A day at Dirleton Castle
I spent yesterday exploring Dirleton Castle with a friend. It’s one of the nearby castles I’ve wanted to see for quite some time and I was so pleased to have someone to explore with who is just as silly as I am! We even managed a wee stop to see a few boats and gather some shells in Cockenzie. That last stop also counts towards my Making Plans Goal of seeing those 14 amazing places near Edinburgh!
Like many of Scotland’s castles, Dirleton is a ruin. It hasn’t been inhabited since the mid-1650s and is in the hands of Historic Scotland. Also like many of these ruined castles, the remaining features tend to be the vaults and kitchens, a few fireplaces and chimneys, and funnily, the latrine systems consisting of a hole that shoots the waste down the external walls.
There was a really fine example of a 15th-century doocot, too. It’s been given a bit of a refurbishment, making it the best-preserved doocot I’ve seen. And after a bit of quick maths with my friend, we determined it would hold approximately 2,000 pigeons. (Too bad we didn’t read the sign that said that first, or we could have saved our brains from such simple computations.)
Oh! And remember how I said my friend is just as silly (and childish) as I am? Well, we had a lot of fun taking pictures of one or the other of us (and at one time, both!) sitting on the latrines – with an additional photo-opp of me standing below one of the shoots. Yeah. We’re so mature!
After visiting the castle, we stopped off at Cockenzie to check out some of the boats that were moored, as my friend is a boat owner and likes that kind of thing. As for me, I quite enjoyed scavenging along the shore a bit. I even managed to find several interesting bits and bobs to keep my attention for a bit.
Anyhow, there’s not really much more to share about the day. So I’ll just get to the part Mum really wants to see: The photos!
Love the thistle. that is my flower-beautiful, but a bit prickly. It has been my ‘symbol’ for decades.
I am wondering how they can let folks ramble these areas and not have vandalism and looters and just regular mean people who ruins beautiful things for the rest of us?! And why are there never crowds of people at these beautiful sites?
Love you! Ant Elizabeth
Have you read this story about flowers and thistles? You can maybe relate a bit (a lot?).
This castle is run by Historic Scotland and is gated for access – which helps keep the vandals away to an extent. It’s on the outskirts so it’s not a crowded castle, but there were several other people there. Some places, like the Edinburgh Castle, are too crowded to really enjoy. I much prefer the ones that get less footfall!
Sadly, some properties are prone to graffiti and late-night drunken parties – especially those that are not gated or that are not protected properties. (That is rare though.) But the thistle is the national flower here so it is well treated by most people!!