North Berwick

Tantallon Castle, near North Berwick in East Lothian, is yet another ruin, but what a ruin it is, and what a great location!

As you can see there’s a fine view of the Bass Rock from the castle. This rock was used as a place to dump prisoners back in the day. With a sea crossing over notoriously rough waters to make if you tried to get off it it was in effect not escapable. Nowadays it’s a haven for seabirds.

As you can see from the photo below taken from the castle’s top floor it’s a long way up – or down, and there are parts of the castle which have been sectioned off as they’re deemed too unsafe for the public at the moment. There are a lot of spiral staircases involved but we were determined to see the whole place.

In the photo below Jack is surveying the walls, it’s definitely beyond his DIY skills!

Let’s look through the arched window. That takes me back!

Tantallon may look a bit grim now but as you can see from all the fireplaces below, it must have been quite cosy in its heyday. Just imagine the walls with tapestries on them and a flickering fire.

There was a harbour and ships came in loaded with whatever was needed to make life comfortable, and presumably guests also could arrive that way.

It was a bit blustery up there to say the least, but look at the fantastic colour of that orange lichen on the stonework, it’s obviously in its element!

Tantallon Castle is definitely worth a visit if you’re interested in history or like castles. It’s run by Historic Scotland.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to knock a few more Scottish castles off our list of places we hadn’t visited yet. So we headed for North Berwick in East Lothian, it’s maybe 20 miles from where we live as the crow flies but it’s over 60 by road since the Firth of Forth is in the way. It was our 47th wedding anniversary (I know!!) and we felt the need to get out of the house and do something different. Dirleton Castle was our first port of call. It’s a 13th century castle and at some point the English Edward I captured it – for a while.

As you can see it has taken a bit of battering over the years. It’s now owned by Historic Environment Scotland.

Like many castles it has been built onto an area of rock, a strong foundation.

Dirleton is one of the many historic buildings which had been closed to the public for a few years while they were inspected for safety, there are some areas that you aren’t allowed to go into. The photo below is of the kitchen/storage areas and it was a wee bit unnerving as I could hear and see small bits of masonry falling from the ceiling near a fireplace! I’m sure it’ll be safe though.

The decorative alcove below was where the silver plate would have been displayed when there was entertaining going on. Really it’s not all that different from the stone ‘dresser’ at Skara Brae.

Below is the dovecote, or doocot as they are named in Scotland. This is where the pigeons roosted, they were an important source of meat for the castle during winter months.

Below is the interior of the doocot. I’ve been told that pigeons, (or doves if you want to be genteel) breed all year round which is why there are so many of them. All of the wee niches would have contained pigeons sitting on eggs. Castles had a lot of people living in them although I doubt if the workers ever got to taste much in the way of meat.