Stirling to Pitlochry (Saturday, Sept 5)

Saturday, September 5

We left Stirling and the Victoria Square Guest House after a delicious breakfast of eggs and smoked Scottish salmon. Our list of places to stop between Stirling and Pitlochry, our destination, was pretty long, and the weather gods were smiling on us yet again. The sun was shining, the sky blue with occasional white clouds, the air crisp and clean. Heavenly!

If you ever have a chance to visit Stirling, check out Victoria Square. The owners completely remodeled it after they purchased it a few years ago; both the house and the grounds are lovely. And the location is great!

Hydrangea outside Victoria Square. 

Victoria Square Guest House.

On the way out of town, we drove by the old Stirling Bridge, which is located on the same spot as the earlier wooden bridge that played such an important role in the First War of Scottish Independence. You can read more about this on Wikipedia. The new bridge was built near the old one, which is now used exclusively by walkers and bicyclers. 

Old Stirling Bridge.

Our next stop, just a short distance up the road, was Doune Castle, the home of Robert Stewart, the 1st Duke of Albany, who ruled Scotland, in all but name, from 1388 until his death in 1420. The castle's impressive architecture made it a great choice for the filming of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and more recently a location in the pilot for Game of Thrones and the fictional Castle Leoch for the TV adaption of the Outlander novels.

Doune Castle, featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

We picked up the audio tour at the castle gift shop. Comparing the rich characters and entertaining information from this audio tour with the more reserved audio on the Stirling Castle tour, we decided that we really liked the one for Doune! Narrated by Python's Terry Jones, it features both the castle's real and fictional histories. 

Window at Doune Castle.

This castle, though quite plain on the outside, was filled with interesting niches, nooks, small rooms, and winding staircases in addition to some very large rooms, including a kitchen with a fireplace large enough to roast an entire venison on a spit!

Privy at Doune Castle.

King's quarters at Doune Castle.

We entered the Trossachs National Park and headed toward Killin, an interesting small town just at the intersection of the glens of Dochart and Lochay. Killin is best known for the Falls of Dochart, which tumble under the Dochart Bridge right in the heart of town. You can climb down to the water, rock hop a little, and plunge your feet into the refreshing water, or you can sit outside one of the cafes or pubs and have a bite to eat on a sunny day! Killin is definitely a place to relax and enjoy life.

Falls of Dochart, which run under the bridge at Killin.

By the time we left Killin, the afternoon was progressing, so we checked in with our host Graham at Claymore Guest House in Pitlochry. We wanted to make sure he was expecting us! That settled, we continued on toward Kenmore and the Scottish Crannog Center, which features a unique reconstruction of a loch dwelling from the early Iron Age. The Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology has done a lot of research in the north end of Loch Tay, which has allowed them not only to reconstruct the dwelling but to give demonstrations of tools used by these early Scottish dwellers and the clothing they made and plants they grew. It was a fascinating stop.

Cross this bridge to the Scottish Crannog Center, which shows how early
Scottish crannog dwellers lived. 

St. Mary's Church, view of this rather plain building
from outside.

Even though it was now quite late in the evening, we really wanted to see St. Mary's Church. Our friends Pat and Tom found this church on one of their previous trips, and it sounded intriguing. Smoky located the Church on Google Maps street view and Pat had sent us instructions on finding it, too, so we knew what to look for. We parked and walked up the narrow path to the building, which looks as though it was built to store tools and other agricultural supplies. We opened the gate, walked to the door, ducked under the door frame, and flipped the light switch. 

Inside view of St. Mary's Church, showing painted
ceiling.

And we were amazed! This long, narrow room had been modified so that one half held a wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling entirely covered with stunningly painted panels. You can read more about it at this website. The paintings seemed religious in nature but also incorporated a crest of the Laird of Grandtully. They were all fascinating and quite unique!

By now evening was approaching, and we wanted to arrive at Claymore Guest House before dark, so we headed down the road again. Soon we were pulling into the drive, being greeted warmly by Graeme, and shown to our lovely, large room. Unfortunately, by this time we were so tired that we forgot to photograph the room before we unloaded our luggage, so you'll just have to take our word for it that it was really nice. The best part: it overlooks the fantastic front garden, where every flower I can imagine is in bloom. Glorious!

Part of the beautiful garden at
Claymore Guest House.

We walked to town for a delicious dinner at Victoria's Restaurant. 

Some of Smoky's photos from the day are now posted in this entry; the first two and the last one are mine. Remember, you can see more of Smoky's photos at his Zenfolio site.

--Shann