Inspirational Gatherings

e skirl of the pipes and the applause of the crowd. Whether it be the colour of the Highland Games or the frenetic Festival, join in. Your group can be part of their own Scottish odyssey.

Go lf

Now, where could you go for a golfing experience in Scotland? Well, there’s Muirfield or the other three Gullane courses; or the once-cited oldest ‘club’ in the world which is also in East Lothian. ere’s Gleneagles or the twenty-odd other Perthshire courses. ere’s Royal Troon, or a dozen other links courses in Ayrshire. ere’s Carnoustie, with not one but two dedicated railway stations, and several other parkland courses around Dundee with slightly inferior rail connections. Have we forgotten somewhere? Ever heard of a little coastal town called St Andrews? A right royal hang-out for its high street and university, there’s also the small matter of a golfing heritage that goes all the way back to the beginning. e Old Course, and its famous hotel, are testament to that. To document that heritage, a visit to the British Golf Museum is a must for any self-respecting hickory hacker. www.st andrews.com www briti shgolfmuseum co uk

Highland games

While on the subject of Scottish games. From May to September, get your caber tossed at over sixty registered locations. e official Scottish Highland Games Association tournaments take place, at locations from Pitlochry to Penicuik. If that’s not truly Scottish enough for your group, then over the same months, every town of note in the Scottish Borders holds a Common Riding - a traditionally mounted patrol of the civic boundary. e traditional tradition of executing anyone found with the civic boundary to be of evil intent (ie: English) has been largely discontinued - or at least frowned upon.

As we mentioned earlier, the Scottish Borders has become much more group-friendly since the Borders Railway opened from Edinburgh in 2015. Now, in just under one hour, your entire party can be delivered in the former mill town of Galashiels, on the confluence of the Gala Water and e Tweed. Carry on a few more minutes to the Tweedbank terminus and you’ll be within a hike of Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott (don’t worry - they do a bus shuttle). If you thought

JK Rowling was Scotland’s biggest selling author - think again. Scott (the one for whom that ever so modest 200-foot tall monument was built in the middle of Edinburgh) was more popular in his day than God. His works outselling the bible in his lifetime. Eat your heart out Rowling, Rankin and McCallSmith.

Ru

Gby

What though are you in the Borders for, if you don’t follow rugby. Yes, it’s still true to stay that the south of Scotland is rugby country. Not, it has to be said, in the cynically slick way that professional rugby has embraced the top leagues around the country. Rugby in the Borders is still very much a community affair, where township pits against the township, in rivalries that go back generations. From the Borders Railway terminal at Tweedbank, you’re less than a hop, skip and a jump from Melrose. Not just a ruined abbey and a brace of delightful gardens, Melrose is possibly the prettiest of Border towns, and also the home of the Greenyards, the very field where Sevens were invented, the abbreviated form of rugby. e world-famous tournament is held here every April, and club games are played every week of the season.

Horseplay

Something else from Tweedbank. e Track to Track shuttle will deliver your thoroughbred group to Kelso. Home of Floors Castle of course, but this Kelso shuttle will take you to the racecourse, where the friendly atmosphere is tempered by runners and riders that have triumphed at the pinnacle of the sport. Perhaps though, your group favour less a day at the races and more a night at the opera, so to speak. e Playhouse Edinburgh; (www.pl ayhousetheatre.com)

e Royal Concert Hall Glasgow; (www glasgow concerthalls.com) or His Majesty’s Aberdeen. www aberdeenperfo rming arts com ree of the best performance spaces in Britain. Big time shows, big-time concerts, big-time acts. Culture in Scotland? You’re having a laugh, aren’t you? Well, maybe you are, but only because laughs are on the bill. Glasgow’s Glee Club or Edinburgh’s Stand is among the funniest venues in the country, and both in their respective city centres. e Glee Club just celebrated its first birthday - it was a laugh. e Stand is rather more mature. Somehow that’s not an adjective that is appropriate for a comedy club. www.glee.co.uk › g lasgow › comedy www.the stand.co.uk › edinburgh

So, smile. You’re in Scotland. How’s that for a punchline.

Did youknow?

e Scots invented golf with St Andrews considered as the ‘home of golf ’ .

e sport has been played there since the 15th c entury