1 - 2 June: Glamis Castle and Dunkeld

After a busy May where we traveled a lot, we finally had time to visit some more wonderful Scottish castles. Our choice for this weekend were Glamis Castle and Blair Castle, both still on private hands. What we've learned from visits to other castles is that these kind of castles tend to have a more 'homey feel' than the castles in care of Historic Scotland or The National Trust of Scotland.

Glamis Castle

We arrived at Glamis Castle (pronounced 'Glamz') just before lunch, so we ate our packed lunch at one of the tables in the garden, trying to soak up some heat from the sun. The temperature was not very high, but it was nice sitting in the sun, so we relaxed for a bit while the children had a great time on the estate playground.  The 'Zip slide' was especially popular.

Guided tour of a royal castle

After lunch we had guided tour of the castle. This is truly an impressive castle, with it's thick walls (1m), high ceilings and magnificent interior. Glamis Castle was built in 1376 and has remained the ancestral home of the Earls of Strathmore since this time. The castle is open to the public, but still retains the atmosphere of an ancestral home. During the tour our eldest son was given the privilege of playing on the family grand piano which Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother also had played when she was at the castle. This was a great experience for him.

Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, later known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, was born in 1900 and she spent much of her childhood at Glamis Castle. Lady Elizabeth married Prince Albert, second son of King George V, in 1923.

When King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, Prince Albert became King George VI. Their second daughter, Princess Margaret, was born at Glamis Castle in 1930.

After our tour we got the opportunity to take a closer look at the small castle museum which featured beautiful china, medals, everyday items and beautiful clothes. I could see myself looking quite handsome in one of those gowns. The only trouble is that I do enjoy to breathe freely, without being restricted by my clothing.

Before leaving the castle I went to 'powder my nose' in very elegant surroundings. Once inside one of the cubicles I saw I sign which rather intrigued me. Not sure the message came across very clearly though, as I had to take a couple of looks to decipher the sign.

Magnificent flowers throughout the estate

 After our tour of the castle, we went to see the rest of the grounds. In addition to all the magnificent rhododendron along the River Dean and in the woods, there were two beautiful bridges leading to the Walled garden, one built in stone, the other with wrought iron railings. Fruit and vegetables were grown inside the walled garden, which also included beautiful flowers and a fountain. 



I took lots of photos of all the lovely flowers in the gardens and the woods, while the children enjoyed running around.  To give you an impression of the variation and beauty of the flowers, I have added a number of them in this blog. I apologise for the way the photos are organised on the page, the layout of the blog does not allow me to do this as smoothly as I would have liked.

We eventually got to the 'Italian garden' which included beautiful female roman statues, perfectly trimmed hedges and an abundance of beautiful flowers in many different colours. To me the garden seemed to be quite typical 19th century; I could almost see the young ladies strolling slowly through the garden whilst speaking to each other in low voices.

Serene Dunkeld

Our plan was to visit Blair Castle on Sunday, so from Glamis Castle we drove in that general direction and hoped we once again would be able to find a decent place to stay for the night. When we reached the outskirts of Dunkeld we came upon a small park by the peaceful river Tay. The sun was shining and the afternoon light gave the whole place such a tranquil look, we decided to take a short stroll along the river before proceeding. Once out of the car we discovered we were very close to the centre of town, so we might as well leave the car and go see if we could find a place to stay for the night.

Once again we were extremely lucky. The hotels in town were more or less fully booked, but at one hotel they had had a last minute cancellation, so we got their last two double rooms. Dunkeld turned out to be a really charming little town and one of the most complete 18th-century country towns in Scotland. Many of the harled (rough-cast) vernacular buildings have been restored by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).

Magnificent location of Dunkeld Cathedral

Sunday morning we  got up early to be able to explore the town and its surroundings before traveling to Blair Castle. The sun was shining and everything seemed so extremely peaceful this Sunday morning. I think we covered more or less all the small roads in town and we also climbed to the top of a small hill just behind our hotel. As we were getting ready to leave we decided to have a quick look at at the 13th - 15th century Dunkeld Cathedral.

It's often said that the most important thing about a property is Location, Location, Location, and I have to say that this really was the case with the cathedral. We had approached from the park/fields behind the cathedral, but when we got closer we discovered a lawn with benches, large trees and plenty of grassy space between sloping slightly down towards the river Tay. I just wanted to sit on one of those benches in the sun and never get up again, it was so extremely peaceful.

In the end we did go inside to have a look at the cathedral and the cathedral museum before service started at 11 o'clock. As we were leaving we could see the first kilt-clad church-goers approaching the cathedral. They looked smashing in their Sunday bests.

Hilton Dunkeld House

During our walk we had discovered a sign pointing the way to Hilton Dunkeld House. Judging by the look of the gates at the end of the long and narrow road leading up to the house, this seemed like a place worth a visit. We decided to do a detour and drove up to the hotel on our way to Blair (well, sort of on our way there).

The Hilton Dunkeld House is based in a summer house built by George Murray, 6th Duke of Atholl. It is home to the Beatrix Potter memorial, as the author spent a lot of time writing there. Potter's first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, took shape at the house in a story and picture letter to child friend Noel Moore.

The hotel was quite nice, but once again it was the magnificent location by the river Tay that really made it special. While we were looking around we discovered that the hotel had put on a bird-show in the garden. We decided to blend in and got a fantastic show where a lady from a falconry told us about falcons and hawks and demonstrated how these birds hunted. The speed and precision was extremely impressive.