Dunkeld in Sunshine

Stirling Station: new pedestrian bridge.

Stirling: Wallace Monument

Perth: “just” a church

Dunkeld Cathedral

Last weekend we went to Dunkeld Cathedral (slideshow here). Our train left Queen Street station at just after 8:30 a.m., and we arrived in Perth at 9:30 or so, sleepy but intrigued. Since we were a tiny bit early to meet our friend E., we walked from the station to where we could see a church tower in the distance. We visited with a statue of Sir Walter Scott (no, we don’t know why he’s there, nor why he has a dog with him), took a few pictures of a church with a spectacular steeple, and came back to the station to get out of the cold. And it was cold! Though we saw a lovely rainbow in the clear sky, it was one made of the light refracting from little bits of moisture and ice in the air. Brrrr!

Our friend picked us up and whisked us away to Dunkeld, where D. spent some time photographing the change ringers and T. spent some time chasing down a reluctant kitty (which apparently belongs to one of the ringers, and tags along to the cathedral frequently), who resisted having his picture taken. D. enjoyed his visit to the tower, which has barely room for the 6 ringers, particularly with ropes flying about. T, when she felt the narrow spiral stairwell growing more narrow than her shoulder-width, opted out. There were 9 ringers there, so D. stayed prudently in the doorway and was glad he only had to make the treacherous trip up those stairs once!

After the ringing rehearsal was concluded, we walked through Birnam Wood what’s left of a famous stand of trees mentioned by Shakespeare in Macbeth, and saw the thousand-year-old oak that still stands — the last of its kind. We wended our way through the leafy trail and into the village of Birnam for lunch at a house frequented by Beatrix Potter in her youth. After the inadvertent literary tour was over, we went back to Perth, but took the long way. A drive through the Little Glen brought us on to Buchanty Spout (pronounced “buckety”) on the River Almond, where we climbed among the rocks and shouted to each other over the roar of the very, very high and wild river. Our whirlwind tour of Perthshire wrapped up with tea in E’s summerhouse, where we watched the fog roll in, and then supper, when it got too cold outside.

The forecast for Sunday called for pouring rain and 70 mph winds — and we were astounded by how it stayed dry and clear — and freezing cold — all day long. We wandered over bridges, through woods, and down hills in our trusty boots, and though we really did get scared climbing down the short, steep trail and over the mossy rocks at Buchanty Spout — something we don’t advise without the right shoes, but we were looking to see if there were any last salmon jumping — we had a fabulous time. Both of us briefly fell asleep on the train on the way home, so you know a good time was had by all!

Stay tuned for our next adventure in the North… sure, we might freeze, but there’s no one else up there this time of year!

– D & T

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