Nan Shepherd was a pioneering adventurer, writer and explorer who penned a seminal book about the Cairngorms. As today marks 40 years since the north-east icon died, Gayle Ritchie looks at her life and legacy.
As Hostelling Scotland marks its 90th anniversary this month, Gayle Ritchie explores how the organisation has broken away from outdated stigmas and refreshed its identity.
Nightclubs are out of bounds so we dug through our vast archives to bring you these epic photos of fun nights out in Aberdeen.
A shelter named after police inspector Fred MacAulay - the father of the comedian of the same name - was once located in the heart of Glenshee. Gayle Ritchie questions what became of "Fred's Shed".
As lockdown smothers the snowsports industry, ski jump legend Eddie the Eagle reminisces about his time working at Glenshee in the 1980s.
Gayle checks in to Peterhead Prison – widely known as 'The Hate Factory’ and now open as a museum.
It’s five years since Storm Frank ripped through Scotland, wreaking a trail of destruction across the country. Gayle Ritchie looks back at one of the worst weather events in recent history.
Ian Stewart was rarely in the public eye. As this weekend marks 35 years since the Scots musician died, Gayle Ritchie discovers he was revered as the “soul” of the Stones.
Was the tiny village of Fettercairn the site of history’s most bizarre assassination? That’s the question pondered by John Withington, the author of Assassins’ Deeds, which publishes today. Gayle Ritchie finds out more.
As Netflix blockbuster The Crown comes under scrutiny for its “inaccurate” depictions of Charles and Diana in series four, Gayle Ritchie looks at how the north-east embraced the royal couple in 1981.
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote much of Treasure Island in a cottage in Braemar. As today marks the 170th anniversary of the author’s birth, Gayle Ritchie looks at the holiday which inspired the famous yarn.
It’s 50 years since Codona’s opened the largest permanent funfair in Scotland in Aberdeen. Gayle Ritchie charts the history of the beachfront attraction and explores the legacy of the famous Codona family.
A prisoner of war camp sprung up near Laurencekirk during the Second World War. Many Italian POWs housed there formed friendships with locals – ties that remained strong long after the war was over. Gayle Ritchie explores some of the stories behind this forgotten camp in the Mearns.
It’s 150 years since a red-bearded tramp from Fraserburgh who murdered a tollbooth keeper became the first person to be privately executed in Britain - in Perth Prison. Gayle Ritchie takes up the story.
It’s 25 years since the deep-fried Mars Bar was invented at a chippy in Stonehaven. Gayle Ritchie looks back at the history of the iconic Scots snack and explores the secret of its global appeal.
It’s 55 years since legendary Dundee wrestler George Kidd was awarded the city’s “First Citizen” title. Former Aberdeen wrestler and fellow grappler Len Ironside is calling for a bronze statue to be erected as a tribute to the hero of the squared circle. Gayle Ritchie takes up the story.
He was the farmhand from Perthshire employed as the Queen Mother’s chauffeur for nearly three decades. Arthur Barty opens up to Gayle Ritchie about life behind the royal wheel.
Bleak, gloomy and depressing – apt descriptions of the rectangular, grey edifice in a garden on Aberdeen’s Westburn Road.
Elvis Presley has Scottish roots which can be traced back to the tiny hamlet of Lonmay near Fraserburgh. Gayle Ritchie takes up the story.
William Davidson, a black, radical revolutionary from the north-east of Scotland, was executed and publicly decapitated in 1820.
It was a sordid tale of sex parties and infidelity at a rural hideaway near Alford nicknamed “Kinky Cottage”, which culminated in the calculated killing of millionaire farmer Max Garvie.