Blogs from Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

LOVED LOVED the castle here. It has only recently reopened and WOW they have done a magnificent job. Before heading to the castle, we stopped at the Bannockburn battlefield and met one of the more colourful locals walking his dog who filled us in about some of the history (what a clever dog). The heritage centre at the site, although closed for the offseason, had just had a school group through and the manager invited us in for a private viewing at no cost. He played a short film showing the history and events around the battle fought there in 1314 during the Wars of Independence between Scotland and England. Other than providing the opportunity to educate and entertain some tourists, his motive was also to rescue us from the talkative local. Yet another example of ... read more

I've been neglecting my blog........but with good reason!! After the last update my time at the Archelon project became even more involved and interesting. Emily and I were joined by two American school kids from the Southern States, they were on an adventure travel experience run by the discovery channel and were joining us to experience a conservation project. Being called sir by a very polite and attentive couple of school kids called John and Megan, with a soft Southern drawl I couldn't help but smile at every time they spoke, made for a good morning survey on C section. We found 1 nest and Emily and I got John and Megan to help us dig for the eggs and take the measurements then hammer in the protective grid and bamboo. We were all invited to ... read more

The weather was pretty dreadful again this morning as we headed off for the Breadalbane Folklore Centre at Killin at the western end of Loch Tay. Family records indicate that Bernie's 6x great grandfather, Finlay Campbell, was living in Glen Lochay, at the western end of Loch Tay, in the early 1700s. According to the family history, the Campbells were a powerful family in the Breadalbane area at that time and we expected to learn quite a bit more about the Campbells at the folklore centre. Well ... it turned out that the displays focussed mainly on Clan McGregor and their allies Clan McLaren and Clan McNab, before they were supplanted by the usurping Clan Campbell. There was only one interpretative board devoted to Clan Campbell and it pretty much said that the Campbells came from ... read more

This morning we returned to Stirling Castle - some 13 years after our first visit in 1997. The last time that we visited they were restoring the Great Hall and it was shrouded in scaffolding which somewhat spoiled the image of the castle perching on its bluff. We have always wanted to return to get a better impression of what the castle looks like when it's not obscured by restoration works. We almost drove up to Stirling in 2009, but when we checked the web site we discovered that, while the Great Hall has been reopened, the State Apartments were closed due to refurbishments being undertaken!! After checking the web site on Saturday we were pretty confident that most of the site would be accessible today. We decided to walk up to the castle via Gower ... read more

Yep, that's right... I'm currently a student at Stirling University, Scotland. It's been a few years now and about to finish soon, finger cross! Initially, i have my own private diary of my journey here but i think it's about time i share it to all, especially my family and friends. ... read more