Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Outdoor Wednesday - The King's Knot

One of the first places we visited when we were in Scotland was Stirling Castle. This is one of my favorite views - "The King's Knot" know locally as "The Cup and Saucer". It is located on the Dumbarton Road near King's Park. This is what is left of a 16th century garden that was (supposedly) built on the site of a medieval jousting arena. The whole area that you see in the photograph was originally part of an extensive royal hunting ground c. 12th thru 17th centuries.
There are two very distinct sections to the King's Knot. The lower section was a "parterre" (a system of hedges, paths and flower beds) and the raised 9 ft high, section was a characteristic feature of gardens in the 16/17th centuries. According to old records there was hedges and canals in the Knot. Renovations and alterations have been done over the centuries.
Historic Scotland looks after the Knot and recently provided a grant (along with Stirling City Heritage Trust) for a geophysical survey to be taken. The aim is to try and find out more about this landmarks ancient history and maybe what "lies below".

Friday, June 3, 2011

Greetings From Scotland

Our trip to Scotland is fast drawing to a close and we have been busy little tourists :)
Today has been the first full day of wonderful weather so we took my mother to a couple of local gardening centers. She is the main reason we are here. She has been having MRI's, biopsies and other tests done, which have been quite tiring (and stressful) for her. She goes to see the specialist next week and we will know at that point what can, or cannot, be done for her.
Scotland has been experiencing some rough weather so we have not been able to get to some of the areas we wanted to visit. Having said that what we did see was enjoyable.
So where have we been?
Various parts of Stirlingshire since that's where my side of the family live.
Stirling Castle
Wallace Monument
Smith Art Gallery
Dunblane Cathedral
Callander
Glasgow (twice) - shopping, Museum of Modern Art, Glasgow Cathedral, Kelvingrove Museum and a general walk around the center of Glasgow
Scone Palace/Perth
Edinburgh (twice) - Royal Scottish Academy, Canongate Church, Museum of Edinburgh, Queens Gallery, People's Story, Scottish Parliament Buildings, Edinburgh Castle, Camera Obscura, St. Giles Cathedral, Royal Mile and shopping
Blackford Highland Games
Hopefully all our photographs will turn out and I can share some of them at a later date.