Scotland and England - Part 1 - Edinburgh and Stirling (31 Mar)

After finally recovering from the trip to Australia and getting back to work, we were off on our next trip.  This one was a motorhome trip around Scotland and then a drive around the north of England and finally down to Alton Towers Theme Park and the Warner Brothers Harry Potter tour.

We started with an early morning flight to Edinburgh from Copenhagen.  Initially we were told to pick up the motorhome after 4pm, so when we landed at 11am we decided to head into Edinburgh and see the Edinburgh Castle.  We paid £40 (about $80) for train and bus tickets and started into the city.

Construction at Edinburgh Airport

A few minutes into the train trip we got a call from the motorhome company - the van was ready and they were heading to the airport to pick us up (there was an option for airport pickup but we hadn't paid for it).  When we explained that we were on the way to Edinburgh and would find our way out ourselves, they said no problems, but we needed to get the van by 3pm.  It was 12.  (Besides this minor mix-up, the company was great, friendly and helpful and the camper was awesome - we used the Edinburgh branch of Bunk Campers).

We jumped off the train at the next stop and managed to snap a few quick shots of Edinburgh Castle and The Parish Church of Saint Cuthbert  (as a side note, autocorrect wants the change St Cuthburt to St Cutthroat, which would have been a very different type of church....), before we hopped on another train to head out to the Camper company.

Edinburgh Castle and Saint Cuthburt's Chiurch

The kids got the closest shot on Tom's camera

We picked up our motor home, a Fiat Grande and got the guided tour on how it all worked - it had a double bed, a bunk bed and a table and two couches that folded down into a fourth bed.  It also had a fridge (which unfortunately kept popping slightly open and beeping all the time, even after we taped it shut with duct tape), a sink, three gas hotplates, a shower and toilet.

The kids liked the Motorhome

Of course it was made better when they got their Ipads.

Our first drive in the new motorhome was to Stirling Castle, which ended up being a bit of a trial by fire for poor Kristine (the designated driver) as the road were busy and very narrow with tight corners and stone walls.  We arrived at Stirling Castle just after it closed for the day, but that meant free parking and less crowds for exterior photos.

Arriving in the car park and overlooking the Portcullis Inn

Welcome!

 The castle was built in the early 12th century to guard a downstream crossing of the River Forth.  Most of the buildings date from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Toward the castle entrance

Stirling Castle

The very Australian sounding King - Robert the Bruce (June 24, 1314)

Map of the castle

Moat

Moat

Entry Gate

The church directly behind the castle was named the Church of the Holy Rude, which is quite possibly the coolest name for a church ever.  It was founded in 1129 but the current church was built in the 15th century after it was burnt down in a fire in 1405.   Unfortunately 'Holy Rude' is less exciting when you find out that it means 'Holy Cross'.

Church of the Holy Rude

Looking down along the cemetery towards an old building

Star Pyramid at the Church of the Holy Rude.

Also visible was the Wallace Monument, standing on the summit of Abbet Craig.  It was build in 1869 to commemorate Sir William Wallace.  It is 67m tall and built mostly of sandstone.

Wallace Monument in the distance

Wallace Monument

After the castle we headed to Doune castle but, as expected, it was also closed.  We took some photos, but since we returned the next day, I'll include those photos in tomorrows post.

After a walk around, we looked for somewhere to camp for the night.  One of the reasons we hired the motorhome was that Scotland has free camping laws that mean that you can camp anywhere as long as its not on private property or on a main road (like a shoulder pull-off).  What we found in practice though was that one of the biggest stresses was actually finding somewhere.  Most carparks had "No Overnight Camping" and some of the nice pull-offs that looked over the water or were nicely secluded had height barriers to prevent campervans and motorhomes from being able to enter.  We also would eventually need to refill on fresh water (just a standard tap attachment), empty the grey water (from the shower and sink) and empty the chemical toilet.  There were no public places to do this either.

After a short drive we found the Colonel Sir David Stirling Monument just outside Doune Castle and decided to stay in the carpark there for the night.

Information Plaque

Col Sir David Stirling

Camping

David Stirling was born in 1915 in Keir House (woohoo!) three miles south-east of Doune and is famous for founding the Special Air Service (SAS).

I'd like to say that we had a great sleep and the night was uneventful, but that wouldn't quite be true.  Being our first night camping, we were worried that we might not have been allowed to camp where we did, so when we heard a car pull up at 10pm and people get out, we were sure it was police coming to tell us to move on.  We caught snippets of conversation and prepared to wake the kids to get ready to drive, when they drove off.  Turns out it was just tourists coming to see the monument.  We had a few other cars arrive during the night as the monument was a good pull-off location on the main B824 road.  Overall it was a pretty restless night.

Not too much driving on day 1, we made it 45.7 miles in total (74km)

Day 1