Scottish Snippets

19 May 2012

Number 627



The Scottish Snippets Newsletter in its original format began in April 1997 and continued in an unbroken series for 591 issues. Although no longer produced in that style, there is now this regular update on the new and updated pages on the Rampant Scotland site including "Scottie's Photo Diary From Scotland".

HotTo receive a text version of this newsletter as a reminder to look at these Web pages when they are published, just send an e-mail to Scottie@RampantScotland.com with "Subscribe Newsletter" in the subject line.


Stirling Palace Heads

In the 16th century, King James V built a new Palace building within the defences of Stirling castle. It was created not just for his new wife and queen, but as a statement to other European monarchs that the king was on a par with the greatest of European rulers. It became one of the most innovative pieces of Renaissance architecture in Britain. Historic Scotland has been undertaking major renovation work there over the last few years and in 2011 the Royal Palace re-opened with the apartments now looking as splendid as they had done in the 16th century. In addition to displaying a series of recreated tapestries on the wall of the Queen's inner hall in the palace, the refurbishment also focused on the "Stirling Heads" - a collection of colourful carved heads which once adorned the ceiling in the King's Inner Hall. In addition to creating an illustrated Web page on these great examples of Renaissance art which gives the historical background to the "Stirling Heads", I photographed all 36 of the heads and created a Web-based slide show of these as well as a YouTube version. The illustrated article can be found at http://www.rampantscotland.com/visit/blvisit_stirling_heads.htm There are links within the article to the thumbnail/slideshow pages and to the YouTube slideshow but if you want to jump straight to these, they can be found at http://www.rampantscotland.com/stirling_heads/index1.html and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIHjbozOvyo

Knock Castle Hotel and Spa, Crieff, Perthshire

Knock Castle Hotel is a 23 carat gem of a Victorian mansion built in the Scottish Baronial style, complete with turrets. The building dates back to 1885 and is located in the pleasant and affluent town of Crieff in Perthshire, a popular part of the country for tourists from home and abroad. Jason Henderson, who combines the roles of General Manager and Head Chef has a passion for the business and a clear view of the experience he wants guests to enjoy. He is committed to providing excellent levels of accommodation, food and service in a way which will help guests to relax. The family have invested heavily in the property and the standard of furnishing is high. In addition to an impressive swimming pool and a small gym, there are a number of treatment rooms where guests can benefit from a range of treatments, including massage, body wraps and some device which claims to alter your body shape - our Rampant Scotland reviewer didn't try that one! It is a four star establishment aimed at people who enjoy a high quality product. For an illustrated review of this great hotel with a high standard of cuisine, see: http://www.rampantscotland.com/stay/bldl_stay_knock_castle.htm

Next Newsletter

It was just as well that I scheduled this newsletter for three weeks after the last one, instead of the usual two weeks. A couple of weeks ago my wife landed in hospital for about 8 days. She's home now, but her illness has meant that I have not had as much time to spend on writing articles for the Rampant Scotland site and our trips to new locations has been somewhat restricted. However, all going well, I hope to be able to produce the next newsletter in three weeks time - on 9 June. But that depends on a number of factors outside my control.

Yours aye

Scottie

Previous editions of this Newsletter are available in an Archive. The Index to the other pages of the Rampant Scotland site is available here.



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