Gabby the motorhome was still parked up on the park and ride as we the driver and navigator were just about ready to walk into the castle grounds at Stirling . It was uphill all the way as you would expect with a castle and the sun was beating down on us. We were greeted at the gate . Masks on . Hands sterilized . The routine began as it always did. We told the guy in the wooden hut that we had tickets and were told to walk up and pick them up at the next gate . Masks off as we walked up . Masks on as we were approached . Can with me We were nudged towards a desk where our hands were sanitized again and our tickets were printed out . to our castle It is a one way system , easy to follow , the arrows will direct you around You can go to the left and see the gardens first . Which is what we did .
The garden was small and walled . Roses were flowering along the walls. Yellow modern versions of grannies bonnets
were flowering in the flower beds. It was an attractive little space and we almost had it to ourselves thanks to Covid . The flags of Scotland were picked out in coloured stones . We walked to the steps and followed the one way system up to the castle courtyard . There were a large number of guides spread about the courtyard .
to the castle . Have you been before ? I had many years ago but could not remember much. I remembered the architecture which was a mix of French, Scottish baronial and even a touch of Spanish . It was a fussy castle with its stone blackened with age . The only relief was the buttermilk yellow Great Hall . Sterilize your hands again , keep to the one way system We walked in and were then greeted by another guide This is the entertaining chamber where the monarch would meet his subjects You could tell him or ask him anything as long as you didnt mind the whole of Stirling knowing your business The guide pointed up at the tapestries . They were copies . The originals in
the Museum of Modern Art in New York . A group of experts had gone over to the states to see the originals ., to copy them home to produce them again . They certainly looked the part and also enhanced the room giving the appearance of what it might have looked like . The castle had had a massive overhaul recently and what we saw was nothing like I remembered it .
The castle is one of the largest and most important castle in Scotland sitting as it does atop of Castle Hill . Looking at the size of the rooms it was not hard to see why it was so important. Most of the castle buildings date from the 15th and 16th centuries although a few structures remain from the 14th. It was one of the most used of the royal residencies and was both a palace and a fortress . Mary Queen of Scots was crowned here in 1542 which shows its importance .
We moved on to the next room which was the withdrawing bedroom where the more secretive of meetings took place . The rooms were filled with large fireplaces and
more tapestries on the walls . The unicorn being a feature of many of them. It wasnt hard to imagine that eight sieges had taken place around the castle . The last in 1746 when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take the castle . We walked from room to room and each had a fantastic ceiling . Brightly coloured they featured heads . Heads that we would hear about later in the tour . The colours were either vibrant or garish depending on your taste. We left the main castle and the courtyard where we were greeted by another guide . Would ou sterilize your hands again and would you mind waiting she said . You are going to see the Stirling Heads but there are too many inside . We had to wait a few minutes for the group inside to move on and allow us space to climb the stairs and view the heads .
Not real heads - but wooden plaques . It appeared that these or at least some of them were the real heads that had once graced the ceilings in the castle until the ceiling collapsed in 1777. Some
of the heads were original and not painted .
