Advice
Hillwalking with my father, he would say: Take the slow way Over the shoulder of the hill. Follow the lie of the land.
Articles
Why I voted ‘No’ in Scotland’s independence referendum
Blogpost: Why I voted ‘No’ in the referendum. Revised on October 17, 2014
Yes or No to politics in the classroom
From the Guardian.
Scottish referendum: is it yes or no to politics in class?
Some Scottish schools have not debated the issues over independence. Have pupils who will be voting missed out?l
Pupils at Boroughmuir high school in Edinburgh show their differing voting intentions for the referendum. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian
Sean Warrington, 17, will be putting his cross in the yes box when he casts his vote in Scotland‘s referendum on 18 September, a different choice from his parents. But Sean feels he has been able to reach his own decision through studying the options at Boroughmuir high school in Edinburgh’s Morningside. “The stuff we have done in class has presented both sides of the argument. I just thought that yes had a better case. My parents are no voters and it’s difficult for them to talk about both sides of it.”
Scottish Universities and the referendum
A look at the debate on Scottish independence in the University sector in Scotland. Published in the Education Guardian on March 25, 2014. Glasgow University: many of the reservations about independence are based on fears over research funding Photograph: Alamy
Does Edinburgh need to sacrifice green belt?
From the Evening News, Dec 4 2013. Does Edinburgh really need to sacrifice hundreds of acres of green belt to the west of the city for A development to fill a housing shortage as Murray Estates owned by former Rangers chairman Sir David Murray argues?
Farm labourer who created garden centre
Published in the Herald, Tuesday 8 October 2013. Businessman and horticulturist;Born: January 28, 1937; Died: August 27, 2013. Eric Gallagher, who has died aged 76, was a former farm labourer who left school at the age of 12 and through years of dedication and hard work, built up a multi-million pound horticulture business. With his family, he ran Cardwell Garden Centre at Lunderston Bay on the outskirts of Gourock and was a passionate gardener at home and at work. The son of Irish immigrants who came to Scotland in the 1930s, Mr Gallagher believed in growing as much of his stock as possible locally and was convinced of the transforming power of gardening; it was, he said, a great social leveller.
Francophile architect and teacher
Published in the Herald, Tuesday 24 September 2013. Born June 24, 1935. Died September 15, 2013. A proud Scot and a Francophile, Professor Charles MacCallum was a dedicated teacher and an academic as well as a practising architect with an interest in showcasing design features in the buildings he helped to create.
Vettriano not for the snobbish
Though ridiculed by critics, artist’s work is honest, with an authentic, working-class sensibility, writes Jackie Kemp
From The Scotsman, October 25.
WHAT on earth is happening at Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow? It is mid-morning on a weekday but the car parks are overflowing. Cars are jinking about, competing for any vacated space. The art gallery itself is hotching. There are actual traffic jams in front of certain pictures and there is a queue at the till in the exhibition shop. The postcard rack is half empty and the limited edition prints are flying off the shelves.
The public response to Jack Vettriano’s first major retrospective is a marked contrast to the funereal atmosphere of the big empty rooms at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival exhibition of the recent work of Peter Doig, a commercially successful painter whose massive and anodyne, though slapdash, landscapes would be a safe bet for decorating the foyer of any corporate headquarters in Zurich.
Scientist who loved adventure sports, wild places and his family.
Obituary of Dr Stephen Churcher. Born: 9 February, 1967, in Edinburgh. Died: 30 August, 2013, in Midlothian, aged 46. From the Scotsman September 13 2013.
Great Tapestry tells Scotland’s story with embroidery and elan
The rich tapestry of Scotland’s past, long neglected, downplayed and overshadowed, is finally being given the prominence and attention it deserves, writes Jackie Kemp Published in the Scotsman op-ed section, September 3, 2013
The Great Tapestry of Scotland
A slightly shortened version of this arrticle appeared in the Herald magazine on Saturday, August 24,2013. Photos are available to view on the website
http://www.alexhewitt.co.uk/gallery-list 
Cycling along the Canal du Midi
From the Herald Saturday Magazine, May 11 2013. Just as ‘slow food’ generally tastes better than fast food, slow transport – at least on holiday – is a more enjoyable way to travel. Better still when the travelling is done in the sunny south of France, in the shade of plane trees and with frequent pit stops. Whether by bike or by barge, the journey along one of France’s grandest feats of pre-revolutionary engineering, the Canal du Midi, is increasingly popular.
