THOSE OF US of a certain age recall the thrill every Sunday of the funny pages of the Sunday Post; some ran to the shop for the papers and nicked those favourite segments first before parents or grannies could get to Francis Gay and the crossword. The run up to Christmas every year included speculation about whether it was to be an Oor Wullie or The Broons book. We debated why there wasn’t a local PC Murdoch for target practice but thankfully as far as is known no children attempted like Wullie to stick their head inside a goldfish bowl.

These memories sprang to mind on a recent day out which included observation and high jinks at Electric Brae. I’m sure the Broons went there in a jalopy, or was it a bus trip? Google didn’t help me find the episode. That got me wondering about how many Scots have missed getting to know interesting, breathtaking parts of Scotland.

It used to be said there remained residents of Clackmannanshire who rarely crossed the county boundary; frankly, there’s just about everything here you’d want - the Cochrane and Johnstone Parks of Alva, the Ochil Hills, Castle Campbell, Alloa, Sauchie and Clackmannan Towers, Gartmorn Dam, fishing and sailing on the Forth and very much more; the best of our wee country. Mostly unknown to most Scots I bet.