BEST BEACH
To be honest, I'm not sure I can pick one, they're pretty much all gorgeous. I'll go with the last couple I visited – when we were allowed to go anywhere. I visited Portsoy and Pennan. I loved the harbour at Portsoy, and I insisted we go to Pennan because of Local Hero, so I could take pictures for my mum. It was beautiful, even without the proper phone box!
BEST BUILDING
The new V&A in Dundee is amazing, inside and out – their recent gaming exhibition was great. I love a visit to the Transport Museum in Glasgow (now Riverside Museum) – it's a striking building and I love the old cobbled street inside. Culzean Castle's great too – I went as a Wicker Man fan first, but I've been back a few times. The way it sits on the rocks, perched on a cliff edge is spectacular, and it has a second-hand bookshop in the gardens, which is bliss for me.
BEST SHOP
I should probably choose a record shop, but in all honesty I have to say Forbidden Planet in Glasgow. I've been going there for 30-odd years – I think I was 16 when I first visited the old Buchanan Street shop – and I've always been a bit of a comics geek. The new shop in Sauchiehall Street is amazing, and it's great to see it thrive now that comics are everywhere – although obviously I haven't visited in a wee while, sadly.
BEST STREET
I don't think I have a favourite street, but I've always loved the alleyways of Glasgow. When my son was younger, I took him for walks around them and tried to explain why I loved them, but I'm not sure he ever understood. It's the darkness, their danger, the way they can be sinister or sexy – alleys are like the veins of a city, full of blood and secrets. Maybe that sounds a bit dark, but also exciting and seductive to me.
BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY
I was more of a tween, but my family had a timeshare holiday apartment, back when they were all the rage. It was Forest Hills Resort in Kinlochard, up in the Trossachs – we lived in Falkirk, and I always thought it was funny that our holiday still had an FK postcode! But I loved it, the lodge was at the foot of a mountain and across from Loch Ard there was a leisure centre with a laserdisc library where you could rent films – I'll never forget the joy of Grease 2. Sometimes I go back for a few days and it’s changed a lot – the helipad's gone! – but it's still gorgeous round there.
BEST WALK OR CYCLE
I'm afraid to say I don't do much of either – I have lifelong ankle trouble and I can't ride a bike, I never learned. I am occasionally dragged along on family walks, though – we have family in the Borders, near Romanno Bridge, and they can sometimes convince me to venture through local woodland. I'm happier on flat concrete – a walk along the Clyde on a nice day's enough for me.
BEST VIEW
Maybe the lockdowns have sparked a bit of nostalgia, but I've always loved the view of Glasgow from the Kingston Bridge shortly before dawn, in a taxi on the way home after a night out – looking back, of course. And the best view of the city's on the new M74 road when you come in that way – it's a shame it's not the main road in for tourists, it's the only road with a full view of the city centre in all its glory. Scotland has an abundance of natural beauty, of course, but I get just as excited by the city lights at night.
BEST PLACE FOR ALONE TIME
This might sound odd, but I'd say Glasgow Airport. I travel a lot – or at least I used to – and I find the best place for solitude to be airports and train stations. I really enjoy travelling alone, and it's something I obviously miss a lot right now, but there's something I love about being alone in among all those other people, sitting around waiting for our gates to come up. I always plan with an hour to spare, so I usually have more time to myself. I could quite happily wander around the airport all day even without a flight to catch, but I don't think that's allowed!
BEST SCOTTISH DELICACY
I've never had much of a sweet tooth, but I love those new bitesize Caramel Logs that Tunnock’s do. Impossible to have just one of those. And I haven't been in a long time, but The Wee Hurrie on Troon harbour used to do a monkfish supper that was amazing. And, at the risk of being ejected and banished from Glasgow, I really like salt and sauce on my chips. In my defence, I'm from Falkirk, and Lemetti's in Camelon did sauce. That was my local chippy, and I used to go there for lunch when I was at Falkirk High.
BEST PLACE FOR A CUPPA
I don't really drink tea or coffee that often, so can I choose a pub instead? You can have a tea, and I'll have a pint. At this point, I'll happily go anywhere that's open!
As Days Get Dark, the new album by Arab Strap, is now available on Rock Action Records
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here