This evening, I am presenting some images from a recent 3 day tour. We used Scotland's capital of Edinburgh as a base.

The following two images were taken at the 'Home of Golf' at St. Andrews, which is also a famous, historic city which also boasts a top university, castle and cathedral.

This is a view of St. Andrews taken from the Old Course Club House with Royal and Ancient in centre left.


View of famous Old Course. This is the Home of Golf where golf was first played some 600 years ago. It is venue for The 2010 Open Championship. St. Andrews links comprises six public golf courses including the Old Course.

Golfing is a major contributor to tourism in Scotland.





The following two images were taken at the quaint and historic fishing village of Crail located on the Fife Coast and just 10 miles from St. Andrews. Crail was once the largest fish market in Europe and today it is still possible to buy fresh lobster and shellfish here.


Note house with pantiled roofs

The following two images were taken at St. Monans Parish Church which was founded about AD 1265-67 and which may have been conceived as a thank-offering by King David II. The church sits close to the sea and location affords visitors a tang of the salty sea air.



Here is an image of the Alexander Selkirk statue at Lower Largo (Fife Coast). Alexander Selkirk was the real life role model for the fictional Robinson Crusoe.


The following four images are of the famous/historic Dupplin Cross which is situated in St. Serf's church at Dunning. This dates back about 1100 years and commemorates King Constantine.The heavy and intricate carvings appear to contain messages which we may not be able to fully understand today.





This is a view of the village of Dollar taken from atop nearby Castle Campbell. This is a prosperous community with a famous fee paying school. The name Dollar has nothing to do with money and originates from the ancient word for field ,'Dal'.

This is an image of Castle Campbell which is located high in the Ochills atop Dollar Glen. Originally known as 'Castle Gloom', the stronghold was acquired in the 15th century by the senior branch of the Campbell family, who over the years became earls, marquises and dukes of Argyll. In 1489 the place was renamed Castle Campbell and remained occupied until partly destroyed by fire in 1654 during the Civil War.

This is a view of the centre of the attractive little village of Dirleton which is dominated by the ruins of Dirleton Castle.

The following three images are of the stunning formal gardens at Dirleton Castle.



This is the main entrance to Direlton Castle which originated in the 12th century and was added to over the following three centuries until destroyed by Cromwell's army in the 17th century.
Dovecot at Direlton Castle. Pigeons were an important source of food in medieval times.


More garden scenes at Direlton Castle which include the world's longest herbaceous border.



The following three images were taken at Glenkinchie Whisky Distillery near Pencaitland. We enjoyed a guided tour describing the process of whisky making from malting. mashing, fermentation, distillation through to maturation.




The final three images were taken at Rosslyn Chapel, about 12 miles south of Edinburgh. This 15th century chapel is famous for its stone carvings, including the Apprentice Pillar. Regrettably, photography is not allowed inside the chapel. More recently, the chapel has attracted new visitors through the connection with the Da Vinci Code.



Overall, we had a good tour. Weather was OK but could have been better!

Labels: Scotland tour

posted by Nigel Cole @ 9:07 AM