Walls, Battlefields, and Castles

Started the day waking up late for breakfast. Yup. I guess we were tired.

First stop was to see the Antonine Wall near Croy. Walked up the big hill, met a dog whose bark was worse than his bite, saw some cattle, marvelled over the earthworks required to build this ultimately ineffective Roman Wall, and took in the beautiful scenery.

Next stop was the Battle of Bannockburn Heritage Centre. Visualizing 8,000 Scots fighting against 20,000 English on this huge piece of land is really something. Especially when you consider the Scots won. Took some time to find a geocache while we were here.

Next stop, Stirling Castle. In a word, fantastic. What a great site to see. It’s at the highest point of what was the major crossroads of Scotland. The views are incredible. There are three architectural styles to the castle: medieval, Renaissance, and Victorian. The exterior walls of the Great Hall were recently repainted with the same material that would have been used when it was new, a colour I believe is called Stewart Yellow but looks more like a slightly pink-ish yellow, very bright. At one time the whole castle would have been this colour and it would have shone brightly from its perch. The tour guide was awesomely Scottish, a well rehearsed performer and well informed. The Queen and her handmaiden gave us golfing tips, and the handmaiden invited introductions to our son for her younger sisters; her own dowry was up to eight pounds now, if anybody’s interested.

We finally made our way to our B&B in Doune, Creity Hall Guest House. Wonderful place, I highly recommend it. Karen was our Irish host and was very accommodating. We started walking into town for supper, but after 15 minutes we realized I must have made a directional blooper because we were nowhere near a village, let alone could we see Doune Castle. We turned around, picked up the car, and drove two minutes in the opposite direction to sheepishly find our destination. We had supper at L’Angelino’s Pasta and Pizzeria. Another fine dining experience, albeit not local fare.

Quarry wall at Croy

Antonine Wall at Croy Hill

Dan on Croy Hill

Southern Scotland to Northern Scotland

Rock Cut Trench at Croy Hill

The King of Scots’ Standard Robert the Bruce planted his standard here prior to the Battle of Bannockburn. A glorious victory for the Scots against the English, against numerical odds.

Iconic Statue of Robert the Bruce

This tree is covered in vines. Weird.

Stirling Castle The view from the outer defences above the main gate.

Stirling Castle The Main Battery

Stirling Castle The King’s Hall

Stirling Castle Part of the ceiling in the receiving room (I forget what the room is called). Those pictures were individually carved, painted, and then installed. When they were repainted recently, they were not removed from the ceiling. The painters had to lie on their backs on scaffolding to hand paint them.

Stirling Castle The Queen’s Hall

Stirling Castle Uh, Scottie or Laforge, the holographic shield matrix appears to have failed. Think you could do something about that? This is a lift (elevator) for the less mobile that was installed in Stirling Castle.

Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle Dan, a cannon, and the rock formation the castle is founded on.

Stirling Castle The King’s and Queen’s Knots (read ‘gardens’).

Stirling Castle There were several areas cordoned off for restoration, but I think this area was cordoned off because it was far too tempting for rock climbers.

Stirling Castle