Latest news with #dunes
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘People have seen through him and he's not welcome': Scotland tees up for Trump visit
Rohan Beyts first visited the dunes overlooking the slate grey North Sea at Menie, Aberdeenshire, as a teenager. Later she brought her own children to play across the spectacular landscape of dunes and slacks, vibrant with butterflies and wildflowers. Beyts attended the initial meeting called in 2006 to galvanise local resistance to the then business tycoon Donald Trump's plans to bulldoze this legally protected site of ecological rarity to make way for his first Scottish golf resort. 'I've been at this for 19 years,' she says, ahead of the now US president's expected Friday evening arrival in Scotland. 'I'm still disgusted by what Trump did at Menie and now what he is doing across the rest of the world.' After a bitter and protracted dispute with local people and environmentalists, who fought to save the dunes and the dwellings around them, Trump eventually won planning permission to build 'the world's greatest golf course'. At the time, he promised a £1bn coastal resort including expansive courses, luxury housing and high-rise timeshare flats – promises Beyts points out have yet to be fulfilled. 'Where's the huge development that was heralded as replacement jobs for the oil industry? I don't understand how the politicians were so taken in,' she adds. Beyts, who later won a moral victory in court against Trump International staff who photographed her when she paused to answer the call of nature on a walk around the dunes, will not be protesting against the president's latest visit. 'I fully support people who want to demonstrate and if I thought it would make any difference to people in Gaza or Ukraine I would, but I worry it plays to his ego.' David Milne was one of the local people whose refused to budge after Trump tried twice to buy his home, a former coastguard station Trump described as a 'visual slum', and then attempted to secure a compulsory purchase order. 'His entire attitude was one of entitled arrogance – 'I will do what I like.' People up here have a bad habit of saying: 'I don't think so,'' says Milne. On one of Trump's previous visits to Menie, Milne flew a Mexican flag from his flagpole in solidarity with those targeted during the Republican's first presidential term. This time he will fly the saltire. 'People are upset that this is being described as a private visit yet there's a huge cost to the country for security. Things are tight enough – why are we paying for this? He's pulling British police into a deliberate stunt for publicity for his new course,' says Milne. While Beyts and Milne are willing to reflect on their years of resistance, and the close friendships forged, they acknowledge that others are exhausted by the relentless disruption and media interest that accompanies proximity to the resort. The police have already knocked on Milne's door to warn him about access restrictions. However, Tommy Campbell, a local trade unionist who will compere the 'festival of resistance' planned for Aberdeen city centre on Saturday, says peaceful protesters will get as close to the resort as possible on Tuesday morning, when Trump is expected to open his new golf course, with the intention of writing protest messages in the sand at Balmedie beach while the tide is out. 'The world has changed since he first appeared in Aberdeen as a businessman and some people were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt,' says Campbell. 'People have seen through him and he's not welcome.' Like Beyts and Milne, Campbell also expresses his disappointment that Keir Starmer and the Scottish first minister, John Swinney, will meet Trump during the president's visit. 'They are not representing the true feelings of the people of Scotland,' he says. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Across Scotland, on the west coast, the residents of Turnberry are facing road diversions, security checkpoints and a swelling police presence, with transit vehicles trundling along the country roads. There is metal fencing around Trump's luxury resort and lines of police in hi-vis jackets blocking the beach, where the late Janey Godley regularly stood to greet him with her infamous handwritten protest sign: 'Trump is a cunt.' In March, Trump described members of a pro-Palestine group accused of vandalising the Turnberry course by painting the grass with the words 'Gaza is not 4 sale' as 'terrorists'. On Friday, some local people were exercised about the 'partial lockdown' they found themselves in. One pensioner questioned why the UK government was contributing to expensive policing for what is a private visit while limiting his generation's winter fuel payments. But others mentioned the employment Trump had brought to the area. Menie's new course is dedicated to the president's late mother, Mary Anne Trump, who was raised on the Isle of Lewis, further up the west coast, before immigrating to the US. In Lewis's main town of Stornoway, Sarah Venus has rehung the protest banner she was ordered by the local council to remove in May. It reads: 'Shame on you Donald John,' a maternal-style admonishment prompted by his treatment of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at a White House press conference in February. The banner will now go on a tour of the island around private homes, as Trump's visit continues into next week. 'This time the protests will be a bit different because of the broader context,' says Venus. 'People are beginning to connect the dots and realise this is a transnational struggle against fascism. It's not just happening over there in the US and maybe there's an opportunity to be vigilant and head it off over here.' The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘People have seen through him and he's not welcome': Scotland tees up for Trump visit
