Scotland reopens: 15 historic houses, castles and gardens to wander round
Hopetoun House and New Hopetoun Garden Centre, South Queensferry, Edinburgh Often called, the Scottish Versailles, the 17th-century house and its sweeping grounds, are open to explore from April 30, but book online beforehand. On-site events include May day bank holiday Itison Drive In Movies. After a visit, it’s worth taking a detour to nearby New Hopetoun Garden Centre to pick up a few plants to posh up your own garden. Visit hopetoun.co.uk and newhopetoungardens.co.uk/
Logan Botanic Gardens, Port Logan, Dumfries and Galloway On the Rhins of Galloway is one of Scotland’s most exotic gardens, home to plants from farflung parts – palm trees, tree ferns, groves of eucalyptus. Among its special features is a conservatory, the first in the UK to be heated by all green energy.
BBC News
Published
image captionOverflowing water from drains and a pond ended up flooding plant beds
Clean-up operations have started following flooding at a site in south west Scotland which is home to some of the world s rarest plants.
Heavy and persistent rain led to drains overflowing at Logan Botanic Garden at Port Logan near Stranraer on Thursday.
Curator Richard Baines said the situation had been very concerning as water poured across plant beds.
He said he was hopeful the plants would recover if recent rain eased up to allow the ground to dry.
image copyrightLogan Botanic Garden
image captionLogan Botanic Garden is home to dozens of rare species
Three lighthouse keepers at Flannan Lighthouse on Eilean Mòr, Scotland, disappeared on December 15, 1900
On Boxing Day it was discovered that James Ducat, Thomas Marshall and Donald MacArthur had vanished
Search party climbed 160 steps up the cliffside and found a door ajar, an untouched meal and a toppled chair
Locals suggested one keeper murdered the other two and then thrown himself into the sea in a fit of remorse
Tales emerged that the men had been snatched by a sea serpent or taken away by a passing haunted ship
The mystery has never been solved and still remains one of the most puzzling in Scottish maritime history