On the road — in beautiful Scotland

Iam embarrassed to admit this, but I have never been to Scotland — despite being British and having Scottish ancestors. In fact, the first person to go by the name of Sharp was recorded in Scotland. Each time we present Scotland as a travel destination, I promise myself that this time... Now, I am doubly tempted to book a holiday, as our travel story, “A long and winding road”, is a road trip around the north coast of Scotland. I love road trips, and this one has all my favourite elements: romantically gloomy castles, green lakes — in this case, lochs — fathoms deep and wide, yellow beaches. Join our author Julian Earwaker on page 36 to get a very special tour of Scotland.

Embarrassment is also the topic of our language feature. What do you say when, as happened to me, you see a colleague walking around with yesterday’s underwear hanging out of the back of their trousers? Discover useful phrases for awkward situations in “Embarrassing English” on pages 48–51.

Finally, please take a moment to look at What’s Cooking?, our new food column. In each issue, we will be talking to a different chef from the English-speaking world. This time, it is pie specialist Calum Franklin. Find out why he loves pies, then try out his delicious recipe for keema-spiced cottage pie on pages 14–15.