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Stirling Rainbow
View from Old Town, Stirling, ScotlandVacation in Central Scotland, May 12 to 27, 2007
Introduction: I had hoped to start the travel blog while on the trip, but that idea proved to be overly ambitious. We signed up at the library in Stirling, Scotland, to use the computers there, but were limited to one-hour sessions and couldn’t download or print anything. So I’m back at home, trying to put together photos and journals in some sort of order.
We visited England and Scotland for the first time three years ago. We rented (or “hired” as they say in the UK) a car and drove around England and up to Scotland, then parked the car when we got to Glasgow and took buses and trains until we left for the airport. We found driving in the UK very nerve wracking, especially with our propensity for getting lost and driving too close to things like curbs and hedges on the left side of the car. So this time we decided to do it all with public transportation.
We decided to stay in Stirling because of its central location on a main rail line with connections to Glasgow and Edinburgh. It was also where Kirk’s grandfather
Stirling: Abbey Road
Riverside area of Stirling, Scotland and great-grandfather lived; both immigrating to America around the turn of the last century. Renting an apartment saved a lot of money, especially since the one I found, called Ochil (name of nearby hill) View, was 280 pounds per week, which ended up as $560. It was even cheaper than the apartment we had rented in Glasgow in 2004, which was around 450 pounds per week (although that apt. had two bedrooms, which we didn’t need this time, since there were just two of us). The British pound was approximately twice the American dollar, so we had to keep doubling costs in our minds.
Going there, trip summary: We got a ride to the BART station from our neighbor, Ed, South Hayward BART to San Francisco Airport, British Airways to London Heathrow, British Airways to Glasgow Airport, Glasgow bus to Queen Street train station, ScotRail train to Falkirk, connecting bus to Stirling train station because the tracks were being worked on, apartment manager’s car to 13A St. John Street, Stirling, Scotland.
Where we stayed: Ochil View Apartment at 13A St. John Street, Stirling, is a studio apartment with a wall partly between the bedroom and living room areas.
It appears to be in an old building (not really old in UK terms, but old by California standards), but the apartment had recent upgrades, with a pretty stained glass door with old-fashioned locks that use skeleton keys (which I consider a hazard because it’s sometimes hard to fit the key in properly). It has light wood floors and beige carpets with a red rug in the living room; all furniture and accessories were from Ikea. The color scheme was red and white and beige. There is a new TV with a wide screen with cable or satellite that gets many stations including radio. There is also a CD player and radio.
The kitchen is well equipped with a stove with two ovens, microwave and electric tea kettle, clothes washer and fridge. There is no clothes dryer but we hung items around the apartment, some on a fold-out clothes rack, others on hangers and over the shower. The shower was in a tub with very tall sides, which made it hard to get out. A hot water heater is on the shower, and the water is turned off and on and temperature regulated by buttons on the heater. It
Stirling: Cambuskenneth
Wall near Cambuskenneth Abbey, Stirling, Scotland took awhile to get the water temperature adjusted - it seemed the opposite of what the graphics on it showed. The bathroom had no fan but two windows opened outward both on top and bottom. There was a wall heater that got very hot, and I found I could leave it on awhile to dry things out. There are clotheslines in back of the building, with asphalt and gravel under them.
The apartment is way up on the hill en route to Stirling castle, very close to the Old Town Jail and the Church of the Holy Rude (Rude in this case means “cross”). This is a very scenic and historically important area, but I found it difficult to climb the hill, especially after a long day of walking and sightseeing. We tried various routes of getting to the apartment, some involving steps. I usually took a couple of breaks on the way up - Kirk had no problem because he’s always loved climbing and running up hills.
