Journey No 9 – 19th to 20th May 2010

19th May 2010

We departed Carrick Castle for the Lake of Mentieth to visit Inchmahome Priory on an island in the middle of the lake (only lake in Scotland – all others are lochs or lochans…). The priory was founded around 1238. A boat trip takes you across the lake to the island.

It was a very interesting visit and extremely peaceful there.. Although the Priory was mostly in ruins, you could see why it was built there.

In the afternoon we visited Doune Castle in Doune. It was built at the end of the 14th century. This castle is fairly complete – many rooms to visit and the audio phones supplied were excellent giving great detail about the castle’s history and also telling you about the filming of Monty Python and the Holy Crail in 1975 – the lighter side to fact!

These two Historic Scotland sites were well worth visiting and with good weather it was most enjoyable.

Following this we visited Dobies in Stirling and bought some plants for our garden at home. Then we drove to Culross and parked up in the car park for the Preston Island circular walk. The walk was 3 1/2 miles long and to our surprise we came across the old Preston Island Salt Works now in ruins.

Preston Island is no longer an island with a jetty. It is surrounded by hidden lagoons of black waste material from the power station close by. The area is being transformed into a nature reserve. The walk takes you part of the way alongside the Forth and you see views of the Forth bridges and the Grangemouth Oil Refinery…

20th May 2010

We departed Culross for Dunfirmline as Liz had a meeting for most of the day on behalf of the Intitute of Outdoor Learning of which she is the Scottish Chair. Douglas did the shopping and then parked up near the Abbey. Another Historic Scotland building called the Dunfirmline Abbey and Palace. The Medieval Abbey was the first European monastic community in Scotland and although founded in 1070 by Queen Margaret, it was rebuilt in the 1320’s on a grand scale covering 22 acres. Although most of the Palance is in ruins, the nave of the Abbey is complete.

There was plenty to see but few signs – so a guide book is essential. After Liz’s meeting and fuelling up we drove home arriving around 7.30 pm.

Mileage recorded at end of journey was 115026 km – Length of journey – 462 km (288.75 miles). Latest mpg = 24.