Touring Scotland (Part 1)
Every year, members of our administration and bookings team are sent up to Scotland to visit a few of the large holiday houses and castles represented on our website. We all feel it is of utmost importance that these staff familiarisation tours are carried out regularly, to ensure that between our small team, at least one member has seen every property and visited as much of Scotland as possible.
This November it was Vicky and I who had been short listed and were given the opportunity to hire a car and discover the beautiful Borders as one of our many clients would; without being accompanied by our resident Property Manager and fountain of knowledge, Antony Sherlock.
The day we were due to leave, I was all ‘sixes and sevens’ – the huge realisation that Vicky had placed her entire trust in my organisational and driving skills for the next four days was absolutely terrifying (a little over the top, I know, but I have on occasion been accused of being a bit of a drama queen).
Harriet drove us to Newquay airport that afternoon to catch our direct flight to Glasgow and two hours later we landed. By this time, I had calmed down a bit. Vicky is wonderfully reassuring which is amazing as this was her first flight in 20 years!
Glasgow airport is fantastic and we managed to find the car hire desk with no trouble at all. With all our paperwork complete, we ventured out into the car park to make the 30 minute journey to West Kilbride and our first historic castle visit. At this point, I have to mention that getting out of Glasgow was much easier than we had anticipated.
The first property to visit on our ‘Grand Tour’ was (property 006) a self catering castle built in the fifteenth century as a wedding gift for Princess Mary, eldest daughter of King James II of Scotland. Restored in 2001, having fallen into disrepair over the centuries, we had been told that it had been refurbished to exceptional standard
To say we were blown away by the magnificence of the place would be underestimatating our feelings on arrival, particularly arriving at night. WOW! What an amazing place!
Walking through the large wooden door we were greeted by David (the owner) who took us into the vaulted kitchen and ‘pit prison’ to start the historical tour. We then walked up the stone spiral staircase (all beautifully lit by candles) leading into the Great Hall; it was absolutely stunning. The owners have really put their hearts and souls into the restoration of this incredibly important part of Scottish history.
Everything in this castle is so authentic you could almost be excused of thinking you had gone back in time; if it wasn’t for the subtle additions of under floor heating, a well hidden wide screen TV, sumptuous bedding and comfortable bathrooms with hot running water (not to mention proper toilets – the originals are still in situ although not used I hasten to add!).
It had been a long day and Vicky and I couldn’t wait to hit the sack [11pm yawn]. The bedroom I had been given was quite spacious with lots of lovely furniture and an oratory draped in royal blue velvet curtains. I imagined it might be cold (being a castle) even though I knew it had underfloor heating but it was really quite toasty – thankfully. My four poster bed was on a raised platform, and as I climbed the steps I wondered what it might have been like for Princess Mary to have lived there six centuries ago. Certainly not as warm or comfortable I can assure you.
Naturally that thought heightened my awareness of the surrounds, and having spent a few minutes adjusting myself to the utter darkness that fell about me like a cloak when I switched off the light, I then snuggled under the covers to drown out the noise of my imagination going into over-drive every time I heard a creak! Mental note to take a torch next time.
That’s all for now - my keyboard needs a rest. In Part 2, I’ll tell you all about our cross country jaunt to Hawick.
(Written by Cheryl H.)