Rohan Beyts first visited the dunes overlooking the slate grey North Sea at Menie, Aberdeenshire, as a teenager. Later she brought her own children to play across the spectacular landscape of dunes and slacks, vibrant with butterflies and wildflowers. Beyts attended the initial meeting called in 2006 to galvanise local resistance to the then business tycoon Donald Trump's plans to bulldoze this legally protected site of ecological rarity to make way for his first Scottish golf resort. 'I've been at this for 19 years,' she says, ahead of the now US president's expected Friday evening arrival in Scotland. 'I'm still disgusted by what Trump did at Menie and now what he is doing across the rest of the world.' After a bitter and protracted dispute with local people and environmentalists, who fought to save the dunes and the dwellings around them, Trump eventually won planning permission to build 'the world's greatest golf course'. At the time, he promised a £1bn coastal resort including expansive courses, luxury housing and high-rise timeshare flats – promises Beyts points out have yet to be fulfilled. 'Where's the huge development that was heralded as replacement jobs for the oil industry? I don't understand how the politicians were so taken in,' she adds. Beyts, who later won a moral victory in court against Trump International staff who photographed her when she paused to answer the call of nature on a walk around the dunes, will not be protesting against the president's latest visit. 'I fully support people who want to demonstrate and if I thought it would make any difference to people in Gaza or Ukraine I would, but I worry it plays to his ego.' David Milne was one of the local people whose refused to budge after Trump tried twice to buy his home, a former coastguard station Trump described as a 'visual slum', and then attempted to secure a compulsory purchase order. 'His entire attitude was one of entitled arrogance – 'I will do what I like.' People up here have a bad habit of saying: 'I don't think so,'' says Milne. On one of Trump's previous visits to Menie, Milne flew a Mexican flag from his flagpole in solidarity with those targeted during the Republican's first presidential term. This time he will fly the saltire. 'People are upset that this is being described as a private visit yet there's a huge cost to the country for security. Things are tight enough – why are we paying for this? He's pulling British police into a deliberate stunt for publicity for his new course,' says Milne. While Beyts and Milne are willing to reflect on their years of resistance, and the close friendships forged, they acknowledge that others are exhausted by the relentless disruption and media interest that accompanies proximity to the resort. The police have already knocked on Milne's door to warn him about access restrictions. However, Tommy Campbell, a local trade unionist who will compere the 'festival of resistance' planned for Aberdeen city centre on Saturday, says peaceful protesters will get as close to the resort as possible on Tuesday morning, when Trump is expected to open his new golf course, with the intention of writing protest messages in the sand at Balmedie beach while the tide is out. 'The world has changed since he first appeared in Aberdeen as a businessman and some people were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt,' says Campbell. 'People have seen through him and he's not welcome.' Like Beyts and Milne, Campbell also expresses his disappointment that Keir Starmer and the Scottish first minister, John Swinney, will meet Trump during the president's visit. 'They are not representing the true feelings of the people of Scotland,' he says. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Across Scotland, on the west coast, the residents of Turnberry are facing road diversions, security checkpoints and a swelling police presence, with transit vehicles trundling along the country roads. There is metal fencing around Trump's luxury resort and lines of police in hi-vis jackets blocking the beach, where the late Janey Godley regularly stood to greet him with her infamous handwritten protest sign: 'Trump is a cunt.' In March, Trump described members of a pro-Palestine group accused of vandalising the Turnberry course by painting the grass with the words 'Gaza is not 4 sale' as 'terrorists'. On Friday, some local people were exercised about the 'partial lockdown' they found themselves in. One pensioner questioned why the UK government was contributing to expensive policing for what is a private visit while limiting his generation's winter fuel payments. But others mentioned the employment Trump had brought to the area. Menie's new course is dedicated to the president's late mother, Mary Anne Trump, who was raised on the Isle of Lewis, further up the west coast, before immigrating to the US. In Lewis's main town of Stornoway, Sarah Venus has rehung the protest banner she was ordered by the local council to remove in May. It reads: 'Shame on you Donald John,' a maternal-style admonishment prompted by his treatment of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at a White House press conference in February. The banner will now go on a tour of the island around private homes, as Trump's visit continues into next week. 'This time the protests will be a bit different because of the broader context,' says Venus. 'People are beginning to connect the dots and realise this is a transnational struggle against fascism. It's not just happening over there in the US and maybe there's an opportunity to be vigilant and head it off over here.'
