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“On a clear day in Troon I’d look across the sea to the Isle of Arran and, occasionally, you could just about glimpse the lower tip of Ireland.”
Ronni Ancona
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“Although I live in Somerset now I go back to Scotland as much as I can – to Musselburgh where I was born and brought up.”
Gary Anderson
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“When I go back to Edinburgh I travel the number 41 bus to Cramond where I used to go a lot with my brother who had boats and loved to sail.”
Ian Anderson
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“I love the islands of course, and being near the sea. My favourite part of the mainland is the north west. The drive between Ullapool and Durness is wild and beautiful.”
Aly Bain
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“I love the view from my parents’ house across the sea to Arran. I probably have hundreds of photos in my phone of the changing views and beautiful sunsets. It’s just stunning.”
Nicola Benedetti
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“Spean Bridge, a few miles north of Fort William, where the commando monument overlooks the roads with Ben Nevis in the background, is the most fabulously beautiful landscape.”
Rory Bremner
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“I have two brothers, and for teenage boys it was golf every day and diving off Lamlash pier into the freezing waters. Idyllic.”
Craig Brown
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“I remember one Easter cycling round the mountains between Glencoe and Rannoch Moor. One minute it was snowing and I was absolutely frozen, then the sun came out and I got sunburn on my arms.”
Jack Bruce
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“I used to go down Tobermory and gaze across the Sound of Mull. Looking out to sea it seemed there were limitless possibilities.”
Gordon Buchanan
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“The iconic view of Eilean Donan Castle is known all round the world, and for very good reason.”
Eilidh Child
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“It was very special to me, being able to fight for the world title in Kelvin Hall in Glasgow”
Pat Clinton
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“When you’re from Dundee the first thing you become aware of is water – the sea, the River Tay and what they both represent. To me they opened up the rest of the world.”
Brian Cox
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“Shetland and Orkney represent a love of ‘home’ – the history, distinctive culture, language, amazing landscapes, birds and the canny people.”
Christine de Luca
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“I love castles, ruined abbeys and pre-Reformation buildings. Most special for me is the Abbey Church in Dunfermline with its Romanesque nave.”
Barbara Dickson
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“My Granny Kelly would take a wee ‘but’n’ben’ in Ayr each summer and we kids would huddle by the sea wall eating sang witches (as we called them) and riding the donkey on the dark, wide sands.”
Donovan
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“If I could live anywhere in Scotland I’d probably build a wee croft on the cliff edge at Dunure and give the elements a run for their money.”
Karen Dunbar
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“I used to do a lot of scuba-diving, and St Abbs just north of Eyemouth on the east coast is a good spot for that. All down that coast there are beautiful beaches with spectacular hills to the west.”
Fish
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“One of my favourite places in Glasgow is The Kibble Palace in The Botanic Gardens. As a kid it felt so luxurious to go to this giant palace made of glass that was warm and full to the brim of spectacular plants and flowers from all over the world.”
Laura Fraser
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“Aberdeen Castlegate is a special place – it’s now the home of my gold postbox.”
Katherine Grainger
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“I love Edinburgh, walking round the Braid Hills and looking out over the castle and right out to the Firth of Forth. It’s a beautiful sight.”
John Greig
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“Kelvin Way in Glasgow is a lovely, sweeping boulevard with a beautiful park, art galleries and the university.”
Clare Grogan
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“I had my first and only taste of camping with my friends on Skye. I thought it was the most fantastic scenery I had ever seen.”
Armando Iannucci
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“Seil Island north-west of Oban has a particularly strong pull for me. My mum’s auntie had a house there and every year that was where we’d go to spend our holidays. You have to cross Clachan Bridge to get there – an old stone bridge across the Atlantic.”
Cat Harvey
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“It’s genuinely magic around the Trossachs, and if you don’t go in August there’s usually no one around.”
Jim Kerr
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“I love St Andrews. It has that famous golf course with the 18th fairway that you often see on TV.”
Ross King
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“I love Ashton Lane in Glasgow. It looks like something off Harry Potter. There are all these bars and restaurants piled on top of each other and it’s just magic. Some of my best memories are of being there with my mates.”
Declan Michael Laird
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“My love for Aberdeen and the harbour has never left me. Whenever we go back to visit we drive round the place – to me it hasn’t changed.”
Denis Law
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“Shetland is a favourite place of mine, and Eshaness is particularly spectacular.”
Sue Lawrence
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“I really miss the landscape around Crieff. I’m very attached emotionally to those places. We were right on the edge of the Trossachs and close to Loch Earn.”
Denis Lawson
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“Our family holidays were mostly local as this was before cheap flights to Europe. Saltcoats was one of our destinations, on the Ayrshire coast. It seemed very exotic at the time to be able to play on the beach and splash around in the vast sea, regardless of the weather.”
Phyllis Logan
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“One of my favourite places is Torridon in the north-west of Scotland. I love the long treks, often in darkness, into the heart of the mountains and the strong sense of wildness that is evoked.”
Sir Malcolm MacGregor
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“At Leverburgh we had the harbour but not the beaches, and as kids we were always warned for safety’s sake not to go too near the water. But the island was a wonderful place to grow up, with so much beauty and community spirit.”
Donald John Mackay
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“Dunvegan Castle and the Isle of Skye is my favourite place in Scotland.”
Hugh Macleod
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“I particularly love the Suilven mountain in Sutherland. It’s spectacular.”
Val McDermid
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“The view from Gleniffer Braes is stunning. You have this wonderful panorama – you can see right over the Clyde Valley and see the shoulders of Ben Lomond situated at the head of Loch Lomond, just peering over the Old Kilpatrick Hills.”
Jim McLean
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“If there’s a better football club in the world than Celtic I haven’t seen it yet.”
Billy McNeill
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“Neist Point with its lighthouse and dramatic scenery is another beautiful spot. It’s well known for the views and no wonder.”
Peter Morrison
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“I loved Glasgow and have great memories of it: the streets, shopping with my mum, the nightclubs when I was a bit older, even the underground.”
David Moyes
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“I grew up on our farm in Blair Atholl. There is the famous castle, but it’s the surrounding countryside and hills that I think of – the whole environment is lovely and it’s great to walk around.”
Eve Muirhead
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“Now I’m in Stirling with the Wallace Monument on my doorstep. It’s very impressive, from wherever you are standing. I love the whole Braveheart thing, and the fact that this was where he went to plan his strategy for the Battle of Stirling Bridge.”
Judy Murray
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“My grandparents lived by the Lake of Menteith and we would go there every weekend, swimming and splashing around like kids do. It was a real Swallows and Amazons existence.”
Nick Nairn
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“One song I love is Largs by King Creosote, a musician from Perth, who wrote about the town and meeting the queen of ice-cream. It’s hilarious.”
Daniela Nardini
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“I’ve always felt Glasgow is home. I love the way the city changes. It’s a landscape that’s constantly changing.”
Rab Noakes
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“My most favouritist trip would take us into the West Highland coast. I wrote educational papers about my holidays when I went back to school but all the teacher said was that Fort William was never called Fort Wullie.”
Oor Wullie
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“There was always something lonely and wild at this spot just around Portachur Point from the West Bay. The dark volcanic rocks, the reddish shingle and the wonderful view of Arran make it almost Hebridean – and it’s only 30 miles by seagull from Sauchiehall Street!”
Bill Paterson
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“We were the family that went to Portobello and never left.”
Gail Porter
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“I ADORE the view from Irvine Beach out to Arran island. Many dreams of mine took flight from that spot.”
Eddi Reader
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“The first glimpse of Largo Law brings a lift to my heart and a smile to my face. When I see it, I know I’m home.”
Jean Redpath
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“The landscape of my childhood takes in historical locations like Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument as well as the hills of the southern Highlands.”
James Robertson
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“The Kelpies sculpture has had such a transformative effect on Falkirk. It’s a sculpture that local people have embraced and have developed a sense of ownership towards.”
Andy Scott
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“The Trossachs are gorgeous. I spent a lot of time there when I was growing up.”
Dougray Scott
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“One of my favourite places is Whiteinch Park which is inside Glasgow’s Victoria Park. There are lovely floral displays there and a boating pond.”
John Gordon Sinclair
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“I grew up around typical Scottish countryside pursuits like shooting and fishing – and deer-stalking on the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.”
Sir Jackie Stewart
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“I especially love the Clyde Auditorium which is known as the Armadillo – our own Sydney Opera House. It’s so beautiful.”
Janette Tough
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“When I get up past Fort William and the Kyle of Lochalsh and Plockton – where they filmed the TV show Hamish Macbeth – the countryside is simply stunning and I get a distinct feeling of déjà vu.”
Midge Ure
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“The coast at Leven is where I got the ideas for the beach scenes in my paintings. There is a very, very long beach of pure, clean sand before you hit the water. It’s very beautiful.”
Jack Vettriano
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“The existence of a Scottish Parliament is important to me and it was something my father had dreamed of for years.”
Sheena Wellington
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“I love the view of the castle when you get out of the station and look up at it. The best view is from Princes Street or Alfred Steet. It’s best admired from a distance.”
Irvine Welsh
