Monday 4th July 2011
Invasion of Campbell Castle & Gardens:
As days out go this was a good one. The sun was high in the sky with it's rays beating down upon us. It was around the 25◦c which for Scotland is like putting a camel in the centre of the sun.
Pipa's dad (Simon) pick us up at around 12pm in the “Chav Mobile” which is a red Honda Accord with a massive spoiler on the back.
After we drove through Dollar and missed the turning we did a quick three-pointer and went back to the turning, where we were faced with a incline that was easily a 2:3 gradient. On reaching the top we all hopped out and made for the castle.
To get to the castle there was a nice but steep downwards incline that curved down to the base of the saddle where the castle sits. At the bottom of the hill there was a bridge to cross that passed over a shallow fast flowing burn/stream. The bridge was a wooden construction with only railings on the right hand side. Electra being Electra insisted on running into the burn out the same way she went in, then over the bridge back in the water from the other side, out the side she first went in then back over the bridge.
After this she was put back on the lead before we stormed the castle. When I say stormed I mean walked through the open gate at the front and into the shop. We went into the shop to show our Historic Scotland Membership Cards, which gives us free access to that castle and lots more that you normally have to pay for. It's not only castles but lots of other historically interesting sites that it gets you free access too. After showing out cards, Simon bought a guide book to the place. We also answered all the normal questions about Electra: Yes, she is a Poodle – No, definitely not a Labradoodle and Yes, she is very uncommon it's only her and her sister that do the @Guide Dog@ job that are Poodles in the whole UK.
Standing in the wide stone floor court-yard with the walls high above our heads Simon read from the guide book tell us about the castles ability to withstand a light attack but how it would be screwed in a siege. After this we headed for the tower, which due to ongoing enervations was the only real bit we could access. We first entered the cellar where the stores would have been kept – but now houses a cased model of the castle as it would have been that plays sounds and lights up with different buttons. It also has some rat bait on the left just before the looming spiral stairs, that Simon had to stop Electra trying to having a munch on. We climbed the stairs to the first floor where we came to a room with a night big window and an anti-room that housed the top of the pit dungeon which for obvious, safety reasons now has a railing at the top. Moving up the stairs to the second floor there was a wooden floored room, called a barrel room, funnily enough because it was the shape of a barrel.It had wooden carvings on the right hand wall near the top and a nice big south facing window. It also had a toilet of the old school sorts. On the third floor was the final room; the master bedroom as we'd call it today. With great views over the glens and beautiful sky. Down side to this property is no 3G signal only GPRS. This however, I doubt would have been a concern to the Campbell lairds that lived there in the 1600's and before. The final ascent of the spiral stairs took us to the balcony or as historians like to call it the buttress, which had been 'blinged' up by the Victorian conservationists to look like “how a castle should look” As much as it's a great shame it's not how it would have been, it's better than it not being there at all. Sir Walter Ralley visited the castle in the 1800's and said something had to be done to save the ruins or they would be lost in the next 50 or so years.
We steadily descended the stairs and came out by the tea rooms. The tea rooms are next to the renovations, but the bit that is getting renovated up until abut a year or so ago was the property Manager's home. But, they retired and the renovations began. We walked past the Great Hall that is now no more than a couple of ground floor arch-ways with gravel flooring looking up to a few inaccessible stair-ways leading to other rooms. We went to the gardens which were a later addition to the property. These were very nicely landscaped given that they were on a fairly steep incline. Out of the back of the gardens was a plato with sheer drops surrounding it where it was said that, John Knox preached his cermons, but this is unlikely as the area in question is very inaccessible and hazardous. It is more likely he'd of done it indoors.
Once our tour of the castle was complete we stood chatting with one of the staff getting a bit more background information to the place.
Electra throughout seemed very interested to get into every room and have a sniff around and explore. Pipa could smell something she recognized from curry and Simon suggested maybe it wasn't from curry but it was a Dog Rose so he picked on for her to smell. After smelling it she decided it wasn't the scent and took a bite out of it claiming at first it tasted like lettuce then apple. One thing that will become apparent through out these blog posts is that Pipa isn't scared to try new things.
That was the castle done.
If you would like more information about the castle just click ”http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
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