A born and raised Partick man has said he has found ‘absolute joy’ after starting a YouTube channel as a retirement hobby. 

Edward Burns started Ed Explores Scotland a few years ago after looking to keep ‘busy and active’ – and show off his love for ‘old buildings’ and Scottish nature. 

Glasgow Times:

“Doing the videos is an absolute joy and in theory, it keeps me out of the pub,” the 68-year-old joked as he chatted to the Glasgow Times. 

He continued: “I’ve always liked photography and had a growing interest in video Now that I’m retired, doing the channel is a way to keep me active and busy.

“I love making the videos, planning them and even editing them all – it’s so enjoyable and I get to put across a subject that is really exciting and that people like, I think that is a great thing.” 

Glasgow Times:

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For his videos, Ed travels across the country and talks through the history of his destination while diving into the local scene and fun facts. 

Some highlights from the Glaswegian's 20-to-30-minute videos include Ed’s walk from Wemyss Bay to Greenock and a walk through the Scottish Borders. 

Glasgow Times:

During his time doing the channel, Ed has gone as far south as Dumfries and as North as Stonehaven. 

“The contents of the videos are mainly history and walking-based,” Ed said. 

He continued: “I’ve always just had an inherent interest in old buildings. When we had a careers day in school the teachers asked me what I wanted to be, and I said an archaeologist. You’d need to have more brains than I do to do that though. 

“I go to a mixture of places that I’ve been to before and others that I’ve never seen – and it’s definitely exciting to go to places that I haven’t before. 

“I hope the videos show people things that they might not have or be able to see for themselves and hopefully I’m getting people interested in exploring these places themselves.” 

Glasgow Times:

Ed has recently seen a significant rise in subscribers to his channel, which he said has felt ‘exciting’.

It comes after the channel has risen to over 8,000 subscribers. 

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Ed added: “It’s felt like such a quick transition. For years it wasn’t going anywhere, I had like no subscribers and now it has grown really rapidly. 

“I know the level is nowhere near a lot of channels and it’s probably naff saying it’s exciting, but it is. 

“I strongly suspect it’s the Glasgow videos because they do so well, much better than the walking videos I believe.”

You can check out Ed’s channel HERE