Another ruin

We do have rather a lot of ruins in Scotland due to it's violent past and its many wars with the English. Even Cromwell made it up this far! However Dirleton did not suffer too much in the various wars. It was besieged occasionally but mostly it was a stately country house lived in by a succession of noble families.

Dirleton Castle is located on the shores of the river Forth. It was a great and very impressive former fortress that also offers the longest flower border in the country although that is a very modern addition. The flowers had more or less gone over but as we were inveigled into joining Historic Scotland (only joking, this is a really good deal and I recommend it highly!) we can go again any time we like and the high summer next year sounds like a very good idea to me. But the castle by itself is already a lot to take in, with lots of nooks and crannies. It was once described as "the pleasantest dwelling in Scotland", but that is definitely a long time ago.

The castle was built onto over several centuries but the very oldest bits date from around 1330. As it is very near the coast it was blowing a real gale which was very refreshing, specially on the ramparts from where you could get an excellent view of the river Forth, and an occasional ship in the distance.