Stirling: (for more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling%2C_Scotland) The first thing we saw as we rode the bus to Stirling was the Wallace Monument high on a hill, and later the castle
Stirling: Cambuskenneth Abbey Tomb
Tomb of King James III and Margaret of Denmark, Cambuskenneth Abbey, Stirling, Scotland on another hill. Stirling is a larger town than it seems to be at first glance, because it is spread out around the central town. The downtown area has a pedestrian mall, a large indoor mall called the Thistles, and a small indoor shopping center called the Crawford Arcade. There are several charity (thrift) shops where we bought a few items such as books and CDs.
A couple of times we walked on a bridge across the Forth River to the Riverside area, then crossed the river again to get to Cambuskenneth Abbey, an ancient monastery with only a 13th century campanile remaining intact. King James III and his wife, Margaret of Denmark, are buried there. The area around Cambuskenneth Abbey is full of small quaint houses, many with names across their doorways.
During our stay in Stirling we mostly walked - around the Old Town, where there were many old buildings of historical significance, and to the downtown area, only a few blocks away, with many shops and restaurants. We took the tour bus two days (all the tour buses let you ride for two days) and rode to the Wallace Monument and Stirling University, both being
Stirling: Mar's Wark
Ruins of palace of Earl of Mar, circa 1570, Stirling, Scotland a few miles out of town. We took a city bus to Bridge of Allan, a village north of Stirling, and had lunch at the Westerton Arms pub, then visited the Bridge of Allan brewery and sampled some ale and bought a dark ale called Wallace 700.
Since we stayed at an apartment, we found a Tesco supermarket that we visited several times. It was a discount supermarket and you had to bag your own groceries, and we were always surprised at how cheap it was. We spent a lot of time looking at items that we had never seen in the US. The had a lot of prepared dishes, even haggis, that you could get in the deli section, frozen, or canned. My weakness was shortbread squares with chocolate tops filled with caramel (I figured all that walking would burn off at least some of the calories!).
One evening we went to the Tollbooth, a music and arts venue about 300 yards from our apartment, and saw Pictish Trail and King Creosote (two guys who are singer-songwriters). They are folk rock musicians who sing and play guitar; King Creosote also plays accordion and synthethizer keyboard. The Tollbooth
Forth Place B&B
Riverside area of Stirling is in a 17th century building that was once used as a courthouse and jail and is very modern inside with a small theater with steeply elevated seating that provides great views of the stage.
Searching for houses: We had addresses of relatives who had lived in Stirling in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and attempted to find them. In the Riverside area we searched for a McKinlay ancestor’s house that was supposed to be at 33 Forth Place, but couldn’t find it. We asked the managers of a bed and breakfast if they knew where the address might be, and they said the buildings had been there since the 1840s so it was unlikely that we had the correct address. Another address, on Port Street, appeared to be around where the town center is, and consisted of businesses that were housed in old buildings. We did find a couple of the addresses on our list in the area near King’s Park, which was supposed to be a well-off neighborhood in the 1800s and still was very nice.
Looking for addresses was tricky at first, because the same street would change names. The street our apartment was
Stirling: Old Town
Old Town, Stirling, Scotland on, St. John Street, changed from Spittal (a person’s name, not the other meaning) to St. John, then to Castle Wynd. I guess it was a good idea because at least you knew about where the address would be, instead of having to remember the range of numbers on a long street. Another confusing aspect was the habit of placing the street names on the sides of buildings instead of on a sign. Sometimes it’s hard to find where the name might be, or if it’s even posted.
We enjoyed our stay in Stirling because it was convenient to go by train or bus to other areas; it has many historical and picturesque sites. It’s small enough to get around easily, but large enough to have lots of amenities such as restaurants and shops.
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Betty Shumway
non-member comment
Great pictures !
I enjoyed reading your Sterling travelBlog. I hadn't really heard of Sterling before. It looks like a very interesting and historical place. Glad you are home safely. I'm presuming that you had a wonderful time. I've always wanted to go to Scotland as my father's ancestors were from there......however, I have no real information on just where they were from. How neat to see a home (and what a place !) where McKinlay's lived a hundred years ago.