Scots students get their Higher results
Published in the Education Guardian, August 6 2013
Their exam system may differ from the one in England, but Scottish students face the same anxious wait for their results. Jackie Kemp takes a closer look at Highers and university entrance north of the border
The new Scottish national curriculum will emphasis research and thinking skills
Today, across Scotland, young people will be whooping or groaning as the results of their endof – school exams, the Highers and Advanced Highers, are revealed. “The people who do really well will post them on Facebook,” says student Ellie Small, “and some of those who do really badly might post them for comedy value, but I don’t think I will be posting mine. I’m really nervous. The closer it gets, the more I feel I won’t have got what I need.”
Propaganda war: who will win Scottish teenage hearts and minds?
Jackie Kemp -The Guardian, Monday 20 May 2013 19.30 BST
Pupils at Glasgow’s Douglas Academy debate Scotland’s independence ahead of next year’s vote. Photograph: Martin Hunter
Rosie Duthie and Euan MacIntosh, both 15, have made up their minds on how they plan to vote in next year’s referendum on Scottish independence. For Euan the answer is a clear “yes” because he believes it will be his best guarantee of a free university education. Rosie is a “no”. She says: “We should be arguing that what we think is better for the future of young people in Scotland is better for England too and for the European Union.”
“Worrying” dip in language learning in Scots schools
By RORY REYNOLDS AND JACKIE KEMP
Published in The Scotsman newspaper on 29/04/2013 00:00
FOREIGN language learning in Scotland’s schools has dipped to “worrying” new levels, education experts warned last night. The warning that the decline will have an negative impact on Scotland’s standing in the world came after it emerged that only about one in ten S5 pupils is taking foreign language courses.
An analysis of education statistics by The Scotsman has found the number of Higher course entrants for modern languages has fallen by nearly a quarter over the past 20 years, from 10,179 to just under 7,887 in 2011.
Mandarin blossoms among Scots language pupils
It’s difficult, unfamiliar, and far from a traditional educational choice. So why are more Scottish pupils bucking the UK trend and venturing out of their comfort zone to study Mandarin? Jackie Kemp speaks to some of the people involved in the pursuit of oriental excellence. From The Scotsman April 29 2013
A group of girls in brightly coloured silk costumes are conversing animatedly in Mandarin – performing a short play for visitors to their school, Leith Academy, Edinburgh. The city comprehensive’s staff are clearly proud of this high-achieving group of six girls, all the children of immigrants from Africa, Asia and diverse parts of Europe, who earlier this year beat stiff competition to make it to the finals of the British Council’s Chinese-speaking competition, for the second time in a row.
White Out With Nuns
T his poem is one of the best-read things on my site. A poem. White out with nuns.You coming?Swirling snowfall makes the world go blankUnnavigable nothingnessAnd through it, the silent…
Father ‘Ted’ McSherry
Published in The Scotsman Tuesday 22 January 2013
Born: 29 September, 1934, in Liverpool. Died: 26 December, 2012, in Edinburgh, aged 78
Father Edward McSherry – known to everyone as “Father Ted” – was parish priest of St Mary’s Star of the Sea in Leith, Edinburgh. At the time of his death he was working and leading a full life, having recently returned from a visit to South America.
At his funeral, the church was packed with mourners, many of whom had travelled for long distances to mark the passing of this popular priest and to give thanks for what was described as a “simple life – and in the end he died as he lived – very simply”
Literature doesn’t need more cheerleaders
Rosemary Goring’s take on the Creative Scotland debate from the Herald Saturday arts section September 22, 2012
“There is no such thing as art. There are only artists,” said E H Gombrich in The Story of Art. It’s a dictum that the architects of Creative Scotland should have noted. Much of the firestorm that has engulfed that beleaguered institution of late might have been averted if its apparatchiks had had the wisdom and humility to appreciate that the state’s function in funding the arts is solely to disburse money to artists in the most effective and simple manner possible.