Stirling During the Queen’s Funeral

Arrival Date: 2022-09-17
Departure Date: 2022-09-20
Accommodation: Premier Inn, Stirling City Centre

Sebby and Scarlett were dropped off at the cattery on Friday afternoon so we could set off first thing on Saturday morning.

Saturday

We drove North towards Scotland for a couple of hours before stopping for some lunch at the half way point. We reached the Clickham Inn near Penrith just after midday, an unassuming pub on the side of the road. It was surprisingly delicious! The owner was loud and boisterous, we’d definitely recommend for a stop-off.

We arrived at our hotel shortly after 3pm for check-in (after getting slightly lost). The hotel’s nice, but the room’s a little smaller than we’d have liked. No bath, not much space to manoeuvre. One of the smaller Premier Inns we’ve stayed at.

Checked in, we walked across to the city centre, over the Forth footbridge (Helen’s disappointed because I keep asking where the first, second, and third bridges are), it’s just a 15 minute walk. We made our way through town to the Smith Art Gallery and Museum, but there wasn’t anything particularly impressive, so we didn’t stay there for very long.

Back in the city centre, we went from one shop to the next doing some exploring until it was dinner time. Eventually in the evening we sat down at Monterey Jack’s and had a lovely American-style dinner. After that, we returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Sunday

Sunday morning, we had a big breakfast at the Beefeater next door (nice but slow service), then set off for a day of adventures.

Underestimating the length of the hill up to Stirling Castle, everyone we passed was either a local or was wearing hiking gear! Nevertheless, we made it eventually. Most of today’s stops were at the top of the hill, so we only had to do it once.

• Mar’s Wark (ruined townhouse)
• Stirling Castle and Queen Anne’s Gardens
• Church of the Holy Rude
• Old Town Jail

First was Mar’s Wark. There wasn’t a lot left of the ruined townhouse, but then we weren’t expecting much. This was the Earl of Mar (John Erskine)’s property, which he built when he was the Keeper of Stirling Castle.

Further up the hill, we finally arrived at the castle. All of the flags at the entrance were at half-mast in memory of the queen, whose funeral will be tomorrow (Monday, 19th September).

In an attempt to pay for entry, they let us in for free because we’re English Heritage members, which was unexpected (it’s normally half price in Scotland and Wales), so that was a nice surprise.

The views from the top of the walls here were incredible. You can see for miles and miles around (all the way back to the hotel as well!). Here’s Helen with a twisted ankle, manning a cannon, looking out onto a graveyard below.

Inside the castle, we found ourselves in the great kitchen. Very rare that we see an enclosed kitchen how it would’ve been when the castle was in-service hundreds of years ago. Normally we just see big areas with a sign that says “this was the great kitchen”. They had several dioramas around of people cooking (unfortunately, the food wasn’t edible).

Out of here, we walked around to the back of the castle. On this side the walls were quite low, never more than a couple of meters off the ground, but on the other side was a drop at least twenty meters, as we were on top of the cliff.

These were the best views of the surrounding area.

It was pretty busy, but that didn’t deter me from standing in the middle of the grass taking dozens of pictures for a photosphere looking like a buffoon!

Just below me, Helen was looking round a tapestry exhibition without a tapestry. A room full of the history and the story of how the tapestry was created, but no tapestry itself. Luckily we’d see it later on.

Back up to the castle proper, we took a walk around the liveable areas, jumping in-and-out of tours. There were a lot of foreign (mainly American) tourists walking around, who seemed like they’d never seen a castle before. Also, we overheard several Americans talking about how excited they were to try an Irn Bru!

The tapestry we were promised!

There was a lot of unicorn iconography around as well, the unicorn being the official animal of Scotland.

The next build housed the great hall, which is apparently the largest and grandest great hall in all of Scotland. Built in 1503 and able to accommodate 500 people for state banquets.

A quick walk around Queen Anne’s garden (probably the least impressive royal garden we’ve been to), and we left the castle.

We felt a little peckish at this point, and I’d seen signs for a café just around the corner, so dragged Helen across the road. Little did I know that it was actually a church community café! We were invited in by a very friendly man who shook our hands very welcomingly. We were told to stay as long as we liked, and that everything was free. They offered us soup and hotdogs, but we just had a cup of tea and a cupcake.

As we were talking, a man named Ken came over and told us his life story, how he was born in London, moved to Canada, became the director of a newspaper but didn’t like it, moved to Hawaii for a year, then to Scotland, landing a job at Edinburgh.

All very interesting, meanwhile his friends were heckling him for “taking us hostage”, and he was eventually dragged away to eat some soup. We finished our cakes and left. It was a strange experience, but actually really lovely.

Next stop was the Church of the Holy Rude just down the road, where King James VI and I was crowned in 1567 at just one year old.

In the lower part of this photo, there are some scouts walking along the road. The city was full of scouts today, there were at least fifty across several groups running around from one place to the next. Must be some sort of scouting event.

This church had some of the most vibrantly-coloured stained glass we’d ever seen. It all looked freshly polished and brand new.

We left the church soon after 1pm and dropped in at the Old Town Jail, but they only did guided tours, so we needed to occupy ourselves for at least forty minutes. We walked half way down the hill to a pub we’d seen on the way up and stopped in for a drink, but didn’t fancy the look of the menu, so walked back up the hill again (it was a struggle this time) to the jail.

What we thought was a guided tour was in fact a one-man play! We were all welcomed in (about 15-20 people), and a guide talked us through the history of the jail, playing several different characters. At one point, he picked on me to demonstrate some of the different punishments and shackles in front of the crowd! Excuse the expression, I was terrified! He just whipped a cat-o-nine-tails next to me!

After thirty minutes of acting, we were able to explore the jail ourselves. There were only a couple of dioramas here, nothing like Bodmin Jail for example, but it was interesting to read through some of the history.

There was also a tower that we climbed to the top of, which gave some more stunning views of the surrounding area, including back up towards the castle.

Down several flights of stairs and we were out back on the street looking up at the Church of the Holy Rude once more. From here we walked back down the hill, and hunted out a place for a big lunch.

We found a pub called the City Walls. Helen ordered a pie, and I decided to order a medley of small dishes. Expecting each one to be a small tapas-style dish, I ordered five (they were cheap), but ended up with enough food to feed a small village!

One such dish was haggis, which neither of us had ever had before. We both liked it, but not enough to order it again.

Finally, full and exhausted, we walked back to the hotel and watched some TV to unwind.

We we next door to the Beefeater for some pudding at about 8pm, but otherwise just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Monday

Monday the 19th September was the date of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. We had breakfast then went back to our room to watch the start of the services. Nearly everything was closed today, so there wasn’t much that we could do.

We took a drive to a small local village named Callander, but again 90% of the shops and eateries were closed. Helen twisted her ankle yesterday so couldn’t walk far, so we didn’t climb any mountains or walk around any of the lochs.

We did however find an amazing little café called the Courtyard Coffee House. They did a delicious piece of Victoria sponge cake, and according to Helen, the best chai latte she’s ever had! Great find.

With everything else shut, we drove back to the hotel. Helen put her ankle up, and I took my laptop back out to Stirling to write this blog. I’m writing now from The Corn Exchange, a pub in the city centre. It’s completely empty, and in the two hours I’ve been here, there have only been another five patrons in total. The Queen’s funeral is playing on every TV in here.

Tomorrow we’ll head to Inverness in the morning, stopping on the way for some lunch.