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Irish Times
Best golf courses in Co Clare: Bucket list courses and hidden gems from Lahinch to Dromoland Castle
Bucket Lists As an old Alister Mackenzie masterpiece, the Old Course at Lahinch has evolved magnificently over time. Here there are not just Mackenzie's influences, but also those of Old Tom Morris and, more recently, Martin Hawtree. And all of those designers owe a depth of gratitude to Mother Nature, for the utterly natural links with its rolling fairways and towering dunelands is a thing of beauty hard on the Atlantic coastline. Lahinch may have its quirks – with blind tee and approach shots – but the traditional out-and-back layout with its small, undulating greens provides one of golf's greatest pleasures. And, as we've seen in an Irish Open won by Jon Rahm, as well as its hosting of the annual South of Ireland Amateur Championship, this is a links that provides the ultimate test of players' shot-making. [ Fairways to Heaven - Ireland's Ultimate Golf Guide Opens in new window ] For many, an abiding memory of any visit to the Old Course will likely involve recounting the back-to-back holes on the front nine – the Par 5 known as The Klondyke and the Par 3 known as Dell – which involve hitting blind shots over sand hills. The advice is to aim over the V on Klondyke Hill and over the white stone on the mound protecting the Dell. There is a wonderful run of holes by the Atlantic and into the towering dunes, while the 14th and 15th holes, which run parallel and are separated by mounds which have blended in superbly, typify all that is great about the links. Just over 30 kilometres down the coast is the much newer links of Trump International Doonbeg which was originally designed in 1992 by the Great White Shark himself, Greg Norman, but which subsequently underwent a substantial renovation by Hawtree, the designer also responsible for Lahinch's more modern changes. Doonbeg: The rebuilt 138 yards par 3, 14th hole designed by Martin Hawtree. Photograph:Doonbeg is set on a special area of conservation and, like Lahinch, has battled coastal erosion, and has an unusual shaping which somehow works with a number of spectacular holes. The Par 5 1st hole wonderfully sets out the journey ahead, with dunes in play from the off and the green nestled into sandhills. There are a number of captivating holes, but none more so than the Par 3 14th which has a dramatic setting, played from an elevated tee to a green hard by the Atlantic. When Norman – who helicoptered in for his first site visit – initially set eyes on the landscape, he declared: 'If I spend the rest of my life building courses, I don't think I would find a comparable site anywhere ... this is spectacular land, made by God.' Lahinch Golf Club, Lahinch, Co Clare; 065 7081003; Trump International Doonbeg, Doonbeg Co Clare; 065 9055600 Hidden Gem Let's be honest from the start here. Dromoland Castle is not exactly hidden – given it is a five-star hotel resort and has hosted the KPMG Irish Women's Open – and, in truth, it is more of a diamond than a gem. Dromoland Castle: KPMG Women's Irish Open. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho For all that, this is a course that is entitled to a greater appreciation. It is the design work of Ron Kirby and JB Carr which, in itself, should make it on any must-play list. There are some fine Par 3s, with the seventh – the elevated tee box set by mature trees and played to a green below that has the lake and castle as a backdrop – starts a tremendous stretch of holes that utilises the sylvan landscape. There are some tough holes, too. The Par 4 16th is fully deserving of its index one rating on the scorecard, a big hole that demands long and accurate tee shots and – for most – a fairway club in hand to get anywhere near the green in two. The 18th hole is a lovely Par 5 that has the lake in play down the right off the tee. Dromoland Castle Golf Club; Dromoland Castle, Newmarket-on-Fergus Co Clare; 061 368444; golf@ Honourable Mentions Shannon has the airport as a close neighbour so be prepared for aviation noise – you get used to it! – during your round on a tree-lined, mainly flat course that in variably is found in good condition. The starting holes with out-of-bounds on each of the 1st and 2nd immediately makes the case for strategic course management. There are a number of water hazards, including on the Par 5 eighth hole while the lovely Par 3 17th has the estuary in play. Shannon Golf Club, Shannon Co Clare; 061-471849 Ennis is a nicely conditioned parkland course that is relatively short but probably all the more enjoyable for that. The greens are relatively flat with some exceptions, among them the three-tier putting surface that awaits at the end of the Par 4 eighth hole. Ennis Golf Club, Drumbiggle, Ennis, Co Clare; 065-6824074; info@ East Clare – in Bodyke – is a treat. The course is set in rolling countryside and, designed by Dr Arthur Spring, offers a peaceful and tranquil setting at home with nature as well as a fine golfing examination. The use of water hazards, especially on the Par 3s, is clever. The index one is the Par 4 ninth hole (Par 5 for women), with a ditch short of the green and a lake to the right. East Clare Golf Club, Bodyke Co Clare; 061-921322; eastclaregolfcluboffice@
