Rest of Scotland

Stirling Castle – Just had a 12 million pound renovation of the Renaissance palace built by James V.  This was the childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots.  Once again an introductory tour by a guide – another Frank!

The Whiskey Trail - From Pitlochry we took the scenic route across the Cairngorm National Park - the majestic Highlands with their steep heather and bracken clad hills.  Very cold (6 degrees though it did warm up slightly).  We hooked on to ‘The Malt Whiskey Trail’ and visited the Glenfiddich distillery whose tour ended with 3 tastings and it was free!  Not often you get a Scotsman giving you something for free.

Speyside Cooperage.  Just down the road from Glenfiddich.  One of those little gems you sometimes find when travelling.  The only working cooperage in the UK.  Exhibition boards, a movie and then we watched the coopers at work and had an ex cooper explaining what we could see on the shop floor.  Very interesting – the history and the coopering process.

Culloden - Quite an emotive site.  Over 1,200 dead in less than an hour as the Jacobean army supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie was crushed.  360 immersion movie, detailed exhibition boards recounting the sequence of events and then a battlefield tour with a guide

Heading south – From Inverness we travelled down Loch Ness where we visited the ruins of Urquhart Castle which overlooks the dark waters of the Loch.  Scottish weather finally caught up with us as it rained steadily all Thursday as we drove past Ben Nevis (shrouded in low cloud), through Glencoe (where the famous MacDonald massacre took place), down Loch Lomand then around the coast at the Firth of Clyde to Dumfries.  However, like Southland, Scotland is still beautiful in the rain.

Friday dawned cool but sunny.  First stop Gretna Green – obligatory photos. Went to a great museum while the others had coffee. It gave the background to formal marriages in Scotland and England and the role of Gretna Green in elopement.  Hand fasting was still legal in Scotland until 1940!  Next we worked our way down Hadrian’s Wall stopping at Lanercost Priory, Birdoswald Roman Fort and Housestead Roman Fort.