Oh my gourd! Pumpkin season is in session – St Abbs in pictures 18 October 2026 at 10:16

Oh my gourd! Pumpkin season is in session – St Abbs in pictures

The Guardian

By: Murdo MacLeod

18 October 2026 at 10:16

A barrowful of family fun with gourds galore and even a pumpkin cannon at a patch on the Berwickshire coast

The last lace mill – in pictures 18 October 2026 at 02:00

The last lace mill – in pictures

The Guardian

By: Murdo MacLeod

18 October 2026 at 02:00

MYB Textiles Ltd is the last mill in the world weaving patterned Nottingham lace on traditional looms. Once there were 20 lace mills in the Irvine Valley towns of Newmilns and Darvel alone. The lace industry became the largest employer in the area for a time and flourished until the late 1970s when competition emerged from other European countries and Asia. Now the majority of their trade comes from the film, theatre, TV and entertainment industry

SNP says campaign for next referendum on independence ‘has already begun’ 17 October 2026 at 11:45

SNP says campaign for next referendum on independence ‘has already begun’

The Guardian

By: Patrick Greenfield

17 October 2026 at 11:45

John Swinney tells party conference SNP will use ‘six-figure war chest’ to renew argument for leaving UK

John Swinney has said that the second referendum campaign for Scottish independence “has already begun”, revealing a nationwide effort to renew the argument for leaving the UK in his keynote address to the SNP party conference.

On Saturday, the Scottish first minister said the SNP would launch its “most sophisticated campaign in history” to convince Scottish voters of the benefits of independence, backed by “a six-figure war chest”.

Country diary: The challenge of making a thatched roof pine-marten proof | Tom Allan 17 October 2026 at 00:30

Country diary: The challenge of making a thatched roof pine-marten proof | Tom Allan

The Guardian

By: Tom Allan

17 October 2026 at 00:30

Glenisla, Angus: Damage by squirrels is common; the mustelid less so. Still, as a local told me, ‘you cannae blame them wanting somewhere to live’

That the thatch is thick with moss and crusted with the brittle fronds of lichen is not unusual for a roof of this age. What’s puzzling me is the hole in its centre. It is about 10in wide – a dark scoop, as if someone has taken a giant ladle to the roof.

When I climb the ladder for a closer look, I can see toothmarks on the reed. I also see that the hole does not go all the way through – the animal obviously gave up after an exploratory burrow.

Tell us: have you changed your mind about independence for Scotland? 16 October 2026 at 10:06

Tell us: have you changed your mind about independence for Scotland?

The Guardian

By: Guardian community team

16 October 2026 at 10:06

We would like to hear from Scots on both sides of the debate about whether they have changed their mind since the independence referendum

Much has changed since Scotland voted to remain part of the United Kingdom in 2014. The Yes vote argued that keeping their membership of the European Union was a key reason for Scotland to stay. But just two years later, the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU despite nearly two thirds of Scots voting to remain, reigniting the nationalist’s case for another independence vote.

In the 12 years since the independence referendum, many Scots on both sides of the argument have changed their mind. We would like to hear from you about what changed your mind – and how you have switched. What convinced you either way?

"What's that coming over the hill? ... A Lone Enraptured Male!" 16 October 2026 at 08:31

"What's that coming over the hill? ... A Lone Enraptured Male!"

MetaFilter

By: paduasoy

16 October 2026 at 08:31

The poet Kathleen Jamie wrote in 2008 for the London Review of Books about romanticising landscape and male nature writers. She more recently, in 2019, revisited the topic in an interview for the Guardian: "Nature writing has been colonised by white men". Jamie was the Scottish Makar (national poet) from 2021-24, and some of her poems are online at the Scottish Poetry Library.

Lena Martell obituary 16 October 2026 at 05:53

Lena Martell obituary

The Guardian

By: Anthony Hayward

16 October 2026 at 05:53

Singer and TV presenter who had a UK No 1 hit in 1979 with One Day at a Time

The singer Lena Martell, who has died aged 86, enjoyed a career that took her from dance halls in her native Scotland to cabaret in London and stages in Las Vegas and Australia. She performed on the same bill as Sammy Davis Jr and had her own shows on BBC television.

On record, she was a one-hit wonder in Britain with One Day at a Time, a song written by Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristoffersonthat mixed country and gospel. “Lord, for my sake, teach me to take one day at a time,” she sang.

Burnham v Swinney: will the UK PM overshadow the SNP’s conference? 15 October 2026 at 02:00

Burnham v Swinney: will the UK PM overshadow the SNP’s conference?

The Guardian

By: Patrick Greenfield and Eve Livingston

15 October 2026 at 02:00

Prime minister presents new kind of challenge for SNP, and his Scottish visit will loom large over its big event

This year, even Andy Burnham is invited to the Scottish National party conference. But by the time John Swinney stands up to address members on Saturday afternoon in Aberdeen to reinvigorate the case for a second independence referendum, his party may regret giving the UK prime minister so much prominence in the conference buildup.

