A long weekend in Scotland sounded wonderful and we were looking forward to it, especially as a great place to celebrate a birthday for Chris.
The pelting rain as we journeyed north from Windermere was enough for us to consider bypassing Glasgow and to just get to our accommodation in Stirling. But we were so glad we took the chance as we had a spectacular afternoon in sunshine [!] seeing the Glasgow Necropolis, St Mungo’s Cathedral, and various other beautiful city buildings. Good decision.
For Chris’ birthday we spent the day touring west from Stirling seeing Loch Lomond near Balmaha and we chose to climb the local Conic Hill for some views over this famous Loch. It was a steep climb, but the views at the top were spectacular and definitely worth it. We also found ourselves in the middle of the filming of an independent feature film. The scene they were doing was about two girls scattering ashes, and they were using a remote drone camera to get aerial shots around the edge of the hill and over the loch. This was a new experience for us as we watched the three remote operators guiding the camera upward and outward, circling around, as we and other walkers, as well as the production team were asked to stand back. We retraced our steps back down the hill, and continued on our scenic drive through the Trossach Region of this wonderful National Park. This gifted us with more beautiful lochs showing off amazing reflections and magnificent stately stone homes with stunning situations on the hillsides over the lochs undoubtedly giving residents enviable vistas every day. We again felt very blessed as the sun shone down.
We visited the medieval Doune Castle which is still close to complete. And what a treat it was. Its long history has ranged from being the home of Scotland’s ‘uncrowned king’, to a royal residence, a home for widowed queens and a prison, as well as a film location. The audio tour was narrated by Terry Jones who recalled many of the absurd comedic moments from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, part of which was filmed there. We both felt like children as exploring this little castle was in fact a whole heap of fun. There were passage ways and stairs leading to all sorts of rooms and the bare walls and floors still spoke volumes of the history of this place.
We then returned to Stirling and visited Stirling Castle, the childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots, set high on a rocky outcrop overseeing all of Stirling, itself carrying so much military history of Scotland, including being the place where William Wallace achieved a great victory.
Stirling Castle has recently undergone a huge makeover to bring it back to its16th century magnificence. We saw the Great Hall, the Chapel Royal, the kitchens and the State Apartments. We learnt the history of the Castle coming under eight sieges during the Wars of Independence, in 1296, 1297, 1298, 1299, 1304, 1314, 1336 and 1342. How exhausting!! It was a to and fro game of being captured by the English, then retaken by the Scots, captured by the English, then surrendered by the English, etc. etc. until finally in 1342 it was returned to Scottish control again. It was during these sieges that Robert the Bruce became the great Scottish hero that he remains today.
We then drove the short way to see the National Wallace Monument dedicated to William Wallace and his heroic victory made famous in the movie Braveheart. It was wonderful to actually be staying in the city where that historic 1297 battle took place at Stirling Bridge. This impressive monument is more than a mere tower or sculpture, it is a massive structure with its own gatehouse, and is a great testimony from a thankful nation.
On the Sunday of our long weekend in Scotland we drove to Edinburgh for a great day out. Again the sun shone on us as we explored Edinburgh Castle, seeing the state apartments, the Great Hall, the prison vaults, the room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to Prince James in 1566, who became James VI of Scotland and later James I of England, and on top of all that, there were great views over the city. At the top of this hilly outcrop was St Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in the Castle precinct built by King David I and dedicated to his mother who died there in 1093. She was a much loved Queen who was hands on, especially helping the poor and homeless, for which she was made a saint in 1251.
We walked the Royal Mile down the hill from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the Queen in Edinburgh, opposite which is the Scottish Parliament, in my humble opinion, an ugly contemporary building which simply does not fit its context. Shame.
Again to avoid the fading light of day we rushed to Linlithgow Palace and just made the last entry time to see another medieval building in a similar vein to Doune Castle. It has been left authentically un-restored, yet safe, to enable visitors to have fun running up and down ageing spiral staircases, passageways and anterooms, imagining the birth of Mary Queen of Scots and all that meant for the ensuing years. Along with beautiful views of the Linlithgow Loch from the top of each tower, we caught another early sunset as we headed back to our base in Stirling.
Dear Scotland, may we come back please? There’s so much more to do.
Chris and Lynda Johnson 