http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/ http://www.eblah.com en http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1226882161/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1226882161/#num1 I've took pictures of the first stages of the upgrade of the A80 Glasgow - Stirling road to M80 motorway. At the moment it is just chopping down of hundreds of trees and very basic earth works but I intend making a photographic library/album of the works in the vicinity of Cumbernauld/Condorrat/Mollinsburn (where a huge new interchange with the M73 will be built) and though I've described current works so far as 'basic' even those have changed the local landscape quite considerably. The intention is that this might be an historic record.
I'd like to host this album here via Photobucket or Flickr but request specific advice on it should be presented. It will go on for the life of the project, 2012? ]]> Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:36:01 Captain Brittles http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1226113537/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1226113537/#num1
Even if he and his partner hadn't been caught trying to by-pass the system, they deserve what they got for sheer stupidity, and not knowing that the four year period that might have let them get away with their plan only starts when the hidden property is revealed.

Secret house demolished

I wonder what they mean when they say "The council hasn't heard the last of this?"

Clearly on the fiddle - as demonstrated simply by the trouble they went to - are they fit people to be running an animal sanctuary?

Come to think of it, is it my imagination, or is there a trend in cases like this for those concerned to have some sort of country or farm activity running at the public front of their activities? Where did they get the money to build the house - running an animal charity is surely a charitable activity, and shouldn't be providing them with an income of sufficient level to maintain the sanctuary and finance a house of the standard described in the report.

If there's only the two of them running it, they shouldn't have enough time left after caring for the animals to make a fortune in other jobs.]]> Sat, 8 Nov 2008 03:05:37 Apollo http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1225926222/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1225926222/#num1
There were four to start with: Dunninaham Point, Craignai Point, Rhuad Point, and Bennane Head.

Bennane Head is well known, so can be forgotten.

Rhuad Point can at least be identified - even though we can't pinpoint it accurately so far.

As for the last two, there is a fair chance that these have been subject to transcription errors, so the actual name needed may be something similar to that given. I've had little luck with any variants on the spelling so far.

There's also the chance that the correct names are old, and have fallen out of general use, hence why there is no sign of anything similar on recent maps.

Good guessing, and good hunting ]]> Wed, 5 Nov 2008 23:03:42 Apollo http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1225319928/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1225319928/#num1 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:38:48 The Fox http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1224551770/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1224551770/#num1
Europe's oldest Tibetan Buddhist Monastery...

Located in a peaceful valley on the banks of the river Esk in Scotland, Kagyu Samye Ling was the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre to have been established in the West.  It is a centre for wisdom and learning within the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and is open to people of all faiths and none.  You are welcome to come for day visits, short stays or to participate in our meditation retreats and courses available throughout the year.

Founded in 1967 and currently under the guidance of Abbot Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche, Samye Ling is part of Rokpa Trust, a registered charity which has three main areas of activity: spiritual, humanitarian aid, and Tibetan medicine and therapy.

Kagyu Samye Ling

Samye Ling is a monastery and international centre of Buddhist training, known for the authenticity of its teachings and tradition.  It offers instruction in Buddhist philosophy and meditation within the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.  It is also a centre for the preservation of Tibetan religion, culture, medicine, art, architecture and handicrafts.

Founded in 1967 by two spiritual masters, Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Samye Ling was the first Tibetan Buddhist Centre to be established in the West and was named after Samye, the very first monastery to be established in Tibet.

Samye Ling is home to a residential community of over 60 people, made up of both monastic and lay volunteers.  It is not a requirement to be a Buddhist to live here, but residents are expected to live according to the Five Golden Rules.

To show respect for ourselves and others and to protect Samye Ling as a sacred space, Lama Yeshe Rinpoche requests all who visit and stay here to follow these rules:

1. To protect life and refrain from killing.
2. To respect other's property and refrain from stealing.
3. To speak the truth and refrain from lying.
4. To embrace health and refrain from intoxicants.
5. To respect others and refrain from harmful sexual activity. ]]> Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:16:10 Apollo http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1224266510/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1224266510/#num1
This site's worth noting if you should ever want to point your own cam out the window and launch the view onto the web for little (ie no) cost.

The content goes up and down as a result, but the two Greenock feeds fall into the consistent category, and I see there's now another Ardentinny and Inellan feed too, and a few more from around and about, so it's worth the odd spin every so often:

http://www.camstreams.com/scenerywebcams.asp]]> Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:01:50 Apollo http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1223734918/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1223734918/#num1
http://www.ardentinny.org

Tripped over recently

There's a set of live webcams on the site, and a local weather station, and they either put the conspiracy theories to bed - since the webcam points at RNAD Couplort - or no-one in power has noticed yet, and sent the black window brigade out to deal with them.

Seriously though, there was a fairly informative web site for the area until recently, but it has closed down, so the appearance of the new site is welcome.

There's interesting info on it, and it also seems to be relatively busy in terms of keeping on top of local events, with a local forum on board.]]> Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:21:58 Apollo http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1223487417/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1223487417/#num1
I've had a look at my own street/area and found two questionable entries. One referred to "massive subsidence" of the footpath, and who was responsible for the injuries their offspring received as a result, and the other slated a local MP for not doing anything in response to notification of a piece of damaged pavements after being informed about it repeatedly for months. I can almost eyeball the area of "massive subsidence" referred to in the first complaint from an upstairs window, and this is nothing more than the soft verge between the tarmac of the path, and the grass it lies beside. I read another where someone complained about their neighbour's allowing weeds to grow in the front drive where their cars' tyres had furrowed their loosely surfaced drive - bringing the look of the street down, you know.

If it was looked after, it would probably be very good, but just as Google can't (and is not expected to) review every video posted, I can't see how the FixMyStreet organisers can protect themselves from having their site ruined by the "net curtain twitchers" and "My God! Somebody sneezed outside my house and didn't use a hankie" brigade.

Just to be clear, I'm not knocking the site, just potential misuse, especially if it grows.

In any event, I had a good laugh reading some of the "Fixes", and expect to see the assaults resulting from others in the local papers soon.

Have a look at your own area, all you have to do is type in your postcode to see what's needing "fixed":

FixMyStreet]]> Wed, 8 Oct 2008 18:36:57 Apollo http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1220107336/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1220107336/#num1
Work to start on new Largs pier]]> Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:42:16 Apollo http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1218702228/ http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/forum/forum/m-1218702228/#num1 announcement of the recently introduced

Highland Historic Environment Record (HER)

For anyone lucky enough to hunting down old and new historical records within the area covered by Highland Council, life has become just a little bit better.

They now have access to the recently introduced Highland Historic Environment Record (HER) which contains information on tens of thousands of historic buildings, archaeological sites and finds dating from earliest prehistory through to the present day. The complete HER database is available online, together with thousands of linked documents and images.

The latter option is what sets this particular resource above the others at the moment, as it give easy access to source documents relating to the subject item, scanned from the original records, and provides an easy way to consult them, without having to travel to the archive and arrange access.

The online HER is fully searchable using an interactive map. There is also a wide range of other resources including themed articles and heritage trails.

Like all these facilities, the content is continually being added to, so is always worth a look, even if it hasn't featured something that you were looking for in the past, and they also invite comments and new information.

Click on the logo above to visit the Highland Historic Environment Record, or click here to begin a search.

]]> Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:23:48 Apollo