We drove down to Stirling with a brief coffee stop at Pitlochry. We visited the Castle which was really very good. The highlight was the Royal Palace with its grand but aged exterior and its recreated interior. Here are some pictures...
This bridge is at the site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, where William Wallace allowed half of an English Army across before he attached and defeated them.....good tactics.
The Royal Palace built by King James V but he never lived long enough to live in it.
This is the Great Hall built by King James IV. The van was built by Henry Ford the first!
The Castle has a very interesting history and was the strategic linchpin of Scotland as the town and the bridge over the River Forth controlled the main routes to the Highlands. Of course the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 took place on the outskirts of Stirling, where Robert the Bruce defeated the army of English King Edward II.
We went to find our CL site near Aberfoyle which is the place where my Great Grandad Vernon lived briefly. The site was on a farm, in a sloping field. I couldn't get the van close to level but I didn't mind because we had the field to ourselves, a lovely view of the sunset over the Trossachs and lots of peace and quiet.
On Friday we had a slow start, had a look at Aberfoyle and then went to the Bannockburn Battlefield Visitor Centre but when we arrived they said they were booked up for 'performances' till after 3pm. I wasn't sure what the performances were, probably some video reenactment? I think they didn't like the look of me because I was English and thought I might give them a bit of trouble in a battle reenactment, so they discriminated against me! Janice didn't play her Scottish card! Anyway, we enjoyed a look at the Robert the Bruce statue and the Memorial.
The next destination was Dumfries, which was rather run down with several closed shops in the centre. The photo below is the only nice picture opportunity we could get.
We had tea overlooking the Solway Firth at Powfoot, near Annan and we stayed overnight at the Muckle Toon, properly known as Langholm. As many of you will know, Muckle means 'little' and many a Mickle makes a Muckle! We wild camped....very naughtily on a car park by the River Esk where it prohibited sleeping overnight. If anyone asks, we will say we were wide awake all the time!
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