Fay Young

Trees in full leaf, bright green under a blue sky reflected in the pond: The Pond picture by Fay Young

One thing always leads to another

I’m a journalist. I’ve always been curious about people and places.

I started writing about other people’s gardens a long time ago and somehow I’ve ended up having a wild garden that’s open to the public.

This site is a collection of my writing on gardens, culture, wildlife, the environment and even a little politics.

The garden is open through Scotland’s Garden Scheme supporting Children’s Hospices Across Scotland.

We are open now for spring walks. Please don’t hesitate to let us know when you’d like to come. Just fill in the Contact form. Give us a call. Find out more about Pond Cottage Garden

  • Shopping in Sao Paolo with Gilles Peterson

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    “It’s just a really special experience…I would say to any musician of any rank, to apply for it because it really teaches you a lot about other people and their cultures and music.” Ben Westbeech (definitely not Westwood!) on Trocabrahma Podcast Episode 2. This is interesting stuff, so far the Trocabrahma series is the only…

  • A message from Burma: pass it on

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    We create this blog to share our genuine feelings about Burma and its path to freedom. http://bbwob.blogspot.com/ I feel there’s a kind of mockery in the UK media excitement of a possible (and unnecessary) snap election in Britain where so few will turn out to vote. At the same time newspapers carry words and pictures…

  • Who says we have to make sacrifices?

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    Ray Perman finds a quicker, more comfortable alternative to flying. And, to coin a phrase, it doesn’t cost the earth. It has always puzzled me why anyone would fly from Manchester to London rather than take the train. By the time you drag out from the city centre to the airport, allow for your check-in…

  • Smuggling hope in and out of Burma

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    “I spoke yesterday to my friends in Rangoon. They fear the worse but hope desperately for change. I make no excuse for pleading to you my friends on behalf of the Burmese people. This is their hour of need. Uncertainty, fear and just a glimmer of hope exist in that country. We can do something…

  • Moving pictures from Burma

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    It was raining in Rangoon in the first film I watched yesterday. Monks with bare feet and shaved heads walked through the street among crowds of people carrying umbrellas. Most of them looked very young and vulnerable, their wet clothes clinging to slim bodies. Even though I had just looked at a spectacular photograph of…

  • Trail blazing

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    The Road to the Isles is getting straighter. That’s good news for holiday makers with carsick kids and haulage drivers winding through some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain. But it’s not so good for wonderful old woodlands laid waste to make way for the bold, broad ribbon of tarmac unfolding a new straight…

  • Brazil meets Glasgow

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    “Brazil is a place of freedom even though it is so dramatically smashed up and kicked around. We are free and that is just a beautiful thing to be.” Os Mutantes from Sao Paolo talking to DJ Twitch from Optimo Glasgow on the Trocabrahma podcast.

  • After the FEAST

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    What was I worried about? The weather was great, the people came and the plasma screen worked – or at least it did once Tommy shot off to get batteries for some crucial part and Alan spent half an hour trying to get hold of the technician at the hire shop.

  • FEAST: coming to an outdoor screen near you…

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    I don’t really have time for this. I have worrying to do and weather forecasts to check. BBC says Edinburgh will be fine, warmish and might even manage a little sun. MetOffice shows a big grey cloud over the city. I think I’ll go with the BBC, much better for our outdoor FEAST.

  • Summertime blues

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    Bees may be disappearing from hives across the world but they are crawling all over my herb patch. Good to know there’s something edible in the vegetable garden. The plot has never looked better since Ray made new paths and edged all the borders in wood during that spring heat wave. But it has never…

  • Car-worn Edinburgh

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    Oh come on Edinburgh, we can do much better than this. Here’s a series of pictures taken on my mobile on a wet, unwelcoming Saturday in the middle of the world’s biggest arts jamboree. Elsewhere the festival goes on but in the middle of what is supposed to be the city’s first pedestrian space, the…

  • Streetwise Perth

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    Let’s go to Perth to see how a town centre can thrive without traffic. It’s Saturday, the sun is shining, the pan pipes are playing and on the seafood stall huge crabs seem to send a cheery V sign to shoppers passing by. Perth Farmer’s Market is going like a fair bang smack in the…