Spurtle smooth taper. The custom is that a spurtle should be used to stir in a clockwise direction with the right hand. Early spurtles were flat, wooden or metal instruments, with long handles and flat blades. The spatula-like utensils, known as 'Couthie Spurtles,' can be used for flipping oatcakes or making pancakes - but not for making porridge. The World Porridge Making Championship awards a "Golden Spurtle" as its main prize. Spurtle The spurtle (or "spurtel", "spurtil", "spirtle" or "spartle") is a wooden Scottish kitchen tool, dating from the fifteenth century, that is used to stir porridge, soups, stews and broths.
Protected areas of Scotland various designations overlap considerably with many protected areas being covered by multiple designations with different boundaries. The national parks of Scotland are managed areas of outstanding landscape where some forms of development are restricted to preserve the landscape and natural environment. At present, Scotland has two national parks: Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, created in 2002, and the Cairngorms National Park, created in 2003. Unlike the national parks of many other countries, the national parks of Scotland are not areas of uninhabited land owned by the state. The majority of the land is in the ownership of private