Curlzean Castle Scotland

Day 59/Scotland 36

Travelled:95km

Stay: near Stranaer/Cairnryan ferry terminal- layby, sea views N54.9156 W4.9923

Visited:Dunure, Culzean Castle (NT nonmembers £17pp), Girvan, Stranaer

After a quick cuppa, we were off driving along the coastal road. We stopped in the small harbour village of Dunure. Being so early we managed to park at the harbour and we had a walk around reading the information panels and chatted to one of the two commercial fishermen still operating here. 

We went to have a look at the castle ruins on the cliff top. Both venues had been used in the filming of Outlander. 

We continued on to Culzean Castle set on the cliffs overlooking the Firth of Clyde in amongst 260ha of land, now a country park. 

Built in 1792 by Robert Adam for David Kennedy, the 10th Earl of Cassillis, one of the oldest clans of Scotland.  As we waited for the castle to open we strolled through the park. We saw some deer, reindeers, highland cows and llamas. 

We went to the beautiful walled garden. 

We then took a very interesting tour of the castle. 

The entrance hall boasts the largest collections of British military flintlock pistols in the world. They were very nicely displayed too. 

We were taken through some elegant living rooms with beautifully designed coloured ceilings. 

The sweeping oval staircase was another highlight.

 Along with the Round Drawing Room offering panoramic views. 

We learnt about the various Kennedy’s who later inherited the castle.

This is an opium pipe. Very popular with the ladies.

This painting had an unusual feature, depending where you stood in the room, one of her feet would appear as a hoof and a skull appear in her skirt. 

One of the Kennedy’s was a shipbuilder and so made this for his daughter.

 One whole floor was designed for General Eisenhower to use during WWII. Although the castle was donated to the National Trust, this floor was kept for his personal use. He did come to visit several times and after his death, it became an exclusive hotel. 

On the way out we got to see the kitchen. 

We then went to have a look at the boat shed, the battery and the powder house. 

We did drive down to have a look at Swan Pond but there was no parking available. So we drove out of the park and down along the coast to Girvan. We had a look around and popped into the little museum with local history and explanations on the quarrying of granite on the Ailsa Craig, also owned by the Kennedy’s. The micro-granite found here is the best to make Curling Stones. 

We continued our journey towards Cairnryan where tomorrow morning we will take the ferry to Belfast, Ireland and so end our visit of Scotland.  

Look who’s golf course we spotted on the way...

We did a quick shop in the nearby town of Stranraer before settling in a parking spot close by.

Coast to Poet Scotland

Day 58/Scotland 35

Stay: Alloway-Robert Burns Cottage carpark free N55.4323 W4.6350

Visited: Greenock then coast road to Alloway, Robert Burns Museum (National Trust Nonmembers £10.50pp)

We began the day with a little explore of Greenock. 

Custom house.

Building named after engineer James Watt.

Town hall.

Statue about industries in the town.

WWII memorial.

We then stopped at Battery Point near Gourock for a wee bite of breakfast. We continued following the coast as much as we could and stopped just after Largs at a harbour. 

Largs has a strong Viking heritage.

We walked along the coastal path and had a closer look at the ‘pencil’ monument for the battle between the Scots and the Vikings.

 Further south we ventured through Ardrossan and the Ayr, which was a very popular beach resort town. 

Too busy for us, so we continued on to our destination for today, Alloway. A pretty small village where the famous poet, Robert Burns was born in 1759. Although he died at 37, he is celebrated worldwide. Every New Year’s Eve we sing one of his songs, ‘Auld Lang Syne’. 

We started our visit having a look at the cottage where he was born.

 We then went for a walk through the village which had many references to the inspirations to some of his works. 

Statue donated after Burns nominated most influential Scot ever. It depicts his lyrics inspired by his dislike of a wild animal being detained in chains.

The witches in the Auld Kirk.

The field mouse he wrote about after disturbing one in the field he was ploughing.

A memorial to Burns.



The Auld Brig inspired his story about Tam o’Shanter

Eventually we made it to the museum where we learnt about the man himself and his works.

 It appears he had a very interesting life, albeit short to our standards. He managed to get married and father 9 legitimate children as well as 4 illegitimate from as many other women. He also had a love of animals and their plight, along as a dislike to slavery. It was an interesting afternoon. We were told that we could stay the night in the carpark, so rather than rushing off, we went to enjoy a meal at the restaurant.