At the wheel of his little blue and white boat, Hans Unkles is used to the solitary life of a creel fisherman with just the glorious scenery of the Sound of Jura, the wind in his face and the gentle slap of the water against the hull of the Lorna Jane for company.
They are a splash of colour on otherwise dreary city walls, usually dramatic in scale and often poignant in subject matter, sometimes a touching tribute to a well-loved figure or rooted in history.
National tourism organisation VisitScotland says street art and murals have become so popular that they are helping to boost tourism in Glasgow, with spin-off benefits for business.
There are rolling hills and wild scenery, there’s weaving, tartan and tweed, tales of emigration and sites of bloody battle, with glorious beaches, distilleries, stately homes and spectacular wildlife.
When Emily Kynaston-Williams began planning her bold adventure to paddle and sail a canoe across lochs and rivers at the heart of the Isle of Lewis, there was a particular XL-size obstacle to overcome.
With a clickety-click and fingers flying, the very crafty women from the Isle of Sanday got to work.
For almost 40 years, she’s been a vital lifeline for the west coast islanders: a shining star in her first flush of youth, now as retirement beckons, a faded beauty.
From the yawning spaces of what were once noisy and dusty warehouses, old school classrooms and unused herring factories, a sawmill, an old ski hut and Victorian railway waiting rooms, comes hammering, drilling and the clatter of busy men hard at work.
How soil forensics has become a remarkable weapon in helping detectives unpick important information
When Professor Lorna Dawson was growing up, the plants, crops and soil on and around her father’s Angus farm was a recurring source of interest.