Burnham is expected to visit Scotland on Friday – the middle of the event – in a thinly veiled attempt to overshadow the SNP gathering. While he will be in a different venue, the former Manchester mayor’s presence in Scotland will loom large over the event. Since taking over at No 10 in July, Burnham has largely avoided direct confrontations with his political rivals, rarely attacking Nigel Farage or Kemi Badenoch. But he has taken a different approach with the Scottish first minister.

Fans hope to save ‘tartan fortress’ where Scotland football team first played 11 October 2026 at 09:00

Fans hope to save ‘tartan fortress’ where Scotland football team first played

The Guardian

By: Eve Livingston Scotland correspondent

11 October 2026 at 09:00

Part of site of First Hampden in Glasgow is up for rent and campaigners want to turn it into a community hub

Fans of Scotland’s national football team may not have had many reasons to celebrate in recent years, but that hasn’t always been the case. Almost 150 years ago, in 1878, the team moved into their first home in a Glasgow ground known as First Hampden and promptly won every game they played there.

As well as being celebrated as Scotland’s “tartan fortress”, First Hampden, about half a mile from where Hampden Park sits today in south Glasgow, is widely considered the world’s first purpose-built international football stadium. Many features now commonplace in grounds around the world – including season tickets, turnstiles and pavilions – have long been thought to have originated there.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie review – Muriel Spark’s extraordinary heroine made more extraordinary still 11 October 2026 at 07:45

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie review – Muriel Spark’s extraordinary heroine made more extraordinary still

The Guardian

By: Mark Fisher

11 October 2026 at 07:45

Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh
Gayle Rankin is funny, sharp-tongued and sexually forthright as Vicky Featherstone’s production ditches 1930s starchiness for the bohemian avant garde

Jean Brodie has entered the classroom of Mr Lowther (Brian Ferguson). She tells the music teacher she will not be a distraction. “Proceed as if I wasn’t here,” she says.

Yeah, right. Nothing can proceed as if Jean Brodie was not there. Played by Gayle Rankin in a drape-sleeved top and figure-hugging leather skirt, she is impossible to ignore. Chloe Lamford’s dust-pink set is a little bit lecture theatre, an awful lot neo-classical staircase; Rankin floats across it like an exotic moth: colourful, distractable, ever present.

Family of student who took his own life say university ‘will be held to account’ 7 October 2026 at 17:52

Family of student who took his own life say university ‘will be held to account’

The Guardian

By: Nadeem Badshah

7 October 2026 at 17:52

Ethan Scott Brown died after being wrongly told he would not be eligible to graduate from the University of Glasgow

The family of a student who took his own life after being wrongly told he would not be eligible to graduate have said the University of Glasgow “will be held to account”.

Ethan Scott Brown, 23, was due to graduate in December 2024 after studying geography.

Scottish film could steal The Jazz Singer’s crown as ‘world’s first talkie’ 7 October 2026 at 00:01

Scottish film could steal The Jazz Singer’s crown as ‘world’s first talkie’

The Guardian

By: Eve Livingston

7 October 2026 at 00:01

Scots-written Till the Bells Ring premiered a year before the Hollywood film, which featured spoken words by Al Jolson

For almost a century, The Jazz Singer has been celebrated as the world’s first feature-length film to include synchronised dialogue (known as a “talkie”), and English as the first language of cinema. But a chance discovery threatens to upend film history with the news that it may have been beaten to the title by a full year – and by a film made in Glasgow and written in Scots.

The breakthrough was made by the historian and self-confessed “film nerd” Marc David Jacobs, who was conducting research for a book on the first wave of British sound films when he came across the story of Till the Bells Ring.

Sturm warning rocks Pocognoli as abject Scotland turned over by Slovenia 6 October 2026 at 16:50

Sturm warning rocks Pocognoli as abject Scotland turned over by Slovenia

The Guardian

By: Ewan Murray at Hampden Park

6 October 2026 at 16:50

The nature of this Scotland defeat felt far more significant than the fact it arrived at all. Sébastien Pocognoli is already in tricky territory, just four games into his tenure as Scotland head coach. Slovenia comprehensively outplayed the fragile hosts at Hampden Park, which leaves Pocognoli staring at a third-placed finish in a soft Nations League section. Brave new dawn or beginning of an error?

Scotland were defensively disorganised. Their attacking play was timid. Long before full time, the 39-year-old Belgian had the look of a coach throwing darts blindly at a board. And missing. Wastefulness from Slovenia prevented Scottish embarrassment.

Homes for sale in landmark towers in England and Scotland – in pictures 2 October 2026 at 02:00

Homes for sale in landmark towers in England and Scotland – in pictures

The Guardian

By: Anna White

2 October 2026 at 02:00

From a neo-baronial country house with turrets in acres of grounds in Scotland to a modernist tower block in a bustling part of London

The island, the cafe, the dog, and the legal case 12 September 2026 at 15:09

The island, the cafe, the dog, and the legal case

MetaFilter

By: Wordshore

12 September 2026 at 15:09

While many Americans happily relocate in Scotland, it doesn't always go smoothly. On the island of Bernera, one person is suing the cafe. The complainant has a history of such actions, another Hebridean cafe has revealed problems ("Ms Kellerman is now barred from The Blue Lobster - her dog is still welcome"), and there are others. The local newspaper is unimpressed.

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