crofter’s Kitchen – a modest shack on a working croft by a beautiful sandy beach. Photograph: Ailsa Sheldon
On the mainland, Blas na Mara Seafood Shack in Fort William is a brilliant addition to the town, and the “lunchbox” with Loch Linnhe langoustines, mackerel paté, salad and oatcakes makes a very special picnic.
Growing up in the Lochaber region, to me Crannog was the definition of fancy. When it opened in Fort William in 1989, it stood as a rare beacon of fine dining in the Highlands. Lochaber should always have been a gastronomic haven, its west coast and sea lochs producing Europe’s finest seafood. It wasn’t. Instead, refrigerated lorries thundered through the villages, carrying Mallaig’s catch south without stopping. Fisher Finlay Finlayson helped change that, transforming a bait shed on Fort William pier into a distinctive red-roofed restaurant. The ethos was simple: serve the freshest seafood possible. It’s where I had my first oyster, saw lobster served and discovered the quiet magic of restaurants – setting a standard for the Highlands, and for me.
Today the original lochside restaurant is storm-battered and awaiting repairs to the town pier, so it has relocated to the safe haven of Garrison West on the High Street. Here, chef Philip Carnegie runs a tight ship, with beloved staples like mussels, oysters and Cullen skink still in place. Portions are hearty, and they need to be: often diners arrive after a day on the hill or celebrating the end of the West Highland Way. Try the Mallaig cod with mussels, and always check the specials board.
Another favourite is The Pierhouse hotel by the Lismore ferry in Port Appin, which offers a welcome refuge, with cosy fireplaces and warm service. The menu tells you who caught your supper and from which nearby loch. The best tables overlook the pier, where you may see the catch arriving. Order fresh Loch Leven rope-grown mussels cooked in cider, Loch Creran oysters, or push the boat out and share The Pierhouse platter.
The Oyster Shed at Carbost on Skye serves fresh scallops and chips on whisky barrel tables. Photograph: Kay Roxby/Alamy
Loch Leven Seafood Cafe (on the north shore) is a perfect casual pit-stop if you’re heading west, or after a day in Glencoe. Freshly cooked and simply served, there’s often more unusual seafood here, such as fresh razor clams and surf clams with garlic butter. The shellfish soup with aioli is superb.
Some meals require more of a trek. Until last year, Gareth Cole ran Café Canna, raising the profile of food on the eponymous pint-sized island, and giving it a forager’s twist with dishes such as dulse seaweed croquettes and kelp miso ramen.
He has now moved on to a new culinary adventure on the Isle of Coll (a 2hr 40min ferry ride from Oban) that promises to be worth the journey. The Urchin is named after one of Cole’s favourite ingredients. “There is an unbeatable larder on this island,” he says. He has recently started a brewery too. The Boathouse on Ulva is also worth travelling for – it requires a ferry to Mull then a tiny passenger boat to Ulva, but the seafood, welcome and views make up for the journey.
As a food and travel writer I’m lucky to have eaten all over the world, but it’s here, where I grew up, I’ve had my best meals. After years eating my way around the Highlands and Islands, it’s a delight to have discovered so many more places – and to see more creative chefs succeeding.
Back at Oban Seafood Hut, I watch a creel of live langoustines being hauled out of a small boat and sent straight to the kitchen. Perhaps I’ll stay just a little longer …
With its cheery, cherry-red tin roof, you can’t miss the sturdy stone bothy on the Ben Damphestate. The family-owned 5,868-hectare (14,500-acre) estate nudges up to Loch Torridon, and the bothy, constructed from the ruins of an old black house (a traditional thatched home), has views over the loch to the mountains beyond. Restored by a team of stonemasons, it has two rooms (each sleeping two) warmed by log burners. The furniture has been made from the estate’s timber by a local cabinet maker. Between the two rooms is a “sitooterie” with picture windows framing views over to Ben Alligin. There’s no electricity, but there is running water and a gas-powered hot shower next to the bothy; a compost loo is in the garden. Sleeps 4, from £342.50 for two nights, bendamph.com
Gastropub and bunkhouse, Cairngorms national park
The Old Bridge Inn has a dogs-under-the-table vibe and roaring fire. Photograph: Rupert Shanks
Squirrelled away among the trees on the banks of the River Spey and on the edge of Aviemore, the Cairngorms’ outdoor activity capital, the Old Bridge Inn is a gastropub with a handful of hip hostel rooms. The dogs-under-the-table inn has a roaring fire and is famous for its folk music sessions. By the riverside beer garden, paddle boarders, canoeists, wild swimmers and anglers make their way on to and into the river; while for climbers, hikers and mountain bikers, the forests and hills of the Rothiemurchus estate are on the doorstep. The bunkhouse has a vintage chic vibe, with seven en suite rooms and dorms and a kitchen – although if you don’t fancy cooking, head next door to the pub and tuck into Strathspey venison samosas with carrot and cumin sauce and roast hispi cabbage. Dorm beds from £30, double rooms from £85, family rooms from £95, oldbridgeinn.co.uk
Hotel and bunkhouse perfect for exploring Glen Coe
Kingshouse Hotel, a smart hostel with panoramic views from its restaurant. Photograph: Fencewood Studio/Alamy
Not much can match Glen Coe for jaw-dropping grandeur. This majestic glen is hemmed in on one side by the jagged peaks of the challenging Aonach Eagach ridge, and to the south, the buttresses of Bidean nam Bian. In 1692, one of the most infamous massacres in history took place here, government forces slaying the MacDonald clan as they slept. Today, it’s a giant outdoor playground, its bleak beauty drawing Munro-baggers, hikers and mountain-bikers. The West Highland Way also passes through the glen, with walkers bedding down in Kingshousehotel and bunkhouse, a smart wooden hostel with charcoal-grey tin roof. The hotel’s glass-fronted restaurant gives panoramic views of the valley. From £44 for a bunk, £54 for a bunk and breakfast, kingshousehotel.co.uk
Remote cottage on the car-free island of Ulva
Bearnus bothy is off grid but thoughtfully kitted out. Photograph: Andy Primrose
Anyone who binge-watched Banjo and Ro’s Grand Island Hotel will know how picturesque the little community-owned, car-free Hebridean island-off-an-island of Ulva is. A short boat ride from Mull, it’s just 7½ miles long by 2½ miles wide. A 5-mile tramp from the pier (next to the excellent Boathouse restaurant) through dappled woodland and along a coastal track, brings you to Bearnus bothy. Perched above a beach where you can go swimming, this little off-grid cottage has been thoughtfully kitted out by Andy and Yvette Primrose, who also run the island’s hostel. Battery-operated fairy lights are strung around the bathroom – fill the old tin bath with water heated on the wood-burning stove. There are games, stacks of novels, guidebooks and maps, and Crocs and wellies to borrow for island yomps. Sleeps 2, from £121 for a two-night stay, airbnb.co.uk
An inn with rooms and fresh seafood on the Isle of Skye
The village of Stein on the Isle of Skye. Photograph: Ruth Craine/Alamy
Charlie Haddock fell in love with the Stein Inn on her way to the Outer Hebrides years ago. In 2019, she packed up her life in London and moved her family to the remote Waternish peninsula to run this whitewashed waterfront hostelry dating from 1790, the oldest inn on Skye. Charlie works front of house and in the kitchen, preparing the langoustine, lobster and crab landed just a few feet from the door (her son and daughter help out in the holidays). The five rooms, all with sea views, were spruced up in 2024 with dove grey tongue and groove, burnt orange headboards and modern artworks. From about £80 B&B, thesteininn.co.uk
Eco-hostel on Rannoch Moor
Loch Ossian hostel is powered by a wind turbine and solar panels. Photograph: John Bracegirdle/Alamy
Originally a timber-clad boathouse and stables, the old-school Loch Ossianhostel was built around 1895 on the eponymous loch’s shores by Sir John Stirling Maxwell, the owner of the Corrour estate. A passionate environmentalist, in 1931 he handed the building over to the Scottish Youth Hostels Association. Today, the ivy-green and white-trimmed award-winning eco-hostel, hunkered into the windswept wilderness of Rannoch Moor, is powered by a wind turbine and solar panels. It has compost toilets, a reed bed grey-water drainage system and non-toxic, bat-friendly paint. There is no access by car; catch the train to Corrour station then hike (20 minutes) or bike in. Beds from £25 a night, hostellingscotland.org.uk
Hotel with panoramic loch views
Kylesku hotel, a gourmet bolthole right on the water’s edge
Sipping your morning coffee in the sleek wooden extension of the Kylesku hotel, a 19th-century coaching inn in the north-west Highlands, you can watch the fishers unload their catch on the slipway through picture windows. Right on the water’s edge, overlooking Loch Glendhu, this gourmet bolthole on the North Coast 500 route has 11 rooms – four in the modern annexe, Willie’s Hoose, next door; two with a sea loch-facing balcony. The rugged Assynt landscape is a Unesco-designated geopark, and the hotel offers a range of activities, from guided storytelling walks to sea kayaking and photography workshops. From about £109 B&B, highlandcoasthotels.com
New architect-designed bothies in Argyll
Dreamy sea views from the Croft Collective’s new boltholes.
A derelict croft was the first property to be turned into an off-grid, hillside hideaway on the Lochnell estate. It is lit by hurricane lamps, and outside there’s a wood-fired, sycamore-shaded, hose-filled vintage bath with views over the bay. Now, the Croft Collective’s next batch of bothies is about to be completed. Three architect-designed boltholes, named after birds you can spot along the shoreline – oystercatcher, curlew, kittiwake – will open in June. Just a pebble’s throw from the beach, wide-angled views over the Lynn of Lorne to the Isle of Mull in the west, and the Ardnamurchan hills and the mountains of Morvern, are framed by vast windows. Each bothy has a Japanese-style sunken bath, also with dreamy sea views, hammocks, and binoculars to scour the bay for seals, otters and eagles wheeling above. From about £220 a night, thecroftcollective.com
Lochside conservation village, Wester Ross
The Plockton Inn has had a jaunty revamp.
On the shore of Loch Carron, Plockton is a 19th-century conservation village that’s picture-postcard pretty, with yachts bobbing in the bay and palm trees fringing the waterfront. The Plockton Inn has recently had a jaunty revamp – blowsily colourful rooms with floral feature walls, crimson chairs and navy paintwork are split between the old inn, Sorley’s House over the road and The Haven next door. After a day spent visiting nearby attractions such as Eilean Donan Castle, one of the most photographed in Scotland, tuck into creel-caught langoustine or “Plockton prawns” landed on the pier. From about £170 B&B, highlandcoasthotels.com
Cabin with brilliant sunset views on the Isle of Lewis
A cabin at Croft 10 smallholding on Lewis. Photograph: PR
Watch the sunset from your bed in this cute cabin by working coastal croft Croft 10. The smallholding is grazed by a flock of Hebridean sheep, the ground scratched by hens (farm-fresh eggs for breakfast). The wooden cabin faces west for spectacular sunsets and an ever-shifting seascape. Scour the water for whales and dolphins, and the sky for birds of prey soaring above Broad Bay. Just under 8 miles from Stornoway on the remote Hebridean isle of Lewis, it’s walking distance to the restored Shulishader Steps. Clamber down to the cove, a wild swimming spot, for a dip. Or head out along the recently completed coastal path, the Point and Sandwick Trail. Sleeps 2, from £120 a night, hostunusual.com
So what to make of a day which delivered history for Scottish women’s sport, as well as a 12-try demolition?
It is true, England are not the benchmark for Scotland.
Victory away to Wales last week was a solid start, and now it is all about the response in Italy next week and trying to beat Ireland in the final game, either side of a home game against France.
But all performances are crucial to building momentum and keeping the fans coming back, as Malcolm herself said.
Just ask the Scotland women’s football team, who have seen crowds shrink back at Hampden amid a struggle to qualify for major finals.
The Scotland captain, as ever, got the tone spot on when summing up a strange day.
“Today was about so much more than just the game,” Malcolm said. “For those of us that have been around 10 years plus – we’ve come from back pitches with a couple of people in stands.
“To even arrive today and get the reception we got was phenomenal. It’s a result of the work we’ve done as players on the pitch to put in performances that make people want to come back.
“Today wasn’t one of them. But that doesn’t take away from what we’ve created over the last 10 years to make this happen.
“We’re at the beginning of a new journey. We’re going to keep pushing to get back to that point to put in a performance in that stadium that fans can be proud of.”
Some 8,000 years ago, behind the retreating glaciers, a remarkable environment was born on the western fringes of Scotland’s Outer Hebridean islands, forged by the wind and waves. It began with rising sea levels and sweeping Atlantic gales depositing crushed shell-sand inland; this settled over glacial sediment to form a coastal belt of lime-rich soil. Buffered from the sea by mounting sand dunes, this winter-wet and summer-sunned substrate produced one of Europe’s rarest habitats: the “machair”, Gaelic for “fertile grassy plain”. Abounding in diverse, colourful wildflowers and an array of associated wildlife, coastal machair is a precious, globally important outpost of biodiversity, supporting everything from purple orchids and nodding blue campanulas to endangered birdlife, otters and rare bumblebees.
As a wildflower fanatic, visiting the Outer Hebrides in peak machair bloom has long been an aspiration. Over the years, I’d read accounts of its arresting, vibrant seasonality – its shifting blankets of red and white clover, yellow trefoil and creamy eyebright, bold against the sky. Although remnant machair is also found in north-west Ireland, its greatest extent lies on this Scottish archipelago, notably the islands of Barra, Uist and Harris.
Moreover, here it has a fascinating symbiotic relationship with crofting, the traditional, small-scale agriculture unique to Scotland’s Highlands and Islands. For generations, crofters have managed areas of machair as low-intensity pastureland, improving its fertility, grazing livestock and growing crops on sustainable cycles sympathetic to wildlife regeneration. With crofting undergoing a quiet resurgence on the islands, and many crofters exploring new ways of sustaining an old way of life, experiencing the Outer Hebrides appealed to me all the more. Last summer, I finally made the trip, travelling from Barra in the south right up to Lewis – and it was everything I had hoped for.
Now a parent of two young boys, and with the machair’s flowering season falling squarely within the school holidays, it was clear this trip would need to be a family affair. I pitched it to my wife: “Fancy a holiday of white sands, turquoise waters and local food?”
“Sicily? Sardinia? Greece?” came the expectant reply.
The Isle of Barra, ‘unquestionably one of the prettiest islands’. Photograph: Ian Rutherford/Alamy
Thankfully, she was won round with the promise of fresher-than-fresh salmon, unrestricted space to exhaust the boys and, appealing to her interests in history and design, the islands’ heritage of traditional crafts. But there was one other necessary sell: in order to cover all islands in one go, and to allow for surprise and discovery, we’d need to travel by motorhome. Having spent last summer negotiating the confines of a family tent, this, too, was agreed. With swivelling car seats, a three-hob stove and a sky bed deemed certifiable upgrades, we were off.
Collecting our motorhome from Just Go outside Edinburgh and driving the mountainous, lochside road towards the west coast, we spent two nights at pleasant North Ledaig caravan park, outside Oban, the primary port for the Western Isles. Perched beside the placid waters of Ardmucknish Bay, we underwent some necessary pre-island preparations: namely, getting to grips with motorhoming essentials (wastewater disposal, tethering breakables, navigating single lanes), and refamiliarising ourselves with the inescapably chaotic nature of travelling with small children. Thus decompressed, we were borne across the Sea of the Hebrides on a CalMac ferry to Barra, the second most southerly of this spectacular island chain.
As I had read multiple times when researching this trip, the Isle of Barra is not to be overlooked. At a mere 9 by 7 miles, it is among the smaller islands, but unquestionably one of the prettiest. A short, easy drive from the landing at Castlebay village – marked by medieval Kisimul Castle, protruding from the water – brought us to Borve Camping & Caravan Site, where we pitched in view of waves crashing upon blackened gneiss boulders.
Over the next two days, we explored the quiet, colourful island and that of smaller Vatersay (connected via a causeway), hiring bikes, taking coffee mugs on to the marram grass dunes, and making sand tunnels at stunning beaches Traigh a Bhaigh and Tangasdale. Approaching the latter, I got my first taste of machair, my heart singing when suddenly surrounded by yellow bedstraw and kidney vetch, red bartsia and scattered orchids. A magical quality of machair, I quickly learned, is that its detail can appear disguised at a distance, owing to the complexity of species. Once up close, thousands upon thousands of low-lying flowers are revealed in an effect akin to pointillism.
The writer’s wife and youngest son on Traigh a Bhaigh beach on the Isle of Barra. Photograph: Matt Collins
Machair has hosted crofts for centuries, its light, workable soil contrasting with therocky peatland often prevalent across the islands. Considered a semi-natural habitat, it is sustained by the low-intensity agriculture practised by crofters: locally harvested seaweed (kelp) is spread as an organic fertiliser, enriching and preserving the sandy soil and providing sustenance for migrant birdlife. Similarly, cycles of crop and fallow benefit wildflower regeneration and support ground-nesting birds, while silage harvesting is carefully timed to protect endangered species such as the corncrake.
Some of the most impressive machair is found at the RSPB reserve of Balranald on North Uist, where the mixture of fallow wildflower fields and areas under cultivation (for cereals such as barley, black oats and hebridean rye) shows as a subtle patchwork over the landscape. Camped on the reserve itself – our highlight campsite – my eldest and I spent a memorable evening wandering back from the beach through the engulfing blooms.
While on South Uist, we visited crofters DJ and Lindsay of Long Island Retreats & Larder, who subsidise their livestock crofting by hosting island experiences, from island and machair tours to sheep shearing demonstrations.
“Our love of the land and the livestock is what drives us,” Lindsay told me, meeting at the smart “larder” shop that she and DJ – a sixth-generation crofter – run from their home at Loch Skipport. “But we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing if it weren’t for all the people that came before us.”
Lindsay said it is common for crofters to have second jobs, but having started a family, they sought new avenues to make their crofting more viable. In recent years, the Scottish government’s crofting agricultural grant scheme has made money available for agricultural improvements, business development and croft house refurbishments, encouraging many crofting families to diversify their income streams.
Machair has hosted the small-scale agriculture of crofts for centuries. Photograph: Matt Collins
Farther north on Harris, we stopped by Croft 36, a crofting enterprise that’s part of the growing Outer Hebridean culinary scene. Operating from an unmanned honesty-box kiosk, Croft 36 offers homemade soups, pastries and other baked produce made with machair-grown ingredients.
Our journey was punctuated by memorable meals, almost all of them found at a pop-up of one kind or another, often out in the wilds: the scallop and black pudding bun devoured at The Wee Cottage Kitchen food van on the North Uist coast; the salmon at Namara Seafood Cafe. On Lewis, the Crust Like That takeaway pizzeria – a shipping container isolated in dramatic moorland – offered haggis-topped pizza. And don’t get me started on the cake-packed honesty boxes dotted around like treasure chests.
The freedom of the motorhome meant that these and so many other discoveries could be enjoyed along the road. Travelling the islands this way gave a great sense, too, of their shifting character – of Barra and Eriskay’s pristine coves, Uist’s freshwater lochs, and the hilly, moorland drama of Harris and Lewis.
By the time we were heading back to Edinburgh from Ullapool, I was losing count of the special moments. We’d seen peregrines, hen harriers, basking seals and diving gannets, and spent evenings off-grid on breathtaking remote beaches. We’d swum sunlit coves (none more sparkling than at Eriskay and west Berneray) and made hot chocolate for the boys on the pebbles. When it rained, there were heritage museums, charming cafes and woollen mills; Stornoway’s An Lanntair arts centre and the poignancy of Geàrrannan Blackhouse Village in Lewis, its restored 19th-century drystone houses conveying the challenging life of a once prominent crofting community.
And the machair left an impression not easily forgotten: a rare floral spectacle I now understand as a lifeblood of these islands.
The PFA Scotland Premiership Team of the Year for the 2025-26 season is dominated by Motherwell and Hearts players.
Fourth-placed Motherwell lead the way with five, while table-topping Hearts have four.
Celtic midfielder Benjamin Nygren, who has scored 19 goals in all competitions, and Rangers defender Emmanuel Fernandez make up the XI voted for by footballers through their union.
Motherwell goalkeeper Calum Ward, defender Paul McGinn, midfielders Elliot Watt and Elijah Just plus forward Tawanda Maswanhise, the league’s top scorer with 17 goals, have all been selected.
They are joined by Hearts defenders Craig Halkett and Harry Milne as well as forwards Lawrence Shankland and Claudio Braga, who have 33 goals between them in all competitions.
The individual PFA Scotland nominees will be revealed later this month, with the winners announced on 3 May.
PFA Scotland Premiership Team of the Year for 25-26: Calum Ward (Motherwell), Paul McGinn (Motherwell), Craig Halkett (Hearts), Emmanuel Fernandez (Rangers), Harry Milne (Hearts), Benjamin Nygren (Celtic), Elliot Watt (Motherwell), Elijah Just (Motherwell), Tawanda Maswanhise (Motherwell), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts), Claudio Braga (Hearts).
Winning tip: Bothies and a fogbow in the northern Highlands
After trekking in from near Oykel Bridge, our group stayed the night at Choire Mhoir and Magoo’s bothies (conjoined Mountain Bothies Association and non-MBA bothies, both free) in the northern Highlands. Emerging from the bothies come morning, a fog hovered between the mountains leading up to the summit of Seana Bhràigh, peaking out above, and Loch a’ Choire Mhóir below. As the sun rose, the fog steadily lifted, but not before creating a magical fogbow above the loch and bothies. Rory
Stone age on two wheels in Orkney
Standing stones of Stenness. Photograph: Barbaraaaa/Getty Images
We took our bikes on the ferry from Scrabster on the mainland to Orkney (worth the trip on its own for the views of the Old Man of Hoy) for a spin round the island to take in some of the most impressive neolithic sites in Europe. Starting in Stromness, we headed north to Skara Brae, then looped round to Kirkwall via the must-see road sign for Twatt. The next morning we spent exploring the majestic Ring of Brodgar and nearby standing stones of Stenness. The setting, where the lochs of Harray and Stenness meet, is spectacular. These neolithics clearly had an eye for the dramatic! We finished with Maeshowe burial chamber before catching the ferry back to the mainland. Matt Lunt
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Total escape on Harris
Luskentyre beach in Harris. Photograph: Westend61/Getty Images
I had a child-free week last summer and for my first solo trip chose the Outer Hebrides. The adventure began on the ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway where I spotted minke whales and acrobatic dolphins. I stayed in one of Wigwam Holidays’ cosy shepherd’s huts on a croft in Harris, painted the colours of a Hebridean sky with rich tweed blinds and a wood-burning stove. Storm Floris hit while I was there and I had endless windy beach walks seeing otters, sea eagles, grey seals, my mind clear to write poetry and daydream. I have never struggled to return to normal life so much after a trip; a total escape. Lynda Gairns
West coast campervan epic
Hannah on the path along Loch Morar from Morar to Port Tarbet. Photograph: Hannah
We did a campervan trip along Scotland’s west coast and ended up loving the quieter spots most. Kinlochewe, a village in Wester Ross, is stunning in good weather. I climbed 981-metre Slioch from there, which has incredible views over Loch Maree (with a bit of scrambling near the top). We then stayed near Gairloch and enjoyed the huge beaches and views out to Skye and the Outer Hebrides. My favourite stretch was near Mallaig: walking along Loch Morar to tiny Tarbet, then getting the boat back, it felt so remote. Ardnamurchan was also a highlight with Sanna beach, a quick climb up Ben Hiant on the drive over, and watching an otter one evening. Campsites were £10-£33 per night. Hannah
Exploring Scotland’s longest peninsula
Moira’s photograph of Skipness beach on ‘wonderfully unspoilt’ Kintyre.
Last year we opted for Kintyre for our Scottish break and found it wonderfully unspoilt. As the country’s longest peninsula it has west coast island scenery all around, without the hassle of ferries. As well as the Kintyre Way coastal path, we enjoyed fish and chips at Tarbert harbour and explored the region’s whisky capital, Campbelltown. A final highlight was a peaceful picnic on Saddell Bay (location of Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre music video), where Anthony Gormley’s GRIP sculpture now looks out over Kilbrannan Sound towards Arran. Moira B
A city break in Glasgow
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Photograph: Robert Wyatt/Alamy
Arriving in the city for the first time ever at Glasgow Central, it seemed to me that’s exactly how a station should look. Off I went in search of the handsome Kelvingrove museum, Billy Connelly’s banana boots (currently at St Enoch shopping centre) and the small and thoughtful tenement house run by the National Trust for Scotland that tells the poignant story of an independent, single woman who lived there virtually all her life. Glasgow tells the history of its people as it is, and nowhere more so than the Barras flea market. The Mackintosh tea rooms proved an excellent pit stop. It’s so sad to think that Charles Rennie Macintosh died in obscurity and relative poverty at the age of 60 but his legacy is everywhere, including the Glasgow School of Art, diminished after the fire, but it will in time rise again. Liz Owen Hernandez
Community-owned Hebridean island
Margherita climbed the hill Sgòrr an Fharaidh on Eigg to take this photograph towards Rùm. Photograph: Margherita
We spent an unforgettable week on the Isle of Eigg at Cleadale Bothy (£80 a night, two-night minimum). Cleadale is one of the most northern settlements on the island, surrounded by wild and windy beaches, views to the south of An Sgùrr (the island’s single peak) and the Mordor-esque hills of the island of Rùm, native bluebells everywhere, and screeches of manx shearwaters at night. The island, which is 12 miles off Mallaig on the mainland, is community owned and very welcoming – while we were there we were invited to a free film night. There’s a shop, a bar, a brewery, a tiny museum, and a watersport equipment and bike hire outlet (no cars can be brought on to the island by visitors). Margherita
Rewilded Southern Uplands
Forest regeneration in Carrifran. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy
Carrifran Wildwood in the Moffat Hills is a landscape shaped by care and determination. Volunteers have returned native trees to the once-bare glen, and the scale of what they have achieved brought a lump to my throat when I first saw the valley open out from the viewpoint. It is a hopeful place, showing how collective effort can heal the land and create something enduring for future generations to experience. At the wood, there are paths and information boards for visitors, and nearby Moffat has independent shops, a museum and a park with a fantastic kids’ play area. Hannah Price
Coastal Aberdeenshire might not be as popular as the Highlands and islands, but Stonehaven is a great place and one of my favourite Scottish seaside towns. A nice shingly beach, a (heated!) seawater lido and a fantastic seafront ice-cream shop called Aunty Betty’s are a few of the town’s attractions. But it’s nearby Dunnottar Castle that is the biggest draw for me. Views of the coastal medieval fortress are, for my money, some of the best and most dramatic in Scotland. Then there is Aberdeen, a 20-minute train ride away from Stonehaven, with its lovely art gallery and striking granite architecture. Some day, I hope to go up for Hogmanay to experience the Stonehaven fireball festival. Emma R
Shelter from a storm on Tiree
Crossapol beach. Photograph: Wayne Hutchinson/Alamy
Camping on the island of Tiree amid Storm Dave, I needed an indoor activity to stay warm, so I went to Screen Argyll in Crossapol. This was the truest form of tourism; feeling like you’ve accidentally stumbled into someone’s living room where everyone knows everyone, and being welcomed in. As the snow storm raged outside, I laughed with 30 locals and watched a silly movie, for the price of a pint down south (£7.50). My outdoor adventures were cut short, but it meant I had the best evening of the trip. Calum
Scotland fly-half Helen Nelson, who ranks fourth highest for the number of kicks out of hand in the English top-flight, may well look to exploit space around Kildunne, while Rhona Lloyd, who will line up opposite Kildunne, has scored 11 league tries for Sale so far this season.
Elsewhere prop Maud Muir wins her 50th cap for England as she starts at tighthead in place of Sarah Bern, who is part of a set of replacements which includes 112-cap Marlie Packer and Gloucester-Hartpury’s Mia Venner.
England are hunting their eighth successive Women’s Six Nations title, but are attempting to maintain their streak without a host of names who helped them to the World Cup last year.
Number eight Alex Matthews will miss the meeting with Scotland with a shoulder injury, while earlier on Thursday it was announced that prop Hannah Botterman had joined those sidelined for the tournament with an ankle injury.
Head coach John Mitchell will hope that the enforced changes will prove the making of a next generation of players, while maintaining the Red Roses’ grip on the tournament.
However Scotland, who will play in front of a 25,000-plus crowd at Scottish Gas Murrayfield in the biggest stand-alone women’s sporting fixture in their country’s history, will be primed to exploit any wobbles.
England: Sing; Breach, Jones (capt), Rowland, Kildunne; Harrison, L Packer; Clifford, Cokayne, Muir, Burton, Ives Campion, Short, Kabeya, Feaunati,
Replacements: Powell, Carson, Bern, Lutui, M Packer, Robinson, Aitchison, Venner
