Gnaw beavers here
ONE of the best places to immerse yourself in the world of beavers is Knapdale Forest, where you can enjoy a stroll known as the Beaver Detective Trail. Chances are you won’t spot any fuzzy, buck-toothed critters, though signs of beaver habitation abound, including gnawed and felled trees. Some busybody, however, has been scribbling on almost every munched plant: “This was not beavers!”
Angus Heazlewood, who visited the trail, tells us: “Obviously someone’s concluded that there aren’t any beavers in the park and the local greenery is being deliberately destroyed to make it look as though the animals are in residence.”
So is this just a crackpot conspiracy theory, or is Knapdale Forest truly barren of beavers? And, if so, who is savaging the local foliage? There can be only one answer… chainsaw-wielding hedgehogs.
Bags of talent
THE Britain’s Got Talent judges were camped out on the top floor of Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow this week, scrutinising local performers. Reader Martin Walker spotted a pipe band returning from their audition, and was bowled over by the talent on display. So did he get a chance to hear the band in action? No, but he witnessed something even more impressive.
“About 30 of them were trying to get down the escalator at once,” says Martin. “They managed it without dropping their gear or getting their kilts tangled in the workings of the machinery. It truly was a wonder to behold. Best of all, they were kept too busy to play their instruments. So I was spared any earache from the bagpipes.”
Zeal for land
EDINBURGH comedian Ben Verth provides us with a lesson in antipodean history. He tells us: “Auckland is named because it was settled by Scots who, when they first saw it from the ship, cried: “Och, land!”
Flair for chairs
THE Herald recently reported that the BBC’s Samira Ahmed is demanding the same pay as male colleague, Jeremy Vine, for doing what she describes as similar work. Reader Jeff Perry is not impressed: “Both Vine and Ahmed should take a pay cut,” he fumes. “They’re only reading an autocue.” The Diary disagrees. The two talented broadcasters manage to sit on chairs while reading their autocues. Multi-tasking at its most demanding.
Canal argy-bargy
GLOBE trotting actor John Hannah is enjoying the autumnal weather in Montreal at present, though he has one complaint about Canada. “Now that construction has brought the roads to a standstill they’ve started on the canals,” he grumbles, adding with what we assume is a dash of sarcasm rather than a decision to change career: “Must be an amazing time to own a construction company here.”
Humerus
SOME cooking advice from reader Derek Gunn, who tells us: “If you boil your funny bone it becomes a laughing stock.”
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