A CASTLE OF THE IMAGINATION COME TO LIFE -
GLAMIS CASTLE HAS MUCH TO OFFER THE VISITOR.
Due
east of the Tay Valley the A926 runs, from the arterial north-south
route of the A9, towards the coast. The first town en route is Blairgowrie,
a main regional centre with an attractive town square called Wellmeadow.
Located here are a variety of stores including the Tourist Information
Office. A notable shop just off Wellmeadow in Allan Street is the kiltmakers,
Connell Reid.
To the ‘rear’ of the town the River Erichth tumbles
over a small waterfall with picturesque riverbank scenes.
A little off the beaten track is Meigle, with an unusual antique
centre housing several antique shops. In the town itself is an attractive
little kirk and just round the corner the rather unique Meigle Museum
with its unusual and notable collection of Pictish Stones (Open
Apr-Sept Mon-Sat 09.30 - 12.30 and 13.00 -18.00. Sun 14.00 - 18.00,
Admission charge). The Picts were the emergent race in battles around
600-700AD with the Northumbrians the outcome of which was to greatly
influence the future format of Scotland. The most important stone at
the museum is reputed to be Guinevere's gravestone with detailed
carvings on both sides that invoke endless debates as to their meaning.
Further west is Glamis (pronunced ‘Glams’), an attractive
village with Glamis Castle a mile to the north. This is truely
a castle of the imagination come to life with a splendid array of turrets
and towers and tales of ghosts. The Queen Mother grew up here and her
family, the Earls of Kinghorne and Strathmore, have lived here since
the 14th century. Shakespeare chose it as his base for Macbeth, so you
should not pass it by either. (Open Apr-Oct daily 10.30 - 17.30. Admission
charge).
Dundee of course is the major city in the area sitting on the
north bank of the Firth of Tay. There has been much change to Dundee
over the years as it has had to acclimatise itself to the changes of
economic fortunes.
There is much contrast here also in comparison to other towns in the
region, with unusual and far fetching architecture moving in on the
traditional and more reserved styles that is expected from the area.
It was here in 1309 since Robert the Bruce was proclaimed King of Scotland.
Much later it was to suffer at the hands of Cromwell and the Royalists
in the Civil War.
