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Living among vikings, iron age broch-dwellers, witches, naval officers and angry ministers. One wind to rule them all I love these nights, the darkness battering and blustering in a big, not yet overwhelming wind. Deeper into winter and the house will shake, vibrate, thrum; we’ll lose power, struggle even to reach the washhouse where the…

Read or listen to a terrifying tale of Carbisdale Castle, a desperate hiker, a mysterious silver chalice, Rolf Harris and a creature called Finn. What’s the English for ‘Am Fear Liath Mòr’? Listen to the story (about 24 minutes), read by me, here. Or read on… So, great attempts, heroic ventures shall Advance my fortune,…

Given minimum alcohol pricing, can you get a decent white wine for, err…30p? And is it possible to talk meaningfully about alcoholic drinks? Drink…or down the sink? Having spent a  fair chunk of my career as a professional drinker – writing and broadcasting about the stuff (mostly whisky), two Glenfiddich and two Guild of Food…

And The Ballad of the Unfaithful Shepherdess. Not everyone in Shetland loves sheep Chased by rainbows, comforted by Tunnocks (You can read this week’s newsletter or listen to me reading it. I’ve kept The Ballad of the Unfaithful Shepherdess separate and it appears towards the end if you scroll down. ) The whole thing is…

Back home and unwell, pondering the future, and talking all things peaty with Drew Ratter in the new Passing Place podcast The new Passing Place podcast (or, if you will peatcast) with Drew Ratter is here, for those interested in the brown (black and blue) stuff, carbon credits, preserved bodies and crofting. The Spotify link…

The giant Viking wind farm has begun operating in Shetland. Not everyone is happy. And where is the money going? When I first moved to Shetland in 1986, there was one big experimental wind generator at Voe, towering above our house. I never saw its blades turn from the day I moved until its demolition.…

Nottingham or Shottingham? James Graham’s Sherwood or Tom Cox’s 1983, with optional cats and golf? The new series of Sherwood is so bleak and brutal  I keep expecting Halldor Laxness or some even more obscure Scandic doom-monger to get a screen credit, along with Tobe Hooper. Coming soon: The Independent Skegness Lawnmower Massacre. And It’s…

Wham ne’er a town surpasses… Heading by clattering electric train from the gloriously restored (after a fire) Troon Station to the (finally and just barely open again) Ayr equivalent, I was tracking my teenage self’s search for godly guitar glory. I took this route to my first ever public performance, bellowing gospel songs, strumming a…

No Beatcroft Social, but some short chunks of audio and a Spotify playlist Apologies… First, apologies – there’s no Beatcroft Social this week, either on 60 North Radio or on Mixcloud. I do have a new two-hour playlist on Spotify which you’re welcome to peruse and bend your ears towards, should you feel the need.…

Some verse and links to the four-wheeled Beatcroft Social radio show First, apologies to all those who couldn’t play last week’s Beatcroft Social Beatles show on Mixcloud. I miscalculated the licence parameters for playing the same artist multiple times – three tracks is the maximum permitted by Mixclooud and I thought it was